Full question:
We received a call from our landlords on Nov. 14, 2007 stating that if we did not pay 2/3rds of our November [2007] rent by December 1, 2007 we should be prepared to leave the rental property on December 1, 2007. Our response was that we are working on that. On November 19, 2007 we received another call from our landlords stating that if we did not pay all of November's [2007] rent plus late fees by December 1, 2001 we should be prepared to leave the rental property on December 1, 2007. This time, our response was that we did not think we would have the monies by the first. We also said that we did not see how we could be prepared to leave by December 1st; therefore we would have to go through the eviction process. On November 20, 2007 they filed an Affidavit for Summons of Dispossessory with the Magistrate Court of our county. The way we understand the State of Georgia Landlord Tenant Law Official Code 44-7-50, the landlords must demand possession of the property and we must refuse or fail to give up said property when demanded, before an Affidavit for Summons of Dispossessory can be filed. Since our landlords have only "demanded" possession of the rental property on December 1, 2007, it is impossible for us to have refused or failed to give up possession of the property, yet. Do our landlords have a legal right to file an Affidavit of Summons of Dispossessory, given the above circumstances?
- Category: Landlord Tenant
- Subcategory: Residential Lease
- Date:
- State: Georgia
Answer:
The following is a GA statute:
§ 44-7-50. Demand for possession; procedure upon a tenant's refusal; concurrent issuance of federal lease termination notice
(a) In all cases where a tenant holds possession of lands or tenements over and beyond the term for which they were rented or leased to the tenant or fails to pay the rent when it becomes due and in all cases where lands or tenements are held and occupied by any tenant at will or sufferance, whether under contract of rent or not, when the owner of the lands or tenements desires possession of the lands or tenements, the owner may, individually or by an agent, attorney in fact, or attorney at law, demand the possession of the property so rented, leased, held, or occupied. If the tenant refuses or fails to deliver possession when so demanded, the owner or the agent, attorney at law, or attorney in fact of the owner may immediately go before the judge of the superior court, the judge of the state court, or the clerk or deputy clerk of either court, or the judge or the clerk or deputy clerk of any other court with jurisdiction over the subject matter, or a magistrate in the district where the land lies and make an affidavit under oath to the facts. The affidavit may likewise be made before a notary public, subject to the same requirements for judicial approval specified in Code Section 18-4-61, relating to garnishment affidavits.
(b) If issued by a public housing authority, the demand for possession required by subsection (a) of this Code section may be provided concurrently with the federally required notice of lease termination in a separate writing.
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