Georgia Security Deposit Law 2026: What Atlanta Renters Need to Know

Georgia changed its security deposit rules on 1 July 2024, and a great deal of what you will find written about them online still describes the position before that date. If you have read that Georgia places no limit on what a landlord may demand, that was true until recently and is no longer.

This guide covers what the statute now says, which parts protect you, which parts have an exemption that may apply to your landlord, and what to do if a deposit demand looks wrong. It is a summary of published statutory text rather than legal advice, and the sections are cited so you can read them yourself.

The cap, which is new

O.C.G.A. section 44-7-30.1 states that no landlord shall demand or receive a security deposit in an amount exceeding the equivalent of two months rent. It was created by House Bill 404, known as the Safe at Home Act, and took effect on 1 July 2024.

The date matters more than it might appear. The cap applies to lease agreements entered into or renewed on or after that date. A tenancy that began earlier and has not since renewed may still sit under the previous rules, where no statutory limit existed. If you signed in 2023 and have simply continued month to month without a renewal, the position is worth checking rather than assuming.

Two details decide whether a particular demand is inside the cap.

Refundable deposits are counted together. A pet deposit, a key deposit, and any other refundable amount form part of the same two month total. A landlord cannot ask for two months rent as a security deposit and then add a refundable pet deposit on top.

Non-refundable fees are a separate category and are not counted toward the cap. This is why the labeling of a charge matters. A non-refundable pet fee, an administration fee, and an application fee all sit outside the two month limit, and Georgia does not cap them. If a property has restructured its charges since mid 2024 so that more of the money is described as a fee rather than a deposit, that is worth noticing.

Where your money has to sit

Section 44-7-31 requires the deposit to be held in an escrow account at a state or federally regulated depository, used for no other purpose, and it requires the landlord to tell you in writing where that account is. A surety bond is permitted as an alternative arrangement.

The point of the requirement is separation. Your deposit is not the landlord’s operating money, and a landlord who has mingled it with their own funds has not complied. In practice most renters never ask where the account is, and most landlords never volunteer it. Asking is reasonable and the answer should be readily available.

The inspection list, which decides most disputes

Section 44-7-33 is the provision fewest renters know about and the one most likely to matter at the end of a tenancy.

Before accepting a security deposit, a landlord subject to the formal requirements must give you a written list of any existing damage to the property. The consequence of failing to do so is severe: the landlord forfeits the right to retain any portion of the deposit at all. Not a reduced portion. Any portion.

That makes the walkthrough list the decisive document in most deposit disputes, and it is worth treating accordingly. Complete it carefully rather than quickly. Note everything, including marks and wear that seem too minor to mention, because the list is the record of what was already wrong before you arrived. Photograph what you record, with the date visible. Keep a signed copy rather than trusting that the office has one.

Renters routinely sign these lists without reading them, or accept a blank one on the understanding that it will be filled in later. Neither is a good idea, and both make it considerably harder to dispute a deduction twelve months on.

Getting the money back

Section 44-7-34 gives the landlord thirty days after the end of the tenancy to return the deposit, or to return the balance together with a written statement itemizing each deduction. The clock runs from the end of the tenancy rather than from the day you gave notice.

An itemized statement means what it says. A single line reading cleaning and repairs is not an itemization, and a landlord who provides one has not met the requirement in substance even if they have produced a document.

Section 44-7-35 provides that a landlord who withholds a deposit in bad faith may be liable for treble the amount wrongfully withheld. This is a statutory remedy rather than something a court decides to award as a matter of discretion, and it is a meaningful deterrent. Bad faith is a higher bar than simply being wrong about a deduction, but a landlord who ignores the thirty day deadline entirely, or who deducts for damage they cannot evidence, is in a weaker position than they may realize.

The exemption that may apply to your landlord

Section 44-7-36 sets out an exemption, and it is broad enough to matter.

The escrow account and inspection list requirements do not apply to a landlord who is a natural person owning ten or fewer rental units, provided that landlord does not use a management company. An individual who owns a handful of houses and manages them personally is exempt from those two obligations.

Two things follow from this. The first is that establishing early whether you are renting from an individual owner or from a management company tells you which requirements are in play. The second is that the exemption is narrower than it first appears: it covers escrow and inspection, not the deposit cap and not the thirty day return deadline. A small individual landlord still cannot demand more than two months rent, and still has thirty days to return your money with an itemized statement.

What Georgia law does not do

It is worth being clear about the limits of these protections, because renters moving from other states sometimes assume more than exists.

Georgia does not require a landlord to pay interest on a security deposit. Several states do; Georgia does not.

Georgia does not cap application fees, administration fees, or any other non-refundable charge. Those are a matter of what the property charges and what you agree to.

Georgia does not set a statutory limit on late fees and does not require a grace period before one can be charged. Whatever your lease says on both points is what governs, which makes that clause worth reading closely rather than skimming.

If something looks wrong

Take it in order rather than escalating immediately.

Check the lease date. The cap applies to agreements entered into or renewed on or after 1 July 2024, so establish which side of that line your tenancy sits on.

Separate the deposits from the fees. Add up everything refundable and compare that total against two months rent. Non-refundable fees sit outside the calculation.

Ask in writing, citing the section. An email asking a landlord to identify the legal and contractual basis for a charge, referencing O.C.G.A. 44-7-30.1, is more effective than a phone call and creates a record. Many landlords and property managers are not aware the rule changed, and a polite written question is often enough to resolve it.

Get advice for anything contested. If a deposit has been withheld, if you have received an eviction notice, or if a landlord disputes your reading of the statute, that is a question for a Georgia attorney or a housing assistance organization rather than for a website. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs publishes a landlord tenant handbook, and Georgia’s consumer protection office maintains a directory of assistance providers.

The short version

Two months rent is the ceiling on refundable deposits for leases signed or renewed since July 2024. Get the written inspection list before you hand over money, because a landlord who does not provide one cannot keep any of your deposit. Thirty days to return it with an itemized statement. Treble damages if it is withheld in bad faith. And a small individual landlord managing their own property is exempt from the escrow and inspection rules but not from the cap or the deadline.

Homzora Housing Intelligence · Atlanta edition