Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia

when is it considered abandonment?

My fiancee and I gave notice to our landlord that we had gotten jobs 60 miles from the duplex we had been inhabiting, and that we would be moving. We agreed to pay a prorated rent plus late fees. My fiancee and I were to meet with someone to break the lease and begin payment on the break-lease penalty of two months' rent. We notified the property owner in writing of our tentative move-out date of 2-22-02. We did not, however, finish moving until 2-28-02. The property owner declared the property abandoned after having entered the property without our knowledge or consent. When we returned on the 28th, we found that the trash had been moved outside and the locks changed. The manager of the property is demanding that we pay nearly $7,000, holding us responsible for the completion of the lease or until the unit is newly leased. This landlord had verbal and written notice of our intent to leave the property and to meet with them to break the lease. Did the property owner have any right to entering the property in the less than one week lapse of communication, and can the owner can rightfully claim abandonment of the property, although having complete knowledge of our intentions to break the lease and pay in full the penalties?


Asked on 3/15/02, 1:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Hugh Wood Wood & Meredith

Re: when is it considered abandonment?

I think this question turns on "facts" that may not be listed in your question. If you gave notice and informed the LL and he or she understood that you would be staying after 2.22.2002, then the LL is in a world of hurt. But, if you "attempted" but never really communicated that you would stay beyond 2.22, then the LL may be in a good position to assert abandonment. Abandonment and Security Deposits are discussed under the Georgia Case law at OCGA 44-7-34. The abandonment law is, in my opinion, somewhat unclear in Georgia. The cases do not state with any clarity what constitutes real abandonment under a lease. Given the way you have posed this question and the very short time frames: 2.22 to 2.28 (being when the LL seized the property), I think the LL should be worried. Of the LLs that I have reprented, we have been much more cautious on short time frames before declaring an abandoment. Additionally, you write that: "We agreed to pay a prorated rent plus late fees." If even communicated to the LL, the LL should have been on notice that you would be staying or woudl be becoming at minimum a holdover tenant (T). Any T status, save that of Tresspasser, which you were not, defeats abandonment. If you were a T and had not abandoned as of 2.28, the LL is in a world of hurt and you can sue the LL for more than the $7,000 he is demanding you pay. However, this is a fact intensive problem. HCW

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Answered on 3/15/02, 8:56 am


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