Renters Insurance 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
- No section we read in Georgia's landlord-tenant chapter requires renters insurance or names a coverage amount.
- $100,000 in liability coverage is a typical ask in Atlanta leases, not a figure from a Georgia section we read.
- O.C.G.A. 44-7-2 voids lease terms waiving the landlord's repair duty or its liability for failing to repair.
- The same section voids lease terms waiving your security deposit rights.
- Our record of Atlanta's rules holds no city provision on renters insurance.
Copy and send: Before you sign the lease, after reading the insurance clause and the sentences around it
Questions about the insurance clause
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How Georgia compares
Typical required liability coverage, state by state
$100kNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 25 cities as a chart
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.
Understanding the Renters Insurance Clause
This page is for Atlanta renters whose lease requires renters insurance and who want to know what Georgia law says about it. The coverage figure comes from your lease.
The part worth reading closely is the wording beside it: a hold-harmless sentence, automatic enrollment in the landlord's insurance program, or a rule that a lapsed policy puts you in default. Raise anything you do not like in writing before you sign, while the terms are still open.
What renters assume
If my Atlanta lease names a coverage amount, Georgia law must require that amount.
What is actually true
No section we read in Georgia's landlord-tenant chapter names a coverage amount. The figure is one your landlord chose, which leaves the lease you sign as the document that sets it.
The chart shows the same pattern almost everywhere: few of these states legislate renters insurance, so what separates them is what each one forbids a landlord to bury inside the clause. Georgia's prohibited list in O.C.G.A.
44-7-2 does not include an insurance requirement, which is why the lease itself sets the terms here.
Renters Insurance 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.
7. Insurance. [The Riggses are] responsible for obtaining fire and extended coverage, including public liability[ ] insurance with [the Harkers] to be listed as an additional insured under the policy. [The Riggses] shall also be responsible for renter's coverage on [the Riggses'] own personal property located on the Leased Premises. [The Riggses] shall indemnify and hold [the Harkers] harmless from all claims of thi9rd [sic] parties for bodily injury, property damage or death arising from [the Riggses'] use or occupancy of the Leased Premises.
Quoted from the published opinion in Hoosier Insurance Co. v. Riggs, 92 N.E.3d 685 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018). 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
“to be listed as an additional insured under the policy”
The landlord is being written into your policy, not merely told about it - a different request from being asked to insure your own belongings. Georgia leaves it to the contract: insurance appears nowhere in Title 44 Chapter 7, it is not on the void list, and the Georgia sections we read set no required coverage amount or cap. So what your policy must do, for whose benefit, and to what limit are three questions the lease answers on its own.
See the example
“own personal property located on the Leased Premises”
This is the ordinary renters-insurance sentence, and it is the mildest thing this paragraph asks for: your things, in your unit. It is worth noticing precisely because of how modest it is. A Tennessee court read a sentence in the same family and held it was not an agreement to insure the building - the resident stayed an implied co-insured and the landlord's fire carrier could not recover from her.
“shall indemnify and hold”
The pivot from insurance to indemnity, and the place Georgia's void list becomes relevant. That list makes a term void where it waives the landlord's liability for failure to repair. An indemnity confined to claims caused by the tenant does not go near it. An indemnity written widely enough to swallow claims arising from a repair the landlord never made is running at that item, and the outcome turns on the words rather than on the label at the top of the paragraph.
See the example
“harmless from all claims of thi9rd [sic] parties”
Guests, neighbours, delivery drivers, passers-by - the people who bring the claims a renter never prices when signing. In Hoosier the Indiana court reversed a dismissal and sent the case back precisely so the paragraph could be read as a whole, insurance duty and indemnity together, to determine who was meant to bear the risk. Reading the paragraph as a whole is what decides a clause like this one, and in Georgia it is read against a statute that protects three specific things and leaves the rest to the contract.
The insurer's claim survived. Nobody was held liable. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a Rule 12(B)(6) dismissal and sent the case back. Under Indiana's case-by-case approach this insurance paragraph has to be construed to work out who the parties intended to bear the risk of fire loss, which means the landlord's insurer could be a real party in interest entitled to sue the tenants in subrogation. The rule it leaned on is worth reading twice: “if a lease obligates a tenant to procure insurance covering a particular type of loss, such a provision will provide evidence that the parties reasonably anticipated that the tenant would be liable for that particular loss, which would allow an [ ] insurer who pays the loss to bring a subrogation action against the tenant.” The case was remanded for the trial court to read the lease and weigh the equities. So the clause was enough to keep the subrogation claim alive - it did not decide it, and no renter should read this as a ruling that the tenants owed the money.
