DeKalb County, GA Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Section 18-68(a) makes the investigation mandatory but the trigger demanding. Once a qualifying charge is made that a dwelling, structure or premise is dangerous and unfit for human habitation, the department shall make an investigation or inspection; the language leaves the county no discretion to ignore a valid charge. Getting to a valid charge is the hurdle. For property in the unincorporated area, the charge must come from a public authority, or by a homeowners association board vote, or in writing from at least five residents who have attained the age of majority and who live in separate households.

Each requirement does work: the residents' charge must be written, the signers must be adults, and the households must be separate, so five people sharing a single address do not satisfy the threshold. A single tenant, however serious the conditions, cannot trigger this pathway alone; the ordinance requires either the numbers or an official complainant. Once a valid charge lands, the process moves toward a court hearing set between 15 and 45 days later under § 18-69, where the court decides whether the dwelling is unfit. This complaint pathway is what starts DeKalb's uninhabitable-dwelling enforcement process in the unincorporated county.