Free Georgia Room Rental Agreement Template

A Georgia room rental agreement covers one private bedroom in a shared home, with the kitchen, bathroom, and living areas used jointly. Georgia publishes no official form for renting a room, so everything depends on what the agreement itself says.

That makes the written terms the whole safety net. Where four people share one kitchen and one power bill, the document is what settles who pays for what.

A Georgia room rental agreement has to work around a handful of state rules, and several of them turn on how many rental units the owner holds.

Ending a Tenancy With No Fixed Term

Where there is no written term, or a lease has expired and the arrangement simply continues, Georgia treats it as a tenancy at will. The landlord must give 60 days’ notice to end it, while the tenant needs to give 30 days. That asymmetry catches people out, so state the notice period in the agreement itself.

Flooding History Must Be Disclosed

If the living space has flooded at least three times in the past five years, the landlord must give written notice before the agreement is entered into. Skipping that disclosure can leave the landlord liable for flood damage to the tenant’s property during the tenancy.

Naming Who Receives Notices

The landlord must give the name and address of the owner or the agent authorized to receive notices, and must pass on any change within 30 days. In a shared house this is usually the resident owner, but it still belongs in writing.

Roommates and Subletting

Where housemates are co-tenants, Georgia treats them as jointly and severally liable, meaning any one of them can be pursued for the whole rent unless the agreement says otherwise. Someone who never signed is generally not liable to the landlord. Subletting is different again: a subtenant rents from the original tenant, and that original tenant stays on the hook for the rent and for damage.

Tip: Georgia has no state agency that steps into a landlord-tenant dispute. Disagreements go to the courts, which is a strong argument for writing the terms down clearly at the start.

No more than two months’ rent. That cap came in under the Safe at Home Act (O.C.G.A. 44-7-30.1), and it is the single most common thing people get wrong, because plenty of older guidance still says Georgia has no cap at all.

Two further rules matter for anyone renting out a room in their own house.

The Escrow Rule May Not Apply to You

Holding the deposit in an escrow account, and running the formal move-in and move-out inspection process, is required only of landlords who own more than ten rental units, counting units held by a spouse or children, or who use a management agent. A homeowner renting out one spare bedroom generally falls outside both.

The Return Deadline Applies to Everyone

The 30-day deadline binds every landlord regardless of unit count. The deposit must go back within 30 days of the agreement ending or the tenant leaving, whichever is later. Normal wear and tear cannot be deducted, though unpaid rent, damage, unpaid pet fees, and utilities the tenant agreed to cover can be.

Deposit limits and deadlines are set by the state and change from time to time, so confirm the current position before you rely on a figure.

Nothing gets filed with the state, so the agreement takes effect between the two of you on signature.

1. Agree the rent, the deposit, and the length of the arrangement before anyone moves anything in.
2. Write down which room is private and which spaces are shared, including parking and storage.
3. Record the condition of the room and any furniture, with dated photos.
4. Make the flooding disclosure in writing if it applies, before signing.
5. Have every adult who will live there sign, and give each person a copy.

Georgia does not require a witness or a notary for a residential rental agreement of this kind. Keep the signed copy somewhere you can find it, since it is the only record of what was agreed.

The parent lease agreement page covers the standard clauses in depth. For a Georgia room rental agreement, these are the additions worth making:

• Quiet hours and guest rules — the most common source of friction in a shared house
• How utilities are split, and what happens if someone moves out mid-cycle
• Which shelves, cupboards, and parking spaces belong to whom
• Whether the room may be sublet, and whether written permission is needed first
• Who is responsible for cleaning shared areas, and how often