Eviction and Dispossessory Service in Georgia

01What changed in 2025

HB 270 Added an Approved Process Server to Georgia's Dispossessory Statute

For decades, Georgia's dispossessory summons went to the sheriff, a deputy or a lawful constable of the county where the property sits. HB 270 (2025), signed on May 14, 2025 and effective July 1, 2025, amended O.C.G.A. 44-7-51(a) so the court now issues the summons to the sheriff or a deputy, any lawful constable of the county, or an approved process server. The bill passed the House 172 to 0 and the Senate 49 to 0, and its first section calls it the Eviction Service Act.

The change is real, but it is incomplete. Neither the statute nor the enrolled bill defines an approved process server or says who does the approving, so the practical answer depends on the magistrate court where the affidavit is filed. Some courts may accept a certified or court-appointed server; others continue to send every summons to the sheriff or to a server the court itself designates. That gap is why dispossessory service in Georgia still starts with a question to the clerk rather than a dispatch to the property.

We treat the 2025 amendment as permission to ask, not as permission to serve. Before Delator Field Services accepts a dispossessory summons, we confirm with the filing court whether it accepts an approved process server for that paper, and we put the answer in writing. If the court routes the summons elsewhere, we say so and point you to the right office. Our statewide Georgia process server page explains how the same confirm-first rule applies to other paper types.

• HB 270 (2025), effective July 1, 2025
• Adds an approved process server to 44-7-51(a)
• No definition of who approves a server
• Court practice confirmed before acceptance

02County practice

How Georgia Magistrate Courts Handle the Summons Today

County practice already varies widely. Gwinnett County Magistrate Court says dispossessory service is ordinarily done by the Sheriff, with the clerk forwarding the service fee and the Sheriff's Civil Process Section handling delivery. Clayton County Magistrate Court assigns tack-and-mail service to the court's designated process server under a dispossessory standing order, at $25 per case. In those two counties, a landlord gains nothing by hiring a private server for the summons itself, and our Clayton County process server page says so plainly.

Other courts follow their own forms. The Pickens County dispossessory form posted in September 2026 directs the summons to the Sheriff of Pickens County or lawful deputies and has the filer choose between personal service and tack-and-mail by the Sheriff. Fulton County's landlord pamphlet lists personal service, service on a person over 18 at the residence, and tack-and-mail, while the Marshal's Department schedules the eviction itself. Chatham County Magistrate Court links a standing order on private process servers, and anyone filing there should read it before choosing a server.

Because these rules sit in local forms and standing orders, they can change without any new statute. We check the filing court's current practice for each job rather than relying on what was true last quarter. If the court accepts an approved process server and the server we would assign meets that court's requirements, we confirm both in writing with the price. Our Gwinnett County process server page shows what we do serve in counties where the summons stays with the Sheriff.

03Before the case is filed

The Demand, the Three-Day Notice and the Sworn Affidavit

A Georgia dispossessory begins with the landlord, not the court. Under O.C.G.A. 44-7-50, the owner demands possession, and if the tenant refuses, the owner or an agent or attorney makes a sworn affidavit before a superior or state court judge or clerk, a magistrate in the district where the land lies, or a notary public. For nonpayment under residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, the owner generally must first give written notice to pay or vacate within three business days covering everything past due.

That demand or notice generally must be posted in a sealed envelope conspicuously on the door, plus any other delivery method the rental agreement allows. The posting requirement came from HB 404 (2024), the Safe at Home act. Some landlords prefer a neutral third party to post the notice so there is an independent, time-stamped record of when and how it went up. Where counsel asks for that, we can deliver the notice and document the posting, but the content and timing of the notice remain decisions for the landlord and the attorney.

Justia shows the current version of 44-7-50 as effective until January 1, 2027, with a later version to follow, and we have not confirmed what that later text changes. Landlords filing near or after that date should check the current statute with counsel. Our Georgia guide on how to serve an eviction walks through the sequence from demand to hearing, and the step-by-step guide to serving legal papers in Georgia covers the general rules that apply to other papers in the case.

