Republicans revive squatting bill, targeting extended-stay hotels
Georgia lawmakers advanced legislation Monday that could strip people living long term in hotels of some tenancy rights established in a Georgia Supreme Court ruling.
Marietta Republican state Rep. Devan Seabaugh sponsored legislation last year that would have made it easier for hotel owners to enlist local law enforcement in removing guests, saying the legislation was necessary to combat illegal squatting in hotel rooms.
After it stalled in 2025, Seabaugh folded it into House Bill 61.
At a Public Safety Committee meeting Monday afternoon, Seabaugh described the latest iteration of the bill as a public safety and property rights measure for closing loopholes in a squatting law Gov. Brian Kemp signed in 2024, House Bill 1017.
Seabaugh told the committee that squatters and fraudsters were exploiting loopholes, using fake leases and other tactics to delay law enforcement.
In the case of extended-stay hotels, he argued the bill would allow police officers to quickly remove someone after a hotel owner signed a sworn affidavit, rather than having to go through a drawn-out process in eviction court.
“House Bill 61 is not about eviction reform. It is about addressing situations where no lawful tenancy exists,” Seabaugh said. “A hotel is a temporary living space, even though we do have those extended stays.”
The bill comes off the back of a December 2025 Georgia State University study that found 4,664 people are living in extended-stay hotels in DeKalb County alone, including 1,635 children.
Researchers found families in DeKalb were paying between $1,752 and $2,661 a month for a single room, often more than average market rates for apartments in the county. It said families reported a host of problems, including mold, pests and crime.
DeKalb County funded the report, which nonprofit Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center led with Sue Sullivan, an advocate for families living in extended stays.
The overwhelming majority of the 2,004 households surveyed — 90% — wanted to leave the hotels but found barriers in low credit scores, prior evictions and security deposits.
In 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in Efficiency Lodge Inc. v. Neason that in certain circumstances, someone living in an extended-stay hotel could claim a landlord-tenant relationship.
The effect of the ruling was that some hotel owners were de facto landlords and might have to go through eviction court before removing families from rooms.
Housing advocates fear House Bill 61 could effectively reverse those protections.
There is an exception in the bill: if the hotel owners and guests have established a landlord-tenant contract. But without that contract, hotels could try to remove guests whether they have lived in a room for days, months or years.
Though he ultimately voted in favor of the measure, Republican Sen. Rick Williams said he was worried families and their children could end up on the streets.
“I would hate to see an innkeeper put a family out with small children during this extremely cold weather, and these people have nowhere else to go,” Williams said.
Seabaugh argued the burden to house them should not fall on hotel owners and said it was mostly individuals, not families, overstaying their welcome.
“The law has to address the hotel property owners’ rights. They’re not a charity,” he said.
The committee voted 8-2 to advance the bill to the Georgia Senate Rules Committee, which will decide whether to place the bill on the Senate calendar for a floor vote.
About the Author
Matt Reynolds is a housing reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's local government team.
