HB 875: Property; tenant seeking to limit public access to records of the court relating to dispossessory actions to be sealed under certain circumstances; provide

Under current Georgia law, court records from eviction cases, known as dispossessory actions, generally stay public and searchable, which can follow tenants for years even if they were never actually evicted. This bill adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-60) letting tenants ask a judge to seal those records under specific circumstances. A tenant who wins the case outright can ask the court to seal the records at the judge's discretion. A tenant who settles with the landlord can petition to seal if they met the settlement terms or if the landlord received government or nonprofit funding. A tenant who lost the case can petition three years later if the case happened during a public health emergency, involved extraordinary hardship, or if no other eviction cases are currently pending against them. Once a court orders sealing, the clerk has 30 days to seal all related documents. Landlords, tenants, and attorneys involved in the case still retain access, and courts can allow access for academic research purposes.

• Creates a new Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-60) letting tenants who win an eviction case ask a judge to seal the court's records of that case.
• Allows tenants who settled an eviction case to petition for sealing if they met the settlement's terms or the landlord got government or nonprofit funding.
• Lets tenants who lost an eviction case petition to seal records three years later under conditions like a public health emergency or extraordinary hardship.
• Requires court clerks to seal all physical and electronic documents tied to a case within 30 days of a sealing order.
• Preserves record access for the landlord, tenant, and their attorneys, and allows access for academic research or data aggregation.

Tenants involved in eviction cases in Georgia's courts, landlords and their attorneys, court clerks who must process sealing orders, and researchers or academics who study housing and eviction data.

Eviction filings can appear on background checks and hurt a tenant's ability to rent housing later, even when the tenant won the case or settled. This bill would give some tenants a path to limit that public record, while still preserving access for the parties involved and for research.

• Section 1 adds new Code section 44-7-60 to Article 3 of Chapter 7 of Title 44, covering dispossessory (eviction) proceedings.
• Subsection (a) lets a tenant who wins a dispossessory action ask the court to seal case records, at the court's discretion.
• Subsection (b) allows sealing after a settlement agreement if the tenant met its conditions or the landlord received government or nonprofit funds.
• Subsection (c) allows tenants who lost their case to petition for sealing three years later under listed hardship or eligibility conditions.
• Subsection (d) requires the clerk of court to seal all related documents within 30 days of the sealing order.
• Subsection (e) keeps records accessible to the landlord, tenant, and their attorneys despite sealing.
• Subsection (f) permits access to sealed records only for academic purposes, including data aggregation or research.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-04-02House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-31House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-28House Hopper (House)

• Robert Flournoy (D, HD-74)Primary sponsor
• Karlton Howard (D, HD-129)
• Arlene Beckles (D, HD-96)
• Mary Ann Santos (D, HD-117)
• Yasmin Neal (D, HD-79)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)

• eviction records
• tenant rights
• housing law
• court records
• landlord tenant disputes