Lease Renewal Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Georgia law says, what's specific to Atlanta - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Fixed term: the lease ends on its own date, and the Georgia sections we read require no non-renewal notice.
- Tenancy at will: 60 days' notice from your landlord to end it, 30 days' from you.
- The Georgia sections we read set no just-cause rule, but a refusal to renew must be lawful and non-retaliatory.
- No Georgia statute we read limits automatic-renewal clauses or caps a renewal rent increase.
- No Atlanta ordinance we read sets a just-cause or non-renewal notice rule, and O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19 bars local rent regulation.
Count it for your dates
60 days: when does it end?
What it means: A landlord's notice to end a tenancy at will must give 60 days' notice, so this is the earliest end date it can set. Applies to a landlord ending a tenancy at will; a tenant ending one owes 30 days, and the Georgia sections we read require no non-renewal notice on a fixed-term lease (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: Well before your fixed term ends
Ask about renewal in writing
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Understanding the Lease Renewal Clause
This page is for Atlanta renters whose lease is ending and who want to know what warning they get, or owe, about renewal. Start with your tenancy type.
On a fixed term, such as a twelve-month lease, the renewal paragraph you signed does nearly all the work: when to give notice, whether the lease rolls over, and how the new rent is set. The day counts in O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 cover a tenancy at will.
Read your renewal paragraph early in the term, not in the final weeks.
What renters assume
My Atlanta landlord has to give me thirty or sixty days' warning before deciding not to renew my one-year lease.
What is actually true
Not on a fixed term. The lease ends on its own date, and the Georgia sections we read require no non-renewal notice. The 60 days in O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 covers a tenancy at will.
Georgia's 60-day bar is narrower than it looks. That number only applies to a tenancy at will, not to a fixed term running out - there the answer is zero.
Seattle landlords have to offer term tenants a renewal unless they have just cause; an Atlanta landlord can just let the calendar expire.
Lease Renewal Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Atlanta, GA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
The renewal paragraph as the Connecticut Appellate Court printed it, bracketed corrections and all - the lease it came from was handwritten:
This lease will automatical[l]y renew on every an[n]iversary for the term of one year unless a written [agreement] is signed by us, or you vacate the apartment when the lease ends.
Quoted from the published opinion in Brook Run Development Corp. v. Noon, 230 Conn. App. 424 (2025). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“This lease will automatical[l]y renew”
In Georgia the clause is close to the whole of the answer. Our Georgia record says the state has no statute limiting automatic-renewal clauses in residential leases, and that a written lease for a set term expires on its own date with no non-renewal notice required. What the paragraph says is therefore what a court will be reading, which is exactly what happened in the case below.
“for the term of one year”
The length decides which Georgia rulebook applies. A renewal running for a stated year is a fixed term, and a fixed term expires by itself. The 60-day and 30-day figures in O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 belong to a tenancy at will instead, so establishing which of the two you are in is the first move in any argument about notice.
“unless a written [agreement] is signed by us”
This is the exit the court found belonged to the landlord, because the lease defined the pronoun in it that way. The lesson for a Georgia renter is procedural rather than statutory: nothing in our Georgia record speaks to a renewal exit that only one side can use, which leaves the definitions and the signature requirement as the parts that decide it.
See the example
“when the lease ends”
Leaving on time is the tenant's exit in this clause, and in Georgia the consequence of not leaving is a change of category rather than a fixed penalty. The state's numbers - 60 days from the landlord and 30 from the tenant under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 - attach to a tenancy at will, so what a landlord owes you after the term has ended depends on what the arrangement has become.
The tenant lost, and the reasoning is worth reading before assuming an automatic-renewal clause traps the landlord. She argued this handwritten paragraph was ambiguous and had locked the landlord into renewing forever. The Connecticut Appellate Court held it clear and unambiguous as a matter of law, creating no perpetually renewing lease. Because the lease defined “we” and “us” to mean the landlord, the clause gave each side its own exit - the landlord by signing a writing declining to renew, the tenant by vacating when the term ended. Reading “agreement” to require the tenant's signature as well would have handed her and her heirs “complete control over the plaintiff's property,” a result the court called untenable and absurd, and the absence of any rent escalation clause pointed the same way. The residential lease was therefore terminated and judgment for the landlord in the summary process action was affirmed. One reading note: the bracketed letters and the bracketed word in the quotation are the court's own corrections to a handwritten lease provision, not the lease's spelling, and they are reproduced here as the opinion prints them.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Georgia Law on Lease Renewal Clause
- O.C.G.A. 44-7-7 requires 60 days' notice from the landlord and 30 days from the tenant to end a tenancy at will.
