Atlanta tenants are protected mainly by Georgia's prohibition on self-help eviction and common-law remedies rather than a dedicated city ordinance. Lockouts, utility shutoffs, and threats remain unlawful and actionable in Magistrate Court.
Georgia's landlord-tenant law bars landlords from removing tenants without a court order. OCGA 44-7-50 through 44-7-59 require dispossessory actions filed in Magistrate Court for any forced removal. Self-help measures — changing locks, removing doors, or shutting off utilities — expose landlords to wrongful eviction damages. Atlanta cannot enact a broader anti-harassment ordinance because rental relations are state-preempted, but Code Enforcement intervenes when retaliatory landlords cut habitability services. Tenants can sue for actual damages, plus punitive damages under egregious circumstances, and attorney's fees if a fee-shifting lease clause applies. Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and Georgia Legal Services handle most enforcement actions.
Self-help lockouts, utility shutoffs, and retaliatory eviction expose landlords to actual damages, possible punitive damages, attorney's fees in some cases, and dismissal of any pending dispossessory action.
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Atlanta, GA
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