As Georgia’s political pinball machine fires back up for another 40 days of horse-trading during the 2024 legislative session, a flurry of housing-focused proposals will once again be bouncing around the machinery, propelled mostly by progressive politicians angling to make life easier for middle- and lower-income residents in need of a decent, affordable place to live.
The General Assembly convened Monday to kick off the legislative session—resuming the two-year lawmaking period that began this time last year—and housing advocates are jockeying over a few proposals that, if approved, would improve many Georgians’ ability to find or retain affordable housing.
Atlanta Civic Circle has prepared a crash course on the most notable proposed legislation. We will track each bill’s path down the rocky Gold Dome road that’s historically obstructed tenant-oriented housing policies.
your guide to understanding the georgia general assembly
House Bill 404
Dubbed the Safe at Home Act, House Bill 404 endeavors to codify language that, “for the first time, says that rental housing [in Georgia] shall be fit for human habitation.”
That’s according to Elizabeth Appley, an attorney and lobbyist for housing-focused organizations, including HouseATL and the Georgia Supportive Housing Association.
“All Georgians thrive when everyone has a safe, decent, affordable, and stable place to call home,” Appley said during December’s Atlanta Regional Housing Forum.
HB 404 passed the state House by a unanimous vote last year, but it failed to secure a vote in the state Senate before the 2023 part of the two-year session concluded.
Housing advocates have contended that the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect lower-income renters from predatory landlords, pointing out that the bill doesn’t even define “habitability.”
“It would be a significant step forward in giving courts the power to define what [habitability] means and what remedies are available to people,” Appley said. “It also caps security deposits to three months rent and provides a three business day right to cure the nonpayment of rent before the landlord can file for eviction.”
“We are working to strengthen this bill if we can and hopefully pass it in the 2024 season,” she said.
Senate Bill 125
Georgia is one of 32 states that have enacted a statewide ban or preemption on local rent stabilization laws, commonly called “rent control.”
The one-page Senate Bill 125 aims to do away with the state’s decades-old ban on rent regulation.
The Georgia code currently says, “No county or municipal corporation may enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance or resolution which would regulate in any way the amount of rent to be changed for privately owned, single-family or multiple-family residential rental property.”
If adopted, SB 125 would empower local governments to enact legislation to either cap rent prices or, more likely, limit the annual rate at which landlords could hike rents.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has told Atlanta Civic Circle he supports SB 125 and would back city legislation to curb the percentage at which landlords could increase rent prices year over year.
“I disagree with the state’s decision at that time to have a ban on rent control statewide,” Dickens said at a press conference last February. “I think jurisdictions can make their own decisions.”
But the state Senate rejected the bill last year by a 33 to 23 vote. SB 125’s opponents have claimed that addressing Georgia’s affordable housing shortage is a simple supply and demand issue, and building more housing would mitigate the crisis—a belief staunchly opposed by housing experts who say that approach leads to low-quality residential options.
“Never underestimate the challenges we face,” Apply said during the Regional Housing Forum.
Senate Bill 29
Democratic state lawmakers are striving to reign in abuses of power by homeowners associations (HOAs), which have broad scope in Georgia to set their own internal rules.
Some are able to boot residents for overdue membership fees or levy hefty fines for something as simple as leaving a trash can out after pickup day.
Senate Bill 29 would require homeowners and their HOA to arbitrate conflicts over unpaid bills, as a cost-effective alternative before the disputes get to court. That could lend some advantage to the homeowners, who are often at a legal disadvantage, since HOAs tend to engage powerful attorneys—unaffordable to many individuals—to represent them in what can be expensive court proceedings.
Related policy issues
As with any legislative session, the state budget will seize considerable attention from lawmakers. This year, Georgia housing experts and affordability advocates think it’s high time to dedicate serious state funding to building and preserving affordable units.
Typically, the state allots only around $3 million each year to its Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless, a misnomer, since the fund can also be used for development projects that could house lower-income people regardless of whether they’ve been homeless.
Georgia has a nearly $11 billion budget surplus, much from federal COVID-19 relief funds. HouseATL is encouraging state policymakers to dedicate $100 million of that to the trust fund to boost the state’s affordable housing stock.
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