Rockdale County, GA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Division 3 of Chapter 42 lets the director of planning and development, acting as public officer, act on unfit buildings anywhere in unincorporated Rockdale County. Under § 42-110, an investigation starts when a public authority or at least five residents of the unincorporated area file a request charging that a dwelling, building or property is unfit for habitation or its commercial use, is vacant and used in connection with drug crimes, or endangers public health or safety through unsanitary or unsafe conditions. § 41-2-5. Section 42-112 defines what makes a structure unfit: conditions dangerous or injurious to occupants' or neighbors' health, safety or morals, including fire-hazard defects, inadequate ventilation or sanitary facilities, dilapidation, disrepair, structural defects or uncleanliness.

If the court finds the building unfit, it orders repair, alteration or improvement when that can be done at a reasonable cost relative to the structure's present value (land value excluded from that calculation), or demolition and removal when repair cannot be made at reasonable cost. If the owner ignores the order, the public officer can have the work done directly, or post a placard declaring the building unfit for use and occupation, but only after the board of commissioners has separately authorized action on that specific property by ordinance. § 41-2-9.