Bill passes for out-of-state landlords to have Georgia staff for tenant issues

by Sean Keenan, Atlanta Civic Circle

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A bill requiring many out-of-state landlords to employ at least one in-state staffer to handle tenant complaints is bound for Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.

House Bill 399’s passage last week marks a minor win for affordable housing advocates. They celebrated that the law will increase landlord accountability, but cautioned that it could also lead to retaliation against lower-income tenants who raise concerns about living conditions.

Authored by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), the legislation says that “any landlord that is not a resident of this state that owns or operates single-family or duplex rental properties in this state” must employ at least in-state agent, “who shall be responsible for receiving, coordinating, managing, and responding to” renters’ maintenance concerns.

But if a tenant believes their residence violates a local government’s housing code, HB 399 places the burden on them to connect code enforcement officers to the property manager.

“Tenants in those situations are usually fearful of retaliation from their landlords,” advocacy group HouseATL said in a social media post.

The bipartisan measure materialized in response to a surge of big institutional investors buying up residential housing in Georgia. That has driven up rent prices, and investors’ habit of camouflaging themselves with shell companies has made it difficult for tenants to get maintenance concerns addressed.

Even so, HB 399 is the only legislation to regulate institutional investor activity that passed in Georgia’s 2025 legislative session, which concluded on April 4.