- A written lease for a set term expires on its own date, and the Georgia sections we read require no non-renewal notice.
- The Georgia sections we read set no just-cause rule, so a landlord may decline renewal for any lawful, non-retaliatory reason.
- No Georgia statute we read limits automatic-renewal clauses in residential leases.
Sources include O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
The Georgia notice rule we read is O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7, and it covers a tenancy at will. Here is what the Georgia sections we read say:
- Tenancy at will. Your landlord must give 60 days' notice to end it. You must give 30 days'.
- Fixed term. A written lease for a set term expires on its own date. The Georgia sections we read require no non-renewal notice from either side.
- Reason. The Georgia sections we read set no just-cause rule. A refusal to renew still has to be lawful and non-retaliatory.
- Renewal terms. No Georgia statute we read limits automatic-renewal clauses or sets a ceiling on a renewal increase.
That leaves the renewal paragraph you signed as the document that answers when to give notice and at what rent. Statutes change, so check the current text of O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 before you count a day.
What's Specific to Atlanta
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
No Atlanta ordinance we read sets a just-cause or non-renewal notice rule. Separately, O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19 bars local rent regulation, so the city cannot cap what a renewal offer costs.
On a fixed term, the dates that matter are in your lease. Ask for the renewal offer in writing, compare it with similar units, and counter in writing if the number is too high. Do not rely on a leasing agent's spoken promise.
Look for a date you can put in your phone. On a fixed term, your lease is where that date comes from.
A fair lease names that rate up front. A figure lets you weigh staying against moving before your term runs out.
One missed opt-out date can start another full term at whatever rate the clause sets. Find that date before you sign.
A clause that asks notice from you and promises none from the landlord is one-sided. Ask for a matching notice date before you sign.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7, read on codes.findlaw.com. Georgia publishes the Official Code of Georgia Annotated through LexisNexis; there is no free government edition. FindLaw marks its copy of this section current as of March 28, 2024, before Georgia's 2024 HB 404 took effect on July 1, 2024; confirm the current text before relying on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Auto-renewal with a buried deadline
An opt-out date on page nine is easy to miss, and no Georgia statute we read limits automatic-renewal clauses. Mark that date the week you sign.
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Renewal rent left blank
A clause promising renewal at “then-current market rate” names no number. Ask for the exact renewal rent in writing before your deadline.
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A refusal right after a repair request
A refusal to renew must be lawful and non-retaliatory. Keep the dates of your repair request or code report and of the refusal, with copies.
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Renewal fee just to stay
A charge for signing another year, on top of the new rent. No Georgia statute we read caps renewal or administrative fees, so check the amount before you sign.
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Month-to-month rate set later
A clause converting you to month-to-month at a premium named afterward. Get the exact figure in writing before your term runs out.
Your Rights as a Atlanta Tenant
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60 days on a tenancy at will
Your landlord must give 60 days' notice to end a tenancy at will under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7. You owe 30 days' going the other way.
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No notice owed on a fixed term
The Georgia sections we read require no non-renewal notice from you or your landlord. You can leave when the term ends unless your lease sets its own procedure.
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Lawful, non-retaliatory reasons only
A refusal to renew still has to be lawful. Retaliation for requesting repairs or reporting a code violation is not a lawful reason.
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Possession still runs through court
Declining to renew does not remove you. A Georgia landlord who wants the unit back files a dispossessory action in magistrate court, not a lockout or a shut-off.
What To Do - Step by Step
Name your tenancy type
Fixed term or tenancy at will? O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 sets the day counts for a tenancy at will. On a fixed term, your lease sets the timing.
Find your renewal deadline
Read the renewal and notice paragraphs the week you sign. Put the deadline in your phone, with a reminder a few weeks earlier.
Ask for the offer in writing
Email your property manager for the renewal rent and terms, and keep the thread. A number a leasing agent only says out loud is not a lease term.
Compare against the Atlanta market
Check what comparable units rent for before you answer. Being willing to move is your real leverage on the renewal rent.
Negotiate or give notice
Counter in writing, or send your non-renewal notice by the lease's deadline. On a tenancy at will, you owe 30 days' notice.
Call Atlanta Legal Aid if pressured
If told to leave at once or threatened with a lockout, contact Atlanta Legal Aid or the Georgia Legal Services Program. They help income-eligible renters at no cost.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Lease Renewal rules near Georgia
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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