Free Georgia Commercial Lease Agreement Template

A Georgia commercial lease agreement rents business property — a storefront, an office, a warehouse, a restaurant space — to a tenant who will trade from it. Georgia treats what the tenant receives differently from most states, and the term length is what decides it.

That distinction runs through everything else: what the tenant can transfer, what creditors can reach, and how the lease is taxed.

The core rule here is about the nature of the interest, not about paperwork.

Usufruct or Estate for Years

O.C.G.A. § 44-7-1(a) states that where an owner grants another the right simply to possess and enjoy real estate, whether for a fixed time or at the grantor’s will, no estate passes out of the landlord. The tenant holds only a usufruct, which cannot be conveyed without the landlord’s consent and is not subject to levy and sale.

Subsection (b) attaches a term threshold. Any renting or leasing of real estate for a period of less than five years is held to convey only the right to possess and enjoy, to pass no estate out of the landlord, and to give only a usufruct — unless the parties agree otherwise and say so in the contract.

Two consequences follow for a business tenant. A usufruct cannot be assigned without consent, which matters if you may want to sell the business with the premises attached. It also cannot be levied on by your creditors, which occasionally works in your favour.

Ending a Tenancy at Will

O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 is short and asymmetric: 60 days’ notice from the landlord, or 30 days’ notice from the tenant, is necessary to terminate a tenancy at will.

By demand, then affidavit. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50(a) lets an owner demand possession where a tenant holds over beyond the term for which the property was rented, fails to pay rent when it becomes due, or holds and occupies as a tenant at will or at sufferance, whether under a contract of rent or not. The demand may be made by the owner personally or through an agent, attorney in fact, or attorney at law.

If the tenant refuses or fails to deliver possession when demanded, the owner may immediately go before a judge of the superior or state court, a clerk or deputy clerk of either, a judge or clerk of another court with jurisdiction, or a magistrate in the district where the land lies, and make an affidavit under oath to the facts. That affidavit may also be made before a notary public.

1. Negotiate rent, escalation, renewal rights, and the split of taxes, insurance, and repairs before anything is drafted.
2. Decide deliberately whether the term runs under or over five years, because § 44-7-1(b) turns on that line.
3. If you want the tenant to hold an estate for years on a shorter term, say so expressly in the contract, since the statute requires the contrary intention to be stated.
4. Set your own notice and cure provisions for default, as the Code supplies a demand procedure rather than a waiting period.
5. Sign, and keep an executed copy with your business records.

A Georgia commercial lease agreement carries the substance the Code leaves alone, so cover:

• Legal names of landlord and tenant, and the entity behind each signature.
• A description tying the lease to the exact suite, floor, or building footprint.
• Rent, the due date, and how increases are calculated.
• The term, stated precisely, along with renewal rights and holdover terms.
• Whether the parties intend a usufruct or an estate for years.
• Who bears property taxes, insurance premiums, utilities, and structural versus interior repairs.
• Permitted use, assignment and subletting consent, and the default procedure.