How much notice does a landlord have to give before filing an eviction for unpaid rent in Georgia?

3 days. Those are business days by the statute's own words, and the notice must tell the tenant to vacate or pay all past-due rent, late fees, utilities and other charges owed. It applies only to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.

How much notice is required to evict for a lease violation in Georgia?

No statutory period — see the notes on this page. Georgia has no statutory cure-or-quit notice for lease violations. Nothing in the dispossessory article (44-7-49 through 44-7-59) prescribes a violation notice period or a statutory right to cure a non-rent breach, so the lease's own default and termination clause controls whatever notice and cure opportunity exist.

How long does an eviction take in Georgia?

Roughly 12–14 days from notice to an enforceable writ in an uncontested nonpayment dispossessory, about two weeks. The actual lockout date is controlled by sheriff scheduling, which in metro Atlanta counties routinely adds one to several weeks.

Can a landlord change the locks or shut off utilities instead of going to court in Georgia?

No — Georgia bars self-help eviction by statute; a landlord must go through the court process. It is unlawful for any landlord knowingly and willfully to suspend cooling, heat, light or water service until after the final disposition of the dispossessory proceeding, punishable by a fine of up to $500.00 (O.C.G.A. 44-7-14.1). Georgia has no express anti-lockout statute, but only an officer executing a writ of possession may lawfully put a tenant out.

What is the eviction process and timeline in Georgia?

Verified August 12, 2026 Updated August 16, 2026 All Georgia topics →

Legislative changes ahead — not yet in force. The rules on this page reflect the law in force today. The following measure would change it:

SB 406 (2026), Ga. L. 2026, p. 988 — the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act — Already SIGNED but not yet effective: on January 1, 2027, new O.C.G.A. 44-7-50(e) lets a court, on motion and after a hearing, make all records of a dispossessory proceeding unavailable to the public when the tenant won the case, when the tenant has paid the judgment in full including interest and costs, or when seven years have passed since a dismissal or a paid-in-full judgment. The landlord may still pursue any amounts owed in a separate action or through collections. The rest of the act concerns homeowners' and property owners' associations, not landlord-tenant law.Status: Signed 2026; section 9 makes the dispossessory-records provision effective January 1, 2027 (only the association attorney-fee section took effect July 1, 2026). The answers shown do not yet reflect it. (checked 2026-08-16).

Georgia's eviction — a 'dispossessory proceeding' filed most often in magistrate court — starts, for nonpayment under leases signed or renewed since July 1, 2024, with a written notice giving the tenant three business days to pay everything owed or vacate, posted in a sealed envelope on the door.

Cited to O.C.G.A. 44-7-50 (a), (c), (d) and 11 more Georgia statutes · Verified August 12, 2026

If the tenant does not pay, the landlord files a dispossessory affidavit and the tenant has seven days from actual service to answer, orally or in writing. Silence is fatal: with no answer the court issues a writ of possession instanter — immediately — plus a default judgment for the rent, so the statutory best case runs about two weeks from notice to an enforceable writ, with the real-world lockout date set by the sheriff's calendar. A tenant who answers stays in possession pending an expedited trial but must pay rent into the court registry if the case outlasts two weeks, and a tenant sued for nonpayment can erase the case entirely by tendering all rent owed plus court costs within seven days of the summons — a pay-and-stay card the landlord must honor only once in any twelve-month period. After a contested trial the writ waits seven days, matching the seven-day appeal window, and appealing tenants keep possession only by paying the judgment rent and all future rent into the registry. There is no statutory notice or cure period for lease violations — the lease's own termination clause governs — and no fast track for criminal activity. Self-help is off the table: cutting cooling, heat, light, or water before the case ends is a criminal offense fined up to $500, and removing a tenant without a court order and an officer executing the writ is unlawful, full stop.

