July 1st landlord tenant law changes
A new law went into effect on July 1st of this year named the Safe at Home Act. If you want to look it up, it is House Bill 404 and it has brought about some changes you need to know about as a landlord, especially when it comes to the eviction process.
If you don’t know, the laws associated with the landlord tenant relationship are defined in the Official Georgia Code Annotated, or OGCA, Title 44 and Chapter 7. If you have never read through this, you really need to. It is written in plain English, and it allows you to understand what is and is not law. Just type “OGCA 44-7” into a search engine and start reading.
The Safe at Home Act was written to amend certain portions of OGCA 44-7. They changed some things like added the word “cooling” to the list of utilities that a landlord cannot knowingly turn off during an eviction process. And if I understand correctly, 44-7-13, which is the section about a landlord’s duties for repairs and improvements, now has a section “b.” There it says any contract used to lease real property must have a provision in it that says the premise is fit for human habitation.
Another thing the bill states is there is a cap on what a security deposit can be. According to 44-7-30.1, a security deposit can be no greater than two months’ rent.
Most of these things we can agree are no big change and probably a good thing. But there is a section that is going to cause you some inconvenience and it comes in 44-7-50 which is the section about dispossessory.
In the past, I have written to you about how to do a pay or quit letter of demand. Our methodology was simple. If a tenant was late, the following day they would get a text and email letting them know they were now in default of their lease agreement. We let them know how much they owed with all late fees, how much time they had to pay the balance and if they did not, they had to either move or we would have no choice but to file for eviction.
In those past columns I told you that there was no code section that defined how to give notice. I said that it was a common practice to tape a note to the door, but that was not a written standard, which is why we use email and text. Plus, email and text are quicker and more verifiable. I also said that the three-day demand period was a common practice. But once again, that was not written.
Well, that changed. In Section “c” of 40-7-50 it now states that three days’ notice must be given to pay or quit. And in section “d” it says that we must post the three-day letter of demand in a sealed envelope conspicuously on the door of the property and delivered via any other method mentioned in the lease.
So, that is going to be a big change in our methodology — actually going to the properties to deliver a letter of demand and tape it to the door. Next thing is, how is that going to be verified? I haven’t spoken to a magistrate about this yet, but one of my buddies did. And they said we just need to take a picture of it to prove we did it. And to go ahead and email and text it afterward to the tenant.
Now, I’m not sure why legislators wanted this particular provision. In my mind, hand placing printed documents on the door is antiquated. We live in a digital age with everyone having a smart phone in their hand and most have email. Those things can be time stamped, dated and verified, whereas hand delivery cannot.
Next, I could see it being a safety risk to landlords showing up to hand place something on the door with a belligerent tenant. If that is the case, landlords are going to need law enforcement to accompany them to do the drop, and now we have put more strain on an underfunded law enforcement system.
But the biggest issue I see with this is verifying the picture of the letter of demand. What if the tenant says they never got the letter of demand and that the picture the landlord provided is not of their door. From what I understand, you can’t file an affidavit of dispossessory unless you have given the three-day letter of demand. The way I see it, this could become a loophole that bad tenants could exploit to delay court proceedings and stay in the house longer.
I just don’t like it.
And whereas I am sure legislators were trying to do good for tenants, this scenario is probably going to backfire, because now we have to do a three-day letter. And now we must physically go to the door and post it there. And this extra effort is going to make it so landlords are much less lenient on how often they allow late payments.
Anyway, these changes went into effect July 1st, but do not pertain to leases signed before that date according to section 6 of the bill. But be aware and make the proper alteration to your methodology.
Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.