State Specific Question About: GEORGIA (GA)

I have a tenant who moved out of the unit and returned the key. When I went to send the maintenance people over to start rehab for new tenant, they discovered a friend of the tenant was living there. This friend is not on the lease. I had the locks on the door changed because this person should not be in my unit. When friend returned home they could not get in because the locks had been changed and they called the police. The police are now calling me to ask what is going on. I told police they have no legal right to be in the unit because I do not have a legal contract with them and I want them arrested for criminal trespass.

IF...and I say a big IF...you want control of your unit back immediately, and IF you have absolutely ZERO (and I mean this...ZERO!!!!) knowledge that this person was living there, do this:

Wait until person leaves. Drill the locks and replace them. Have a moving crew ready and get the place cleaned out in 30 minutes or less. Trash everything into a trailer and get it hauled off to the dump. Don't leave anything behind and for goodness sake don't keep any of it. Get it cleaned, get it perfect.

When the "guest" returns, they will have nothing to show that they were legally living there...no lease, no key, nothing. Be prepared to swear in front of a judge that you were given full possession of the unit back when the tenant moved out, and there was nothing but a little trash left in the unit, which you promptly removed and billed the tenant's deposit for.

Be sure you do BILL the TENANT (the legit one...not the guest), to show that this was "their" trash you removed.

"IF you have absolutely ZERO (and I mean this...ZERO!!!!) knowledge that this person was living there". But of course, in this case that's false, since the maintenance people told you. I'm sure that is what Sid mean when he warned that this approach has risks.

I have no idea if GA is different from the rest of the common-law world in this regard, but in general, your tenant has NOT returned possession, he gave you the keys but he gave possession to his friend. When you say, "I had the locks on the door changed because this person should not be in my unit.", you did something that you had no authority to do. "because this person should not be in my unit" is not enough. He is there, so he can only be removed by the court.

Personally, I don't like that so many landlords overlook this problem, mostly out of ignorance but sometimes out of just not caring. This is where a lawyer can make a good living without being terribly talented. Landlord here is guilty of trespass (thats right, LANDLORD), invasion of privacy, and other torts, with awards in the 5 figures. No problem for occupant to find a lawyer who will take this on a contingency basis.

I suggest to see a lawyer before you really need one.

In GA if tenant returns key then they have given up possession so I have legal ownership to inside of unit again. In GA doing self help eviction like someone previously suggested above is illegal.

Jennifer, GA code 44-7 is a whole chapter. What, actually, does it say about "legal right to my unit" and does it say how to get it? Like, how to get it without going to court?

I don't doubt that you have "legal right", but there is a common law doctrine that possession cannot be taken away except by operation of court. Does GA 44-7 say that, in this case, you did not violate that doctrine?

Moshe,

The tenant moved out and returned the keys which gave me right to my unit. There was no need to evict them because they left. You are right that if I started eviction process I do not have access to unit until the court returns it to me with the enforcement of the writ by the Sheriff.

Jennifer,

Moshe lives in California, which has very different possession laws than most of the rest of the country! You are right to seek out help from those familiar with Georgia laws.

It is a bit unsettling to be left "up in the air" as to what might happen next. Keep us informed of new developments!

"I have no legal contract with the person that is in the unit so I do not have to evict them. Eviction is a legal process reserved only for those who pay rent, share household expenses or have some legal relationship to either you or the landlord. "

Yes, but what about ejectment? See for example, GA 44-11-2, also GA 44-11-13.

You acknowledge that you do not have access to unit until the court returns it to you with the enforcement of THE writ [writ granted by court that orders ejectment] by the Sheriff. You need to do an ejectment in court to get possession of the property. Until then, the squatter has possession, and you cannot disturb him without court order, including changing the locks. The cop was right, legal contract or not.

See also GA 44-11-30. Evidently, in GA, the Sheriff can personally eject the squatter with your affidavit, subject to the squatter making a counter-affidavit.

If he does, he gets his day in court, just as he would for eviction or ejectment. But the basic principle here is that YOU cannot put him out yourself, squatter, trespasser, or whatever. Only the Sheriff can do that, either by court order or by affidavit. That includes changing the lock. If you go in and do that, then YOU [landlord] are guilty of trespass, invasion of privacy, etc. and can be sued successfully.