Georgia eviction process at a glance

Nonpayment notice (pay-or-quit)	3 days
Nonpayment notice rules (day counting, cure rights, service)	Those are business days by the statute's own words, and the notice must tell the tenant to vacate or pay all past-due rent, late fees, utilities and other charges owed. It applies only to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. O.C.G.A. 44-7-50(c) (added by the 2024 Safe at Home Act, HB 404 § 5): before making the dispossessory affidavit for nonpayment, the landlord must provide 'a notice to vacate or pay all past due rent, late fees, utilities, and other charges owed to the landlord within three business days' — BUSINESS days by the statute's own express words, not calendar days. Service is fixed by 44-7-50(d): the notice shall be posted in a sealed envelope conspicuously on the door of the property AND delivered by any additional methods agreed in the rental agreement. Applicability caveat: HB 404 § 6 applies the requirement to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after 2024-07-01; a pre-July-2024 lease that has never renewed is still governed by the old regime (demand for possession only, no statutory pay window). Cure ladder: (1) PRE-FILING — paying everything demanded within the 3 business days defeats the filing; (2) POST-FILING — under 44-7-52(a), tendering ALL rents allegedly owed PLUS the cost of the dispossessory warrant within 7 days of service of the summons is a complete defense, but the landlord is required to accept such a post-summons tender only ONCE in any 12-month period; if the landlord wrongly refuses a proper tender, the court orders payment within 3 days of its order and a writ issues on failure to pay (44-7-52(b), and that court-ordered payment does not burn the once-per-12-months tender); (3) POST-JUDGMENT — no statutory redemption; the tenant's only route is a 7-day appeal with rent paid into the court registry (44-7-56).
Lease-violation notice period	No statutory period — see the notes on this page
Lease-violation notice rules (cure vs. termination)	Georgia has no statutory cure-or-quit notice for lease violations. Nothing in the dispossessory article (44-7-49 through 44-7-59) prescribes a violation notice period or a statutory right to cure a non-rent breach, so the lease's own default and termination clause controls whatever notice and cure opportunity exist. Termination for breach is therefore a contract matter. Once the tenancy is terminated (or expires) the tenant 'holds possession ... over and beyond the term' and can be dispossessed under 44-7-50(a) after a demand for possession, which itself carries no statutory waiting period. For tenancies at will, termination requires sixty days' notice from the landlord (O.C.G.A. 44-7-7) before the tenant becomes a holdover subject to demand and filing.
Unconditional-quit grounds	Georgia has no statutory unconditional-quit or expedited-eviction ladder for standard rentals — no enumerated illegal-activity grounds, no accelerated hearing track. Any tenant whose tenancy has been lawfully terminated (breach per the lease's terms, expiration, or termination of an at-will tenancy) is subject to the same single track: demand for possession under 44-7-50(a), then immediate filing on refusal ('may immediately go before the judge ... and make an affidavit'). Trap: HB 404 as introduced advertised 'expedited evictions for certain criminal activity' (the phrase still appears in the official First Reader summary), but that provision was DROPPED from the enacted law — the signed Act 392 contains only habitability, utilities-definition, deposit-cap, and 44-7-50 notice sections. Any source describing a Safe at Home Act criminal-activity fast track is wrong.
Court and action	The action is a 'dispossessory proceeding' commenced by a dispossessory affidavit (colloquially a dispossessory warrant) under O.C.G.A. 44-7-50; magistrate court is the usual forum, but the affidavit may be made before the judge, clerk, or deputy clerk of the superior or state court, any court with subject-matter jurisdiction, a magistrate, or a notary public. The summons issues to the sheriff, a deputy, a lawful constable, or — since July 1, 2025 (Ga. L. 2025, Act 255, the 'Eviction Service Act') — an approved process server (44-7-51(a)); service is personal, or on a sui juris resident of the premises, or by tack-and-mail (posting on the door plus same-day first-class mail), though tack-and-mail service supports a default judgment for POSSESSION only, not money, unless the tenant appears (44-7-51(c)). Magistrate trials follow magistrate procedure; other courts follow civil procedure for courts of record (44-7-53(b)).