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 Renters Insurance Clause
- Georgia's landlord-tenant law, Title 44 Chapter 7, says nothing about tenant or renters insurance.
- O.C.G.A. 44-7-2 voids lease terms waiving repair duties, landlord liability for failure to repair, and security deposit rights.
- A renters insurance requirement is not on that prohibited list, so it is enforceable as written.
- The Georgia sections we read set no required coverage amount or cap.
Sources include O.C.G.A. § 44-7-2 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
No section we read in Georgia's landlord-tenant law, Title 44, Chapter 7, mentions renters insurance or a coverage amount. O.C.G.A.
44-7-2 lists lease terms that are void, and a renters insurance requirement is not on that list, so it is enforceable as written. Three items on it matter next to an insurance clause:
- Repair duty. A term waiving the landlord's duty to keep the premises in repair is void.
- Liability for failing to repair. A term making the landlord not liable for damage caused by its failure to repair is void, however the insurance language is worded.
- Deposit rights. A term waiving your security deposit rights is void.
The copy of 44-7-2 we read predates Georgia's 2024 HB 404, which took effect on July 1, 2024. Georgia publishes its official code through LexisNexis. Read the current text of the section before you rely on it.
What's Specific to Atlanta
Our record of Atlanta's rules holds no city provision on renters insurance, and Georgia leaves residential lease terms almost entirely to the contract. A Midtown tower and a small Kirkwood rental answer to the same state sections.
What differs is the paperwork. Some Atlanta leases ask you to name the management company on your policy, or bill you monthly for the landlord's program if you never upload proof. A small landlord may never ask at all.
Good. A written figure, such as the typical $100,000 in liability, shows exactly what you agreed to carry.
That is the clean version. The wording to watch for moves the landlord's repair duty or repair liability onto you.
Look for indemnify or hold harmless. O.C.G.A. 44-7-2 voids terms making the landlord not liable for damage caused by its failure to repair.
The Georgia sections we read set no grace period for this. Check whether the lease gives you time to fix a lapse.
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. § 44-7-2, 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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Coverage amount left open-ended
The clause says coverage as the landlord may require, with no number. No Georgia section we read caps it, so it can rise at renewal. Get a number first.
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Repair duty moved onto your policy
Insurance wording that makes your policy handle repairs the landlord owes. 44-7-2 voids any term waiving the landlord's duty to keep the premises in repair.
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Auto-enrollment in a landlord program
You are signed into the landlord's liability program and billed monthly unless you upload proof. That policy protects the building owner, not your belongings.
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Landlord as additional insured
Interested party status is the usual ask. Additional insured status can let your landlord claim against your policy and use up your limits.
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A coverage figure called a legal minimum
No Georgia section we read sets a coverage amount for renters. Ask the landlord where the figure comes from.
Your Rights as a Atlanta Tenant
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Repair duties stay with the landlord
A lease term waiving your landlord's duty to keep the premises in repair is void, whatever the insurance section says.
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Liability for bad repairs stays
A term making the landlord not liable for damage caused by its failure to repair is void too.
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Deposit rights survive the clause
44-7-2 also voids lease terms waiving your security deposit rights, whatever the insurance clause says.
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No state minimum in the sections we read
The Georgia sections we read set no required coverage amount or cap, which leaves the figure in your lease as the one you agreed to.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the clause and the figure
Search your lease for insurance, liability, indemnify and hold harmless. Treat the coverage figure as your landlord's ask.
Read the sentences around it
Look for wording that waives the landlord's repair duty or its liability for failing to repair. O.C.G.A. 44-7-2 voids those terms.
Raise problems in writing before you sign
Ask where the figure comes from, ask about any carrier limit or non-compliance fee, and ask to remove any hold-harmless sentence. Keep the reply.
Ask for interested party only
Offer to list the landlord as an interested party so it gets proof and notice of cancellation, and decline additional insured.
Buy your own policy and keep proof
A policy you buy covers your belongings. Keep a copy and proof it stayed active for the whole lease.
Get help before it escalates
Atlanta Legal Aid and the Georgia Legal Services Program handle landlord-tenant cases at no cost for income-eligible renters. Call before a default notice becomes a dispossessory case.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Renters Insurance rules near Georgia
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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