Columbia County runs no registration program for long-term rentals — a landlord needs no county rental permit to lease a house in Evans or Martinez. Short-term rentals are the exception, falling under the county's short-term rental ordinance and monthly lodging tax.
Georgia has no statewide rental-registration law, and Columbia County requires none for ordinary long-term rentals; a landlord owes the county no rental permit or inspection to lease a home in the unincorporated Evans and Martinez communities it governs. Short-term rentals are different. Under the county's short-term rental ordinance, effective July 1, 2021, an operator must collect the local lodging (hotel-motel) tax and file a monthly remittance form with the county finance department by the 20th of each month — even for a month with zero rentals — and a business license may be required. Landlords everywhere still owe Georgia's Title 44 duties on security deposits and habitability. Grovetown and Harlem set their own rules inside their limits.
Failing to collect and remit the short-term lodging tax on time can bring penalty fees from the county finance department. Long-term rentals carry no county registration penalty, but Title 44 deposit and habitability duties still apply.
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Columbia County, GA
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Columbia County, GA
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Columbia County, GA
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Columbia County, GA
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See how Columbia County's rental registration rules stack up against other locations.
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