Filing to hearing	Georgia sets no fixed hearing date. The summons commands the tenant to answer — orally or in writing — within 7 days from the date of ACTUAL service, extended to the next non-weekend, non-holiday day if day 7 is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday; the last possible answer date must be stated on the summons and the landlord need not appear on the answer date (44-7-51(b)). No answer: the court 'shall issue a writ of possession instanter' plus a default judgment for all rents due, with no hearing and no further evidence, notwithstanding the Civil Practice Act's default-opening and stay provisions (44-7-53(a)). Answer: trial of the issues per civil (or magistrate) procedure, with a statutory command that 'every effort should be made by the trial court to expedite a trial of the issues'; the tenant remains in possession pending the outcome (44-7-53(b)), and if possession cannot be finally determined within two weeks from service the tenant must pay accruing rent and tenant-paid utilities — and alleged pre-filing arrears, or show a receipt — into the court registry, with a writ issuing on any missed payment (44-7-54).
Writ of possession and lockout	The writ is a 'writ of possession', defined to issue without restrictions or conditions on the landlord's recovery of full possession (44-7-49(2)). Timing splits by posture and is commonly conflated: on DEFAULT (no answer) the writ issues instanter (44-7-53(a)); after a contested TRIAL judgment for the landlord, the writ becomes effective only 'at the expiration of seven days after the date such judgment was entered', except as provided by the appeal statute (44-7-55(a)). Execution: the landlord must apply for execution within 30 days of issuance or seek a new writ absent good cause (44-7-55(d)); no statute obligates the sheriff to execute within a set time, but if the sheriff/marshal/constable cannot execute within 14 days of the landlord's application, the landlord may — at the landlord's sole cost, on 5 calendar days' written notice to the sheriff — use a certified off-duty officer from the sheriff's authorized list to execute the writ (44-7-55(e), added by 2024 Ga. Laws 484, eff. 2024-04-24). On execution the tenant's personal property is placed on the landlord's or other designated property; the landlord is not a bailee, owes no duty regarding it, and after execution the property 'shall be regarded as abandoned' (44-7-55(c)). If the tenant placed a manufactured home, mobile home, trailer, or other transportable housing on the land and does not move it within 10 days after final order, the landlord may have it moved at the tenant's expense by a licensed carrier, with a moving-and-storage lien capped at $4.00 per day for storage (44-7-59).
Appeal window	7 days
Best-case uncontested timeline (derived from statutory minimums — contested cases run longer)	Roughly 12–14 days from notice to an enforceable writ in an uncontested nonpayment dispossessory, about two weeks. The actual lockout date is controlled by sheriff scheduling, which in metro Atlanta counties routinely adds one to several weeks. That span is a floor built from statutory minimums, not a promise. It runs as a 3-business-day notice to vacate or pay, then the affidavit and summons, which may be filed immediately on non-payment or refusal, then service by sheriff or constable (no statutory deadline; commonly a few days), then a 7-day answer window from actual service. With no answer, the court issues a writ of possession instanter with a default judgment, the landlord applies for execution, and the sheriff executes (no statutory deadline; off-duty-officer option if not executed within 14 days of application). An answer, counterclaims, a wrongly refused tender, or the 7-day appeal (with rent paid into the registry) extends the span.
Self-help eviction (lockout, utility shutoff) barred	Yes
Self-help scope and tenant remedies	It is unlawful for any landlord knowingly and willfully to suspend cooling, heat, light or water service until after the final disposition of the dispossessory proceeding, punishable by a fine of up to $500.00 (O.C.G.A. 44-7-14.1). Georgia has no express anti-lockout statute, but only an officer executing a writ of possession may lawfully put a tenant out. Utility shutoff is statutorily criminal. The statute bars suspending "the furnishing of utilities," a phrase HB 404 defines as cooling, heat, light, and water service (O.C.G.A. 44-7-14.1). Lockouts and physical removals rest on a different footing: Georgia has no express anti-lockout statute, but Georgia courts construe the dispossessory article as the EXCLUSIVE lawful means of removing a residential tenant in possession, and the judiciary's official self-help resource states flatly that a landlord who attempts to remove a tenant without the court process and order is acting 'against the law.' A wrongfully evicting landlord faces tort exposure (trespass, conversion, wrongful eviction damages), and within the proceeding a landlord whose conduct is wrongful is liable for all foreseeable damages when judgment goes to the tenant (44-7-55(b)). Only an officer executing a writ of possession may put the tenant out.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Georgia Eviction Process Laws (verified August 12, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/eviction-process/georgia/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Georgia statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

