Georgia treats a commercial lease mostly as a contract between businesses: the residential protections, like the security-deposit rules and the 2024 Safe at Home Act, apply to residential leases, not to your shop or yard. If a landlord files to evict, you have 7 days from service to answer. Parisi Law Firm reviews and negotiates commercial leases. Call (404) 594-5130.
A roofing company signs a five-year lease on a metal building with a fenced yard. Two years in, the HVAC unit dies, the landlord says it's the tenant's problem, the county says the trailers can't be stored where they are, and the owner learns they personally guaranteed every dollar of rent. None of that is unusual. It's all in the lease, and most of it could have been negotiated before anyone signed.
Jerry Parisi works with small businesses and trade contractors across Jefferson, Jackson County, and Northeast Georgia on commercial leases for shops, offices, warehouses, and equipment yards. Most of our leasing work is on the tenant side, but we also help small landlords with a building or two write leases that protect them. Either way, the goal is the same: a lease you understand, with the costs and risks spelled out before you're locked in.
Commercial leases are not residential leases
Many business owners assume the tenant protections they've heard about for apartments also cover their shop. They mostly don't. Georgia's security-deposit statute defines a security deposit as money held under a residential rental agreement, meaning a rental of property as a dwelling place (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30). The escrow, move-in and move-out inspection, and return-deadline rules in that part of the code are written for residential tenancies, and so is the two-month cap on security deposits (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1).
The same goes for the 2024 Safe at Home Act (HB 404). Its three-business-day notice to pay or vacate before an eviction filing applies to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. It is not a commercial-lease requirement. For a commercial tenant, that means the lease itself does most of the work. Whatever it says about your deposit, notice periods, repairs, and defaults is largely what you get, which is why the negotiation matters.
The key terms to understand before you sign
- Base rent and escalations: how much rent rises each year, whether by a fixed percentage, a fixed dollar step, or an index, and whether increases compound over renewal terms
- CAM and NNN charges: in a net or triple-net lease you pay a share of the landlord's taxes, insurance, and common-area maintenance on top of base rent. Ask what's included, how your share is calculated, whether there's a cap, and whether you can audit the landlord's numbers
- Use clause: what the lease lets you do on the premises. A narrow clause ('office use only') can block you from storing materials, running a fabrication shop, or parking work trucks
- Repairs and maintenance: who pays for the roof, structure, parking lot, plumbing, and HVAC, and who replaces a system that fails rather than just repairing it
- Assignment and subletting: whether you can transfer the lease if you sell the business, merge, or downsize, and whether the landlord's consent can be unreasonably withheld
- Renewal options: whether you have the right to renew, for how long, at what rent, and the exact window for giving notice
- Early termination: whether either side can end the lease early, and what it costs
- Personal guaranty: whether you, the owner, are personally on the hook if the business can't pay
- Default and cure: what counts as a default, how much notice you get, and how long you have to fix it before the landlord can act
Contractor yards, shops, and zoning
Trade businesses have leasing problems office tenants don't. You may need outdoor storage for equipment and materials, room for trailers and work trucks, a fuel tank, a paint booth, loading access, or hours that start before dawn. Local zoning and permitting rules decide whether those uses are allowed at a particular property, and they vary from county to county and city to city.
A landlord who says 'you can use it for whatever you need' is not the same as the county agreeing. Before you sign, confirm with the local planning or zoning office that your intended use is permitted, and negotiate a lease that makes the landlord's cooperation with permits part of the deal. If the use turns out not to be allowed, the lease should give you a way out rather than leaving you paying rent on a yard you can't use. For licensing questions tied to your trade, see our licensing and compliance page.
Personal guaranties: read this part twice
Landlords leasing to a small LLC or corporation often ask the owner to sign a personal guaranty. Under Georgia's Statute of Frauds, a promise to answer for the debt or default of another must be in writing and signed by the person being held to it (O.C.G.A. § 13-5-30(a)(2)). So a guaranty you signed is taken seriously, and it can put your house and savings behind the business's lease even though you formed an LLC to limit that exposure.
Guaranties are negotiable more often than tenants think. Common approaches include capping the guaranty at a set number of months of rent, having it shrink or end after a period of on-time payments, limiting it to the initial term rather than renewals, and making sure it ends if the lease is properly assigned. If you're setting up the business now, our business formation page explains how the entity and the lease work together.
Georgia's landlord's lien and the landlord's remedies
Georgia gives landlords a general lien on the tenant's property that is subject to levy and sale, and that lien dates from the time a distress warrant is levied to enforce it (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-341). In other words, the lien's priority is measured from the levy, not from the date the lease was signed. General landlord liens rank below tax liens and laborers' liens and otherwise rank by date (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-342). A landlord may also seek to distrain for rent as soon as it is due if the tenant is trying to remove property from the premises (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-70).
For a trade business, that matters because your tools, equipment, and inventory may be sitting on the leased property. Many commercial leases add a contractual security interest in the tenant's property on top of the statutory lien. If your equipment is financed, that can create a conflict with your lender, so the lease and the loan documents should be read together.
