Georgia security deposit rules: limit, return deadline and deductions

The two months’ rent limit

The Safe at Home Act of 2024 added § 44-7-30.1 to Georgia’s security deposit article. It is one sentence: “No landlord shall demand or receive a security deposit in an amount that exceeds the equivalent of two months’ rent.”

On a unit that rents for $1,500 a month, the most a landlord can take as a security deposit is $3,000. The Act applies to residential lease agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.

What counts as a security deposit is set by the definition in § 44-7-30. It covers money held on the tenant’s behalf, and it names damage deposits, advance rent deposits and pet deposits. Nonrefundable fees are outside it.

Limit

A security deposit can’t exceed the equivalent of two months’ rent. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1

Leases covered

Residential lease agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. Ga. L. 2024, p. 91, § 6 (HB 404)

What is a security deposit

Money or any other form of security given by a tenant to a landlord, to be held by the landlord on behalf of the tenant under a residential rental agreement. It includes, but is not limited to, damage deposits, advance rent deposits and pet deposits. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30(3)

What is not

Nonrefundable fees, and money that is not to be returned to the tenant under the terms of the rental agreement. A nonrefundable fee is money the parties agreed would not be refunded. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30(1), (3)

Holding the deposit: escrow account or surety bond

A landlord covered by these sections has two choices. One is an escrow account set up for security deposits and nothing else, in a bank or lending institution regulated by Georgia or by a federal agency. The deposit is held in trust for the tenant, and the tenant is told in writing where the account is.

The other is a surety bond filed with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the unit is. A landlord holding $18,000 in deposits posts an $18,000 bond. A landlord holding $80,000 in deposits posts a $50,000 bond.

Nothing in the article requires interest on a deposit. Owners who fit the small-owner exemption in § 44-7-36 are outside both of these sections. That exemption is covered in the last section of this page.

Escrow account

In a bank or lending institution subject to regulation by Georgia or any agency of the United States government, in an account kept for that purpose alone. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-31

Written notice

Tenants are informed in writing of the location of the escrow account. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-31

Surety bond instead

Posted with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the dwelling unit is located. The amount is the total of the security deposits the landlord holds for tenants or $50,000, whichever is less. The surety is a company authorized and licensed to do business in Georgia. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-32(a)

Clerk’s fees

$5 for filing and recording the bond and $5 for canceling it. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-32

Move-in and move-out damage lists

Section 44-7-33 sets up two lists. Before the tenant hands over a deposit, the landlord presents a comprehensive list of any existing damage, which the tenant keeps. After the tenant leaves, the landlord inspects and compiles a list of any damage that will be charged against the deposit, with an estimated dollar value for each item.

The second list has a short clock. A lease that ends and a tenant who moves out on Friday, July 31, 2026 puts the third business day on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

The lists matter later. A tenant who was present at the move-out inspection and signed the list, or who didn’t write down specific objections, can’t recover under the penalty section, as long as the lists carried written notice of the tenant’s duty to sign or to dissent.

Move-in list

Before a deposit is tendered, the tenant is presented with a comprehensive list of any existing damage to the premises, to keep. The tenant may inspect the premises before taking occupancy to check the list. Landlord and tenant sign it. A tenant who refuses to sign states in writing the items he or she dissents to and signs that statement. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a)

Move-out inspection

Within three business days after the lease ends and the tenant vacates, or after the surrender and acceptance of the premises if that is sooner. The landlord or the landlord’s agent inspects and compiles a comprehensive list of any damage that is the basis for a charge against the deposit, with the estimated dollar value of the damage. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(b)(1)

Tenant’s inspection

On request, the tenant may inspect the premises and the list within five business days after the lease ends and the tenant vacates, or the surrender and acceptance of the premises, and the landlord’s inspection. If the tenant is present with the landlord at the inspection, both sign the list. A tenant who refuses to sign states the disputed items in writing and signs that statement. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(b)(1)

Tenant left without notice

The landlord inspects and compiles the list within a reasonable time after discovering the premises has been surrendered by vacancy, and signs it. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(b)(2)

Disputes

A tenant’s court claim over the final damage list is limited to the items the tenant specifically dissented to. A tenant who did not inspect after moving out, or was not present for the landlord’s inspection, and did not request a copy of the final list keeps the right to dispute the damages. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(c)

Returning the deposit: 30 days, the written statement and what can be kept

The 30 days run from the landlord obtaining possession of the premises as described in § 44-7-33(b). If nothing is owed, the full deposit goes back in that time.