Two writ clocks — default is instanter, the 7-day delay is trial-only — On default (no answer) the writ of possession issues instanter under 44-7-53(a); the seven-day delay before a writ becomes effective (44-7-55(a)) applies only after a contested trial judgment. Secondary sources routinely apply the seven days to both.
The 3-business-day notice has a lease-date cutoff — HB 404 § 6 applies the pay-or-vacate notice only to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024 — a pre-July-2024 lease that has never renewed is still governed by the old demand-for-possession regime. And it is an eviction-filing prerequisite, not a late-fee grace period.
Pay-and-stay costs rent plus the warrant, and binds the landlord once a year — The 44-7-52 tender must include the cost of the dispossessory warrant on top of all rents allegedly owed, and the landlord is required to accept a post-summons tender only once in any 12-month period.
The seven-day notice bill died — three business days stands — HB 1389, which would have stretched the 44-7-50(c) notice to vacate or pay from three business days to seven, died at House Second Readers on February 24, 2026, and the biennium's sine die adjournment on April 2, 2026 killed every other pending dispossessory bill, including the record-sealing bills HB 875 and SB 617. The three-business-day notice remains current law.
HB 404's criminal-activity fast track never became law — The expedited-eviction provision advertised in the bill as introduced — the phrase still appears in the official First Reader summary — was dropped before passage; the signed Act 392 contains no such track. Any source describing a Safe at Home Act criminal-activity fast track is wrong.
Approved process servers can serve the summons (2025) — The Eviction Service Act (Ga. L. 2025, Act 255, HB 270, effective July 1, 2025) added 'an approved process server' to those who may serve the dispossessory summons under 44-7-51(a), alongside the sheriff, deputies, and lawful constables. The fallback ladder is unchanged: personal service first, then delivery to any sui juris person residing on the premises, then posting on the door with same-day first-class mail. The act does not define 'approved process server' or add an approval procedure of its own. Trackers describing an airport- or airplane-eviction continuance provision in this act are wrong — the enacted text amends 44-7-51(a) only.
Day counting is not uniform across the deadlines — The 3-day nonpayment notice runs in business days by the statute's express words (44-7-50(c)); the 7-day answer clock carries its own weekend/holiday extension inside 44-7-51(b); the 7-day writ-effectiveness and appeal periods run in calendar days under O.C.G.A. 1-3-1(d)(3), which excludes intermediate weekends and holidays only for periods of less than seven days; and the 3-day payment order after a wrongly refused tender (44-7-52(b)) does exclude intermediate weekends.
The off-duty-officer option is a separate 2024 law — 44-7-55(e), which lets a landlord use a certified off-duty officer if the sheriff cannot execute within 14 days of the landlord's application, comes from 2024 Ga. Laws 484 — separate from HB 404.
One statewide scheme — no mobile-home track, no local ordinances — Georgia has no separate mobile-home-park dispossessory scheme; the same article applies, with 44-7-59's transportable-housing removal mechanics (10 days to move the home after final order, removal by a licensed carrier at the tenant's expense, storage lien capped at $4.00 per day). No Georgia locality has a just-cause or supplemental eviction-notice ordinance — dispossessory procedure is state-level, and 44-7-19 preempts local rent regulation.
Sourcing, and no 2025–2026 changes — Georgia's official code is published on a consent-gated LexisNexis portal that cannot be deep-linked, so section citations point to Justia's 2024 Code of Georgia mirror, whose 44-7-50 language matches the enrolled HB 404 text on the General Assembly's own site. The Judicial Council's georgiacourts.gov self-help page states the 7-day answer rule and the unlawfulness of extra-judicial removal, and the Georgia DCA Landlord-Tenant Handbook states that self-help evictions are illegal. The 2025–2026 regular session made no amendments to the dispossessory article or 44-7-14.1, and it has adjourned sine die.

