2021 Georgia Code
Title 44 - Property
Chapter 7 - Landlord and Tenant
Article 1 - In General
§ 44-7-20. Notification to Prospective Tenant of Property's Propensity Toward Flooding
When the owner of real property, either directly or through an agent, seeks to lease or rent that property for residential occupancy, prior to entering a written agreement for the leasehold of that property, the owner shall, either directly or through an agent, notify the prospective tenant in writing of the property's propensity of flooding if flooding has damaged any portion of the living space covered by the lease or attachments thereto to which the tenant or the tenant's resident relative has sole and exclusive use under the written agreement at least three times during the five-year period immediately preceding the date of the lease. An owner failing to give such notice shall be liable in tort to the tenant and the tenant's family residing on the leased premises for damages to the personal property of the lessee or a resident relative of the lessee which is proximately caused by flooding which occurs during the term of the lease. For purposes of this Code section, flooding is defined as the inundation of a portion of the living space covered by the lease which was caused by an increased water level in an established water source such as a river, stream, or drainage ditch or as a ponding of water at or near the point where heavy or excessive rain fell. This Code section shall apply only to leaseholds entered into on or after July 1, 1995.
(Code 1981, §44-7-20, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 266, § 1.)
Code Commission notes.- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1995, "inundation" was substituted for "innundation" in the third sentence.
Law reviews.- For note on the 1995 enactment of this Code section, see 12 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 310 (1995).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Failure to state a claim.
- In a suit brought by the tenants against the landlord and property management company (defendants), the trial court properly granted the defendants summary judgment on the per se negligence claim under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20 since the statute was inapplicable due to the tenants not alleging that the tenants living space flooded at least three times during the five-year period because of flooding from a river, stream, drainage ditch, or a ponding of water. Ellis v. Hartford Run Apartments, LLC, 335 Ga. App. 118, 779 S.E.2d 103 (2015), cert. denied, No. S16C0607, 2016 Ga. LEXIS 289 (Ga. 2016).
