---
title: O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50. Demand for possession; procedure upon a tenant’s refusal; notice to vacate or pay.
collection: code
id: 44-7-50
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/44-7-50
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/44-7-50.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/44-7-50/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t44-ch1-7-(v31)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=6890e72d_0#page=173
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: PROPERTY / LANDLORD AND TENANT / DISPOSSESSORY PROCEEDINGS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50. Demand for possession; procedure upon a tenant’s refusal; notice to vacate or pay.

(a) In all cases when a tenant holds possession of lands or tenements over and beyond the term for which they were rented or leased to such tenant and in all cases when lands or tenements are held and occupied by any tenant at will or sufferance, whether under contract of rent or not, when the owner of such lands or tenements desires possession of such lands or tenements, such owner may, individually or by an agent, attorney at law, or attorney in fact, demand the possession of the property so rented, leased, held, or occupied. If the tenant refuses or fails to deliver possession when so demanded, the owner or the agent, attorney at law, or attorney in fact of such owner may immediately go before the judge of the superior court, the judge of the state court, or the clerk or deputy clerk of either court, or the judge or the clerk or deputy clerk of any other court with jurisdiction over the subject matter, or a magistrate in the district where the land lies and make an affidavit under oath to the facts. Such affidavit may likewise be made before a notary public.

(b) If issued by a public housing authority, the demand for possession required by subsection (a) or (c) of this Code section may be provided concurrently with the federally required notice of lease termination in a separate writing.

(c) In all cases when a tenant fails to pay the rent, late fees, utilities, or other charges owed to the landlord when it becomes due, if the tenant refuses to pay the amount due or fails to deliver possession when so demanded after being provided with a notice to vacate or pay all past due rent, late fees, utilities, and other charges owed to the landlord within three business days, the owner or the agent, attorney at law, or attorney in fact of such owner may immediately go before the judge of the superior court, the judge of the state court, or the clerk or deputy clerk of either court, or the judge or the clerk or deputy clerk of any other court with jurisdiction over the subject matter, or a magistrate in the district where the land lies and make an affidavit under oath to the facts. Such affidavit may likewise be made before a notary public.

(d) The demand for possession notice under subsection (a) of this Code section or the three-day notice to vacate or pay under subsection (c) of this Code section shall be posted in a sealed envelope conspicuously on the door of the property and delivered via any additional method or methods agreed upon in the rental agreement.

## History

Laws 1827, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 901.; Ga. L. 1853-54, p. 52, § 4; Ga. L. 1853-54, p. 55, § 1; Ga. L. 1855-56, p. 268, § 1; Code 1863, § 3983; Ga. L. 1865-66, p. 34, § 1; Code 1868, § 4005; Code 1873, § 4077; Code 1882, § 4077; Civil Code 1895, § 4813; Civil Code 1910, § 5385; Code 1933, § 61-301; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1228, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 884, § 4-1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 892, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1446, § 9; Ga. L. 1995, p. 577, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 656, § 1.1/HB 1273; Ga. L. 2016, p. 8, § 3/SB 255; Ga. L. 2018, p. 820, § 8/SB 194; Ga. L. 2024, p. 91, § 5/HB 404, effective July 1, 2024.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 91, § 1/HB 404, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Safe at Home Act.’”

Ga. L. 2024, p. 91, § 6/HB 404, not codified by the General Assembly, makes this Code section applicable to residential lease agreements that are entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.

## Law Reviews

For annual survey on real property law, see 74 Mercer L. Rev. 233 (2022).

For comment on Efficiency Lodge, Inc. v. Neason, 316 Ga. 551, 889 S.E.2d 789 (2023), see 75 Mercer L. Rev. 1057 (2024).

For article on the 2024 amendment of this Code section, see 41 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 51 (2024).

## Amendments

The 2016 amendment, effective May 12, 2016, substituted “Code Section 18-4-3” for “Code Section 18-4-61, relating to garnishment affidavits” at the end of subsection (a).

The 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, in subsection (a), substituted “such” for “the” throughout, substituted “when” for “where” twice in the first sentence, and deleted “, subject to the same requirements for judicial approval specified in Code Section 18-4-3” following “notary public” at the end of the last sentence.

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, in subsection (a), in the first sentence, deleted “or fails to pay the rent when it becomes due” following “such tenant” and substituted “agent, attorney at law, or attorney in fact” for “agent, attorney in fact, or attorney at law”, and at the beginning of the third sentence, substituted “Such” for “The”; inserted “or (c)” in subsection (b); and added subsections (c) and (d). See Editor’s notes for applicability.