Georgia § 44-7-50 - Demand for possession; procedure upon a tenant's refusal; concurrent issuance of federal lease termination notice.

§ 44-7-50. Demand for possession; procedure upon a tenant's refusal; concurrent issuance of federal lease termination notice.

In all cases when a tenant holds possession of lands or tenements over and beyond the term for which they were rented or leased to such tenant or fails to pay the rent when it becomes due and in all cases when 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 such lands or tenements desires possession of such lands or tenements, such 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 such 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. 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. (Laws 1827, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 901; Ga. L. 1853-54, p. 52, § 4; Ga. L. 1853-54, p. 55, § 1; Ga. L. 1855-56, p. 268, § 1; Code 1863, § 3983; Ga. L. 1865-66, p. 34, § 1; Code 1868, § 4005; Code 1873, § 4077; Code 1882, § 4077; Civil Code 1895, § 4813; Civil Code 1910, § 5385; Code 1933, § 61-301; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1228, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 884, § 4-1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 892, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1446, § 9; Ga. L. 1995, p. 577, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 656, § 1.1/HB 1273; Ga. L. 2016, p. 8, § 3/SB 255; Ga. L. 2018, p. 820, § 8/SB 194.) The 2016 amendment, effective May 12, 2016, substituted "Code Section 18-4-3" for "Code Section 18-4-61, relating to garnishment affidavits" at the end of subsection (a). The 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, in subsection (a), substituted "such" for "the" throughout, substituted "when" for "where" twice in the first sentence, and deleted ", subject to the same requirements for judicial approval specified in Code Section 18-4-3" following "notary public" at the end of the last sentence. Law reviews. - For article, "Distress and Dispossessory Warrants in Georgia," see 12 Ga. B.J. 266 (1950). For article surveying real property law, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 255 (1982). For annual survey article on real property law, see 50 Mercer L. Rev. 307 (1998). For comment on Wilensky v. Agoos, 74 Ga. App. 815 , 41 S.E.2d 565 (1947), see 10 Ga. B.J. 109 (1947).