SB 463: Specialized Land Transactions; business enterprises or business enterprises controlled by natural born persons from owning an interest in more than 500 single-family residential properties; prohibit

This bill, titled the 'Georgia Anti-Squatting Act of 2026,' replaces its original subject matter with a full rework of Georgia's laws on squatters, trespassers, and hotel guests who overstay. It gives magistrate courts jurisdiction over new squatter removal proceedings, rewrites the crime of unlawful squatting (O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21.1) to drop the old citation-and-documentation process, and adds restitution based on fair market rent for victims. It creates a brand new process (O.C.G.A. § 44-11-34) letting a property owner submit a sworn complaint to a sheriff or other certified officer asking for immediate removal of people unlawfully living on their land, without going through eviction court, as long as several conditions are met, such as no pending lawsuit and no family relationship. It also updates hotel and rental eviction rules, shortens some deadlines for executing writs of possession, and creates a new felony for using fake lease or deed documents to occupy property. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Rewrites the crime of unlawful squatting (O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21.1) to remove the old citation-and-documentation defense process and requires convicted squatters to pay restitution based on fair market rent.
• Creates a new legal process (O.C.G.A. § 44-11-34) letting property owners submit a sworn complaint to law enforcement to get squatters removed immediately, bypassing the normal eviction court process, if strict conditions are met.
• Makes it a felony, punishable by one to five years in prison with no suspended or probated sentence, to knowingly present a fake lease, deed, or other document to claim the right to occupy property.
• Shortens the deadline before a landlord can hire an off-duty officer to execute a writ of possession, from 14 days to 7 days, and shortens the advance notice requirement from five days to three.
• Rewrites hotel and innkeeper removal rules (O.C.G.A. § 43-21-3.2), including a 10-day notice requirement before removing guests who have stayed more than 90 consecutive days and new rules for handling their belongings.
• Gives magistrate courts jurisdiction over trials for unlawful squatting and the new squatter-removal proceedings under Code Section 44-11-34.

Real property owners and landlords, tenants and hotel guests, people accused of squatting or trespassing, sheriffs and deputies, constables, marshals, and other certified peace officers, magistrate court judges, and innkeepers and their guests who stay more than 90 days.

Property owners would gain a faster way to remove squatters using a sworn complaint to police instead of a court eviction, while accused squatters lose the prior documentation-based defense process. Officers get new duties and immunity protections, and people wrongly removed could sue for triple the rental value plus damages.

• Section 4 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21.1, removing the prior citation and documentation defense process for accused squatters and adding mandatory restitution based on fair market monthly rent.
• Section 5 revises innkeeper removal law (O.C.G.A. § 43-21-3.2), requiring 10 days' written notice before removing guests who stayed more than 90 consecutive days and setting rules for handling their property.
• Section 6 shortens the writ of possession execution deadline from 14 to 7 days and the advance notice period from five to three calendar days before landlords may use off-duty officers.
• Section 7 adds new Code Section 44-11-34, creating a sworn-complaint process for immediate squatter removal by law enforcement, listing seven conditions that must be met and providing a model complaint form.
• Section 7 also creates a new felony for knowingly presenting a fake lease, deed, or other document to occupy property, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of one to five years with no suspension.
• Section 7 allows a civil lawsuit for wrongful removal, letting a wrongly removed person recover triple the fair market monthly rent, actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees.
• Section 8 makes the Act effective immediately upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.

1. 2026-03-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-06House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-04House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-03Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
5. 2026-03-03Senate Third Read (Senate)
6. 2026-02-18Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
7. 2026-02-17Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
8. 2026-02-05Senate Read and Referred (Senate)

• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)Primary sponsor
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-021)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-034)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 3, 2026

   49 yea, 3 nay (1 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #608

• squatting laws
• eviction procedures
• landlord tenant law
• property crime
• law enforcement powers