HB 1171: Landlord and tenant; establish minimum habitability standards consistent with recognized housing standards

Georgia law already says rental housing must be fit for human habitation, but current law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13) does not spell out exactly what that means. This bill rewrites that section to list concrete landlord duties: following building and housing codes, making necessary repairs, keeping common areas clean and safe, maintaining electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems, providing trash removal, and supplying running water, hot water, and heat. It also declares that the promise of habitable housing cannot be waived by a lease or rental agreement. The bill creates a process for tenants when a landlord fails to meet these duties. If a problem is not fixed within one week of notice and it affects an essential service, health, safety, or use of the home, the tenant can end the lease or keep it and pursue remedies such as withholding rent, suing for damages, seeking a court order, making repairs and deducting the cost, or arranging substitute services or housing. Lesser problems limit tenants to a narrower set of remedies. Tenants still must keep the unit clean and avoid causing damage beyond normal wear.

• Adds a detailed list of landlord habitability duties to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13), covering code compliance, repairs, common areas, utilities, waste removal, and heat and hot water.
• Makes the requirement that rental housing be fit for human habitation nonwaivable, meaning landlords and tenants cannot sign it away in a lease.
• Gives tenants the right to terminate their lease if a serious habitability problem is not fixed within one week of notifying the landlord.
• Allows tenants to withhold rent, sue for damages, get a court order, make repairs and deduct the cost, or arrange substitute housing or services when serious problems go unfixed.
• Limits tenants facing less serious landlord failures to damages, court orders, or repair-and-deduct remedies, without allowing lease termination or rent withholding.
• Keeps in place tenants' existing duty to maintain their unit reasonably and avoid causing damage beyond normal wear and tear.

Georgia renters and their landlords are directly affected, since the bill rewrites the baseline habitability duties in every residential lease. Property management companies, landlord-tenant attorneys, and Georgia courts handling eviction or repair disputes would also apply these new standards and remedies.

Tenants facing broken heat, plumbing, or unsafe common areas would gain specific, enforceable rights, including withholding rent or breaking a lease, rather than relying on a vague habitability standard. Landlords would face clearer, unwaivable repair obligations and a defined one-week window to fix serious problems before tenants can act.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13(b) to make the fitness-for-habitation guarantee nonwaivable in any lease or rental agreement, oral or written.
• New subsection (c) lists six specific landlord duties, including code compliance, repairs, common area upkeep, utility maintenance, waste removal, and heat and hot water.
• New subsection (d) lets tenants terminate the lease or choose remedies like rent withholding, damages, injunctive relief, repair-and-deduct, or substitute housing if a serious noncompliance is not fixed within one week of notice.
• New subsection (e) limits tenants to damages, equitable relief, or repair-and-deduct remedies when the landlord's noncompliance does not materially affect health, safety, or use of the home.
• New subsection (f) preserves tenants' existing duties to keep the unit clean and safe and avoid deliberate or negligent damage beyond normal wear and tear.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-05House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2026-02-04House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2026-02-03House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)

• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)Patrocinador principal
• Mary Oliver (D, HD-084)
• Mary Williams (D, HD-037)
• Carl Gilliard (D, HD-162)
• Lydia Glaize (D, HD-067)
• Doreen Carter (D, HD-093)

• landlord tenant law
• housing habitability
• rental housing
• renters rights
• property maintenance