Georgia Senate agrees to let domestic violence victims break leases

The Georgia Senate by a vote of 54 to 0 on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow victims of domestic violence to break their leases without an early termination penalty.

Sponsors hope the legislation would make it easier for family violence victims to escape their abusers.

“All too often, victims of domestic violence are asked, ‘Why didn’t you leave?’ And often, it is because they couldn’t afford to,” state Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, said during a House speech earlier in March when the bill passed that chamber. “This bill makes it possible for them to leave.”

The Georgia House of Representatives has also passed a version of the bill, which must be reconciled with the Senate version. After Tuesday there is one more day left, Thursday, in this legislative session.

HB 834 is sponsored in the House by Rep. Mandi Ballinger, R-Canton and in the Senate by Sen. Jesse Stone, R-Waynesboro.

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