Common questions: Georgia eviction process

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before filing an eviction for unpaid rent in Georgia?: 3 days. Those are business days by the statute's own words, and the notice must tell the tenant to vacate or pay all past-due rent, late fees, utilities and other charges owed. It applies only to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.
How much notice is required to evict for a lease violation in Georgia?: No statutory period — see the notes on this page. Georgia has no statutory cure-or-quit notice for lease violations. Nothing in the dispossessory article (44-7-49 through 44-7-59) prescribes a violation notice period or a statutory right to cure a non-rent breach, so the lease's own default and termination clause controls whatever notice and cure opportunity exist.
How long does an eviction take in Georgia?: Roughly 12–14 days from notice to an enforceable writ in an uncontested nonpayment dispossessory, about two weeks. The actual lockout date is controlled by sheriff scheduling, which in metro Atlanta counties routinely adds one to several weeks.
How long does a tenant have to appeal an eviction judgment in Georgia?: 7 days.
Can a landlord change the locks or shut off utilities instead of going to court in Georgia?: No — Georgia bars self-help eviction by statute; a landlord must go through the court process. It is unlawful for any landlord knowingly and willfully to suspend cooling, heat, light or water service until after the final disposition of the dispossessory proceeding, punishable by a fine of up to $500.00 (O.C.G.A. 44-7-14.1). Georgia has no express anti-lockout statute, but only an officer executing a writ of possession may lawfully put a tenant out.

Changes since last full verification

The Verified date above (August 12, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official state sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).

Updated, August 16, 2026 — A pending-legislation row flags Georgia SB 406 (Ga. L. 2026, p. 988, § 8): effective January 1, 2027, new O.C.G.A. 44-7-50(e) allows a court, on motion and after a hearing, to make dispossessory-proceeding records unavailable to the public where the tenant prevailed, the judgment has been paid in full with interest and costs, or seven years have passed since a dismissal or a paid judgment; the landlord may still pursue amounts owed in a separate action or through collections. Current answers are unchanged until that date.

Statute citations

O.C.G.A. 44-7-50 (a), (c), (d) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
O.C.G.A. 44-7-51 (a)-(c) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
O.C.G.A. 44-7-52 (a)-(b) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
O.C.G.A. 44-7-53 (a)-(b) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
O.C.G.A. 44-7-54 (a)-(b) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
O.C.G.A. 44-7-55 (a), (c)-(e) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
O.C.G.A. 44-7-56 (b) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
O.C.G.A. 44-7-14.1 (a)-(c) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Ga. L. 2025, Act 255 (HB 270), the 'Eviction Service Act' — amends O.C.G.A. 44-7-51(a) (approved process servers), eff. 2025-07-01 (verified 2026) Official source
Ga. L. 2026, p. 988 (SB 406), the 'Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act' — § 8 adds O.C.G.A. 44-7-50(e) (dispossessory records made unavailable to the public on motion), eff. 2027-01-01 §§ 8-9 (verified 2026) Official source
HB 404 (2024 Ga. Laws 392), Georgia General Assembly bill record and enrolled text §§ 3, 5, 6 (verified 2026) Official source
Judicial Council of Georgia, official self-help resource: Landlord/Tenant (dispossessory process; removal without court order is unlawful) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text: O.C.G.A. 44-7-30.1, 44-7-34, 44-7-35, 44-7-36, 44-7-7, and 44-7-19 read in full from the 2024 Code of Georgia (Justia mirror of the official code, which is not deep-linkable on the official legis.ga.gov LexisNexis portal), cross-checked against the official Georgia General Assembly HB 404 (2024 Ga. Laws 392) bill record on legis.ga.gov and the Georgia Appleseed / magistrate-judge bench card summarizing the Safe at Home Act. 44-7-31, 44-7-32, and 44-7-33 mechanics confirmed across the code mirror section listing and multiple consistent secondary sources.