Georgia: Rent Increase Notice Requirements

Georgia's notice rule

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs draws a line between a fixed lease
and a tenancy at will. For a tenancy at will, the Department says the landlord
must give 60 days' notice of a rent increase. After those 60 days, the parties
begin a new tenancy at will at the new rent.

That guidance works alongside O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7, which requires 60 days'
notice from the landlord to terminate a tenancy at will. The Department's
handbook applies that interval to the transition into the new tenancy at the
higher rent; the statute itself is worded as a termination rule.

The fixed lease controls mid-term changes

During a lease, DCA says rent “can only be increased” if the lease says that may
happen. The lease also determines how often an authorized increase may occur.
Georgia states no separate statewide frequency limit or mandatory increase form,
content fields, or service method for the ordinary tenancy covered here.

What trips people up

The 60-day rule is not a statewide cap on the size of the increase. Current
Chapter 7 states no general percentage or CPI formula limiting an ordinary
residential increase, and no rent-increase-specific damages amount. A tenant
disputing whether an increase follows the lease or the tenancy-at-will rule must
use the courts to enforce the parties' rights; DCA notes that no state agency
intervenes to decide ordinary landlord-tenant disputes.

Local rent control is generally unavailable. Section 44-7-19 bars counties
and municipal corporations from regulating the amount charged for privately
owned single-family or multiple-unit residential rental property. It preserves
regulation of property belonging to the local government or its authority, and
rent terms contained in agreements with private persons.

Common questions

Does every Georgia rent increase require 60 days' notice?

The DCA handbook states the 60-day rule for a tenancy at will. During a fixed
lease, the lease determines whether an increase can happen at all and how often.

Can rent rise during a one-year lease?

Only if the lease authorizes it. DCA says rent can be increased during a lease
only when the lease says that may happen.

How much can the landlord raise the rent?

Georgia's current landlord-and-tenant chapter states no general statewide
percentage or formula cap for the ordinary private tenancy covered here.

Statutes and sources

• Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook,
  revised August 29, 2024: lease-controlled increases and the 60-day
  tenancy-at-will rule — official handbook
  (accessed July 13, 2026).
• O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7. Sixty-day landlord notice to terminate a tenancy at
  will — public-domain O.C.G.A. text
  (accessed July 13, 2026; current wording cross-checked through the 2026
  session).
• O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19. Local regulation of private residential rent amounts
  generally preempted — public-domain O.C.G.A. text
  (accessed July 13, 2026; failed 2025-2026 repeal bills confirmed the section
  remains in force).