HB1016: HB1016 Magistrate courts; expand existing remedies regarding unauthorized possession of real property

Georgia law already lets a property owner file an affidavit with a sheriff or other certified officer to have someone removed from real property they occupy without a good-faith claim, giving the occupant three days to file a counteraffidavit before being turned out. This bill expands that system for condominiums and property owners' developments. It creates a new process letting an 'interested third party,' meaning another unit owner or lot owner in the same development, initiate removal of a person unlawfully occupying a neighboring unit or lot, as long as the affected owner is given three days' written notice and does not object. The bill also moves related jurisdiction language in the magistrate courts code, updates cross-references in several Code sections on oaths and counteraffidavits, and clarifies that magistrate court decisions in these cases go straight to the Georgia appellate courts rather than through a new trial in superior court. The changes would take effect July 1, 2026, and apply to offenses occurring on or after that date.

• Creates a new process (O.C.G.A. § 44-11-30.1) letting another unit owner or lot owner in the same condominium or property owners' development request removal of someone unlawfully occupying a neighboring property.
• Requires the requesting third party to give the affected owner at least three days' written notice by certified mail or overnight delivery before starting the removal process, and blocks removal if the affected owner objects.
• Requires condominium and property owners' associations to cooperate with third parties in delivering the required notice.
• Preserves the existing three-day counteraffidavit window for anyone facing removal, letting them contest the claim before a magistrate court.
• Changes appeals of magistrate court rulings in these cases so they go directly to the Georgia appellate courts instead of getting a new trial in superior court.
• Updates magistrate court jurisdiction language (O.C.G.A. § 15-10-2) and related Code sections to reflect the new removal procedure.

Unit owners and lot owners within Georgia condominiums and property owners' developments, condominium and homeowners' associations, people accused of unlawfully occupying real property, sheriffs and other certified peace officers who serve affidavits, and magistrate courts and appellate courts handling these disputes.

Neighbors in a condo or subdivision, not just the affected owner, could trigger a legal process to remove someone occupying a nearby unit or lot without permission, potentially speeding up removals the current law only lets the property's owner start. Occupants still get three days to contest before removal.

• Section 1 amends magistrate court jurisdiction (O.C.G.A. § 15-10-2) to reference the new removal procedure alongside existing intruder and squatting laws.
• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 44-11-30 to use 'real property' instead of 'land or tenement' and keeps the three-day notice period before removal.
• Section 3 adds new O.C.G.A. § 44-11-30.1, defining terms like 'affected owner,' 'interested third party,' and 'affected property,' and setting out the third-party removal request process and required legislative findings.
• Section 3(e) requires three days' written notice to the affected owner before a third party can start removal, and bars the process if the affected owner objects.
• Section 5 revises O.C.G.A. § 44-11-32 so that magistrate court decisions in these cases are appealed directly to the Georgia appellate courts rather than retried in superior court.
• Section 6 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying only to offenses occurring on or after that date.

1. 2026-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-01-29House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-28House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-01-27House Hopper (House)

• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-095)Primary sponsor
• Robert Flournoy (D, HD-074)

• squatting and unlawful occupancy
• property rights
• homeowners associations
• magistrate courts
• landlord-tenant law