If there is actual cause to keep part of it, the landlord gives the tenant a written statement identifying the exact reasons, and the payment of the balance goes with it. When the reason is damage, the statement includes the damage list from § 44-7-33. Take a $2,000 deposit with $350 of damage on the list and $150 of unpaid utility charges. The landlord keeps $500 and sends $1,500 with the statement.

The statute treats mailing as enough. A landlord is deemed to have complied by mailing the statement and any payment to the tenant’s last known address. The statute names first-class mail (§ 44-7-34(a)).

Deadline

Within 30 days after obtaining possession of the premises as provided in § 44-7-33(b), the landlord returns the full security deposit. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)

Ordinary wear and tear

No deposit may be kept to cover ordinary wear and tear from using the premises for their intended purposes. This holds provided there was no negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse of the premises by the tenant, members of the household, or their invitees or guests. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)

Written statement

A written statement identifying the exact reasons for keeping any portion, with the comprehensive list of damages if the reason is damage to the premises. The statement is accompanied by payment of the difference between the sum deposited and the amount kept. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)

What may be kept

Unpaid rent or fees for late payment, abandonment of the premises, unpaid utility charges, repair work or cleaning the tenant contracted for with third parties, unpaid pet fees, and actual damages caused by the tenant’s breach. The landlord attempts to mitigate the actual damages. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)

Returned mail

If the letter with the payment comes back undelivered and the landlord can’t locate the tenant after reasonable effort, the payment becomes the landlord’s property 90 days after the date it was mailed. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)

Penalties: losing the right to keep anything, and three times the amount

Georgia has two layers of penalty. A landlord who skips the steps above can lose the right to keep any of the deposit. A landlord who then fails to return money that was due can owe three times that money.

Say a landlord keeps $400 of a $1,200 deposit and a court finds the $400 was improperly withheld. The landlord owes 3 × $400 = $1,200, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. If the landlord shows the withholding was a bona fide error, the amount is the $400.

Section 44-7-35 is one of the sections that doesn’t apply to the small owners described below.

No right to keep any portion

Paragraph (a) lists three failures, joined by “and”: the deposit was not in an escrow account or covered by a surety bond; the move-in damage list was not made and presented to the tenant; the final damage list was not compiled and made available to the tenant. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(a)

Late or missing statement

Failing to provide the written statements within the time period in § 44-7-34 forfeits all of the landlord’s rights to withhold any portion of the deposit or to sue the tenant for damages to the premises. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(b)

Three times the amount

A landlord who fails to return any part of a deposit that is required to be returned is liable for three times the sum improperly withheld, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(c)

Bona fide error

The landlord owes just the sum erroneously withheld on showing, by the preponderance of the evidence, that the withholding was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error. The error has to have occurred in spite of procedures reasonably designed to avoid such errors. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(c)

Neither side entitled

Where a court finds that neither landlord nor tenant is entitled to all or part of a deposit, the judge or jury decides an equitable disposition. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(b)

Owners of ten or fewer units, and what this page doesn’t cover

Section 44-7-36 switches off four sections for some small owners: § 44-7-31 (escrow account), § 44-7-32 (surety bond), § 44-7-33 (damage lists and inspections) and § 44-7-35 (the penalties above). It covers rental units owned by a natural person, if that person, his or her spouse and his or her minor children together own ten or fewer rental units.

The exemption is lost for any unit where management, including rent collection, is performed by third persons for a fee. The text speaks of a natural person as the owner and doesn’t mention units owned through a company.

Two sections are not on the list. The two months’ rent limit in § 44-7-30.1 and the return rules in § 44-7-34, including the 30 days and the written statement of exact reasons, stay in place for every landlord.

This page covers the state’s security deposit article for ordinary residential rentals. It doesn’t go into subsidized housing programs or mobile home lot rentals, which can carry rules of their own. A city or county may also have housing rules that sit on top of state law.

Who is exempt

Rental units owned by a natural person, if that person, his or her spouse and his or her minor children collectively own ten or fewer rental units. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36

Sections that don’t apply

§§ 44-7-31, 44-7-32, 44-7-33 and 44-7-35. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36

Sections that still apply

§ 44-7-30.1 (two months’ rent limit) and § 44-7-34 (return within 30 days, written statement). Section 44-7-36 doesn’t list them. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36

When the exemption is lost

It does not apply to units for which management, including rent collection, is performed by third persons, natural or otherwise, for a fee. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36