Georgia: Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements
The short answer
Georgia has no general statewide statute that caps or creates a special process for residential rental-application, credit-check, background-check, or tenant-screening fees. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs says application fees may be required and are usually not refundable even if the application is denied or withdrawn, and that the fee may be applied to first month's rent. The audited landlord-tenant and real-estate licensing statutes add no special fee disclosure, mandatory receipt, report-copy, refund, reusable-report, application-order, or state denial-notice rule.
Ask Ezel about your situation
This is the general rule in Georgia. Ezel applies current Georgia law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and coverage | No general statewide application/screening-fee statute after current reconstruction of O.C.G.A. chs. 44-7 and 43-40; DCA's statewide handbook says application fees may be required |
|---|---|
| Fees allowed or prohibited | Application fees may be required and are usually nonrefundable; landlords may require credit and criminal-background checks (Georgia DCA Handbook 6) |
| Maximum charge and adjustment | No statewide numeric, actual-cost, reasonable-cost, customary-cost, per-applicant, per-household, or indexed ceiling in the audited statutes |
| Permitted costs and charge timing | No statewide fee-component, unit-availability, charge-when-considered, concurrent-application, or repeat-charge rule; DCA says the fee may be applied to first month's rent |
| Before-screening disclosures | No special statewide fee or screening disclosure; separate flood-propensity notice applies before a written residential lease when § 44-7-20's history threshold is met |
| Receipt, report copy, and refund | No special statutory application-fee receipt, report-copy, unused-fee, or unconsidered-application refund duty; DCA advises applicants to get a receipt and says fees are usually nonrefundable |
| Applicant-supplied or reusable reports | No statewide applicant-supplied or reusable screening-report acceptance or no-fee procedure |
| Application order and adverse action | No statewide first-in-order, first-qualified, single-application, or state denial-reason notice process for rental applications |
| Remedies and stronger local rules | No application-fee-specific statutory damages, agency remedy, or local-preemption clause in the audited statutes; general broker trust-account and discipline rules remain |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Georgia has no special statewide fee process
The current reconstructed text of O.C.G.A. Chapter 44-7 contains no statute
specifically capping or regulating a residential application, processing,
credit-check, background-check, or tenant-screening fee. The complete real-
estate licensing chapter, O.C.G.A. Chapter 43-40, was also audited. It covers
property management and referring prospective tenants but creates no tenant-
facing application-fee or screening process.
Accordingly, the audited statutes create no special statewide requirement for:
- a maximum dollar amount, actual-cost formula, or annual adjustment;
- proof that a unit is available or that an application will be considered;
- advance disclosure of the fee basis, screening criteria, or report source;
- an application-fee receipt, screening-report copy, or unused-fee refund;
- acceptance of an applicant-supplied or reusable report;
- first-in-order or first-qualified processing; or
- a state-format denial or conditional-approval notice.
What the state handbook says
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs' Landlord-Tenant Handbook gives
the practical statewide baseline. It says application fees may be required,
are usually not refundable even if the application is denied or the applicant
changes their mind, and may be applied to first month's rent. The handbook
also advises applicants to get a receipt for every fee or deposit.
That receipt sentence is practical advice, not a statutory receipt mandate.
Neither audited chapter requires a landlord to itemize an application fee,
provide the screening report, refund an unconsidered fee, accept a reusable
report, process applications in a particular order, or issue a Georgia-format
denial notice.
Boundaries that still matter
Section 44-7-30 separates a security deposit from a nonrefundable fee or money
the rental agreement says will not be returned. The DCA handbook states more
directly that application fees and deposits to hold an apartment until signing
are not security deposits and usually are not refundable. The security-deposit
escrow, inspection, and return rules therefore should not be assumed to govern
an application fee.
Section 44-7-20 creates a different pre-lease disclosure. When the living space
has been damaged by qualifying flooding at least three times in the preceding
five years, the owner must give the prospective tenant written notice before a
written residential lease. That is a property-history disclosure, not an
application-fee or screening disclosure.
For licensed property managers, § 43-40-1 includes marketing and prospective-
tenant referrals within property-management services. O.C.G.A. § 43-40-20 imposes
trust-account duties on specified transaction funds. Those provisions do not
state an application-fee amount, receipt, refund deadline, report-copy duty, or
application-processing rule.
What trips people up
Security-deposit protections do not automatically cover an application
fee. The statute and DCA handbook distinguish nonrefundable charges from
money held as security for a tenancy.
“Always get a receipt” is advice to the applicant. The audited statutes do
not turn that handbook recommendation into a special application-fee receipt
duty for the landlord.
A background check does not create a Georgia screening procedure. The
handbook says landlords may require credit and criminal-background checks, but
Georgia's audited statutes do not add a state fee cap, reusable-report system,
application order, report-copy rule, or denial-notice form.
Common questions
Is there a statewide maximum rental application fee? No numeric or cost-
based cap appears in the current audited statutes.
Must the fee be refunded if the application is denied? The DCA handbook
says application fees are usually not refundable even when an application is
denied or the applicant changes their mind. A particular agreement or other
law can still affect a specific charge.
Must the landlord give me the screening report? The audited statutes impose
no special report-copy duty tied to a rental application charge.
Does Georgia require reusable screening reports? No statewide applicant-
supplied or reusable-report acceptance procedure appears in the audited
statutes.
Statutes and sources
- O.C.G.A. Chapter 44-7 — complete current landlord-tenant chapter
reconstruction audited for applicant-fee and screening rules.CHAPTER 7 Landlord and Tenant Article 1 In General Article 2 Security
Deposits Article 3 Dispossessory Proceedings Article 4 Distress Warrants
Article 5 Croppers Article 6 Abandoned Mobile Home.
Official public-domain source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.44.html (accessed 2026-07-21)
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30 — nonrefundable-fee and security-deposit definitions.
“Security deposit” means money or any other form of security ... held by
the landlord on behalf of a tenant by virtue of a residential rental
agreement ... Such term shall not include nonrefundable fees, or money or
other consideration which are not to be returned to the tenant ...
Official public-domain source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.44.html (accessed 2026-07-21)
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20 — separate pre-lease flood-history notice.
[P]rior to entering a written agreement for the leasehold ... the owner
shall ... notify the prospective tenant in writing of the property's
propensity of flooding if flooding has damaged any portion of the living
space ... at least three times during the five-year period immediately
preceding the date of the lease.
Official public-domain source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.44.html (accessed 2026-07-21)
- O.C.G.A. Chapter 43-40 and §§ 43-40-1, 43-40-20 — property-management
coverage and general trust-account duties.
“Property management services” means the provision, for a valuable
consideration, to another of marketing, including referring prospective
tenants; leasing; physical, administrative, or financial maintenance; and
overall management of real property ...
Official public-domain source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.43.html (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Georgia DCA, Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook, pages 6 and 8 — statewide
agency guidance on application fees.
Application fees may be required and are usually not refundable, even if
the application is denied or you change your mind. The fee may be applied
to the first month's rent. Always get a receipt for any fee or deposit.
Official source: https://dca.georgia.gov/document/manuals/georgia-landlord-tenant-handbook/download (accessed 2026-07-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
Get the answer for your situation
You just read how Georgia handles this in general. Ezel applies current Georgia law to your facts and answers your specific question, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the authority it relies on.