Atlanta habitability

Do this today

• Photograph the condition. Write the date.
• Dial 311 or file with Atlanta 311.
• If there is no heat, no water, or a gas smell: 911 or the utility first.

What does “livable” mean in Atlanta?

Heat, water, sanitation, and structural safety are the usual floor. The exact list is in Georgia landlord and tenant provisions and often in the city housing code Atlanta 311 enforces. This desk does not reprint temperature charts or hour-counts.

What if nothing happens after I report it?

Keep the request numbers from 311 or Atlanta 311. Take that file to legal aid. Do not skip rent on a rumor. If the condition is dangerous tonight — no heat in winter, a gas leak, a collapsed ceiling — treat it as an emergency.

Does Atlanta have local renter ordinances on top of Georgia law?

Georgia law is the tenancy baseline. Atlanta Code Enforcement and 311 are the City conditions doors. Fulton or DeKalb County Magistrate Court hears many dispossessory cases — confirm the county of the unit. A DeKalb process is not a Fulton process.

The Atlanta layer

Check the county of the unit before you file or answer. Atlanta is not a single-court city.

Georgia landlord and tenant provisions (Ga. Code §§ 44-7-1 to 44-7-81) is the Georgia floor. We name it. We do not paraphrase a day-count or a dollar cap out of it.

Atlanta questions

National answers on this desk

• Is a landlord notice the same as being evicted?
• What number should I call right now?
• Is there a national tenant-rights law in the United States?
• What should I do if I get an eviction notice?
• How do I find free legal help as a renter?
• Can my landlord enter without notice?