If the landlord files to evict: the 7-day answer deadline
In Georgia, a landlord who wants possession first demands it from the tenant and then files a dispossessory affidavit in court (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50(a)). Once you are served with the summons, you must answer, orally or in writing, within 7 days from the date of actual service. If the seventh day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the answer is due the next day that isn't (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-51(b)).
Since July 1, 2025, the Eviction Service Act (HB 270) allows an approved process server to serve the summons, in addition to the sheriff and constables. That change affects who can serve the papers, not the 7-day deadline. If you miss the answer window, you can lose the chance to raise your defenses, so call us the day you're served. Lease defaults, unpaid rent claims, and disputes over repairs or deposits that end up in court are handled through our business litigation practice.
Commercial lease negotiation checklist
- Get the full lease, all exhibits, and any rules or CAM budget before you commit, not at the signing table
- Measure the space yourself or confirm how the square footage was calculated, since rent and CAM shares usually follow it
- Confirm the zoning allows your use and that the building's power, doors, and access fit your equipment
- Get the condition of the roof, HVAC, and major systems documented at move-in, with photos
- Pin down who repairs and who replaces each major system, and add a cap or amortization for big-ticket replacements
- Ask for a cap on controllable CAM increases and a right to review the landlord's records
- Negotiate the guaranty amount, duration, and burn-off
- Make sure you can assign the lease if you sell the business
- Calendar renewal-notice deadlines the day you sign
- Spell out what you may remove at the end of the lease, especially trade fixtures and equipment you installed
- Small landlords: define default, cure periods, and your remedies clearly, and require the tenant's insurance to name you
Lease term and what to negotiate
| Lease term | What to negotiate |
|---|---|
| Base rent and escalations | A fixed annual increase you can budget for; no compounding surprises on renewal |
| CAM / NNN charges | A clear list of included costs, a cap on controllable increases, and audit rights |
| Use clause | Broad enough for storage, trucks, fabrication, or whatever your trade needs; an exit if zoning blocks it |
| Repairs, HVAC, and roof | Landlord responsible for roof and structure; limits on tenant cost for replacing major systems |
| Assignment and subletting | Consent not unreasonably withheld, and a right to assign when you sell the business |
| Renewal options | Renewal right with the rent formula and the notice window written into the lease |
| Early termination | A defined buyout or termination right, especially for a new or growing business |
| Personal guaranty | A dollar or months-of-rent cap, a burn-off date, and release on assignment (Georgia requires guaranties in writing) |
| Default and cure | Written notice and a reasonable cure period before the landlord can terminate or sue |
| Landlord's lien / security interest | Carve-outs for financed equipment and clear rules for removing your tools and trade fixtures |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Georgia's security deposit rules apply to a commercial lease?
Generally no. Georgia's statute defines a security deposit as money held under a residential rental agreement, meaning a rental as a dwelling place (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30), and the two-month deposit cap is in that same residential article. For a shop, office, or yard, your deposit terms come mainly from the lease, so negotiate when and how it gets returned.
Does the Safe at Home Act apply to my business lease?
No. The 2024 Safe at Home Act (HB 404), including its three-business-day notice to pay or vacate, applies to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. A commercial landlord still has to demand possession before filing a dispossessory affidavit, but the residential notice rules don't govern your commercial lease.
How long do I have to answer a commercial eviction in Georgia?
You have 7 days from the date you were actually served to answer, orally or in writing. If the seventh day is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-51(b)). Since July 1, 2025, an approved process server may serve the summons as well as the sheriff or a constable.
Can I get out of a personal guaranty on my lease?
Sometimes, but it's much easier to limit a guaranty before you sign than to escape one afterward. Georgia requires a guaranty to be in writing and signed (O.C.G.A. § 13-5-30(a)(2)), and a signed one is generally enforced as written. Negotiate a cap, a burn-off date, and a release if the lease is assigned.
Can my landlord keep my equipment if I fall behind on rent?
Georgia gives landlords a general lien on a tenant's leviable property, with priority dating from the levy of a distress warrant (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-341), and many leases add a contractual security interest. Whether a landlord can reach specific equipment depends on the lease, any lender's lien, and the court process. Call us before moving property out.
Who pays to replace the HVAC or roof in a commercial lease?
Whoever the lease says. In many net leases the tenant maintains and repairs HVAC, and some leases shift replacement costs to the tenant too, while the landlord keeps the roof and structure. Georgia's commercial leases are largely contract-driven, so negotiate who repairs versus who replaces, and cap your share of big replacements.
Can I use a leased building as a contractor's yard?
Only if both the lease and local zoning allow it. Check the use clause for outdoor storage, trucks, and fabrication, and confirm with the county or city planning office that the use is permitted at that address. Ask for a lease provision that lets you exit if permits or zoning approvals can't be obtained.
Do you help landlords as well as tenants?
Yes. Most of our leasing work is for tenants, but we also help small landlords draft and negotiate commercial leases, guaranties, and default provisions, and we handle lease disputes on either side. Call (404) 594-5130 to schedule a consultation with Jerry Parisi.