Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Georgia

Do the same landlord tenant laws apply? I rent a room from a homeowner who is still residing at the home herself. We have another tenant that also rents a different room from her. The kitchen and one bathroom are considered common areas. We are having issues of privacy and utility usage. Utilities are included in the rent. The landlord will enter either of our rooms, while we are not home, to surveillance how we are using our rooms, what type of electronics we have, if anything is plugged in (not on but plugged into an outlet), or when she wrongfully accuses someone of having something of hers (for instance she was missing a spoon and went through our rooms looking for it when her son had dropped it under the couch). I have actually witnessed her use a card to unlock our other roommates room after he said he would be gone for two days. She also dictates how we can use utilities and harassed is about it every day to where it is unbearable and I hate coming home, she has told me I need to limit my showers to 10 minutes long (after she TIMED my last shower at 14 minutes), has asked me not to use hot water to wash dishes, turns the thermostat to 65 degrees when it's 30 outside, I live in attic room and she says I can't sleep with my space heater on, I left my computer on while it was installing updates and left for work, she went into my room while I was gone and unplugged it, it died and I had to restore the system to a previous time because it couldn't start up after. She has also said I am not allowed to have guests of the opposite gender over after 11 pm, however she can invite anyone she wants in, and she also kicked our other roommates 6 year old daughter out because she was coughing and she was afraid she would get her son sick. Her response to any of these issues is, "I'm the one who own the property, I can do/ask you to do whatever I want" I'm sorry this is so long but every day something else seems to happen, I have read through the title 44 chapters and codes and the ga tenant landlord handbook, do the same laws apply when we live with and pay the woman who owns the house to live there? Or is there nothing we can do? Do any of the deposit laws or termination of agreement laws apply? When I told her I might be looking for another place to stay and asked when she would be able to return the deposit if I were to leave so I could budget, she responded telling me that the deposit is non-refundable! Please help!


Asked on 2/16/15, 4:24 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

You chose to leave out important details. What ARE the terms of your agreement/lease? You should be able to look at a written contract to see the terms of the deposit and other issues. In addition, what exactly are you asking (other than asking us to tell you all the laws that might apply)? Whether you can or should move? For the most post part she is right "her house, her rules." The best solution is to move, but again you don't tell us about your lease or even whether there is one.

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Answered on 2/16/15, 4:32 pm


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