04Delivery methods

Personal Delivery, a Resident of the Premises, or Tack and Mail

Section 44-7-51 sets a specific order of methods. The first is personal service of the summons and affidavit on the tenant. If that fails, the papers may be delivered to any person who is sui juris, meaning legally competent, and residing on the premises. Only if no such person can be found after reasonable effort may the server post the papers on the door and, on the same day, mail a copy by first-class mail to the tenant's last known address, with an entry of that action on the affidavit.

The method matters later. After tack-and-mail service, the court may award possession, but the statute says a default judgment for money owed may not be entered unless the tenant files an answer or otherwise appears. Landlords who need a money judgment for back rent therefore care a great deal about personal or resident service, and they sometimes file a separate magistrate claim for the money. Our magistrate court and small claims service in Georgia covers that claim, which a qualified private server can generally deliver.

When we are permitted to serve the summons, our affidavit records each attempt in order, who answered the door, whether that person lived there, and the time of any posting and mailing. That sequence lets the court see that the statute's order was followed. When the court keeps the summons with the sheriff, the same documentation standard applies to every other paper we deliver in the case, from witness subpoenas to post-judgment notices.

• First: personal service on the tenant
• Second: a competent adult residing on the premises
• Third: post on the door and mail the same day
• No money default after tack and mail alone

05Timing

The Seven-Day Answer Window and Why Delivery Timing Matters

A Georgia tenant generally must answer a dispossessory within seven days from the date of actual service. If the seventh day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the answer is due the next business day, and the tenant may answer orally as well as in writing. The summons itself must state the last day to answer. That short window makes the service date the anchor for the whole case, so a vague or late return can push every later step back.

Speed alone is not the point. A summons served on the wrong person or in the wrong order of methods invites a challenge at the hearing, and a landlord who wins possession after a defective serve may face the same fight again. When we serve a paper in a dispossessory case, we prepare the affidavit promptly and keep the attempt log available to counsel. For papers that truly cannot wait, our Georgia same day and rush process serving moves the first attempt forward at a published multiple of the Routine rate.

Hearing preparation often needs more than the summons. Property managers, maintenance staff and former roommates may be needed as witnesses, and a subpoena can generally be served by any non-party adult under O.C.G.A. 24-13-24. A witness who lives outside the county where the hearing is held generally must receive a tender of one day's $25 fee plus mileage with the subpoena. Our subpoena service in Georgia handles that tender with counsel before the hearing date.

06Where our role ends

Writs of Possession and Evictions Stay With Georgia Law Enforcement

Winning a dispossessory does not end with a server. If the court grants possession, a writ issues, and in practice it is executed by a sheriff or marshal. Fulton County's pamphlet says the Marshal's Department schedules the eviction, the writ costs $20, the tenant has seven days to vacate once a writ issues against them, and a writ signed more than 60 days earlier must be refiled. The Cobb County Sheriff's Civil Section executes writs at $25 per person on the judgment.

Cobb's page also describes HB 1203: if the Sheriff cannot execute a writ within 14 days of the landlord's request, the landlord may hire an off-duty sheriff, deputy, constable, marshal or POST-certified person. Delator Field Services is none of those, and we do not carry out evictions, set-outs or writs of possession anywhere in Georgia. Landlords who reach that stage should work with the sheriff or marshal for their county and with counsel, and our process serving for Georgia attorneys page explains where we fit in the rest of the case.

What we can do is serve the civil papers around the dispossessory: a magistrate statement of claim for unpaid rent, a superior court suit over damage or guaranties, subpoenas for the hearing, and, after a money judgment, the personal delivery of garnishment notices that O.C.G.A. 18-4-8 allows a non-party adult or other listed person to make. Each is priced from the county table on our Georgia process server rate map and confirmed in writing first.

07A Georgia-specific angle

Apartment Communities, Military Tenants and Out-of-State Owners

Much of Georgia's rental housing sits in large apartment communities around Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta and Columbus, where controlled gates and leasing offices shape how any paper is delivered. Georgia's gated-community entry rule in O.C.G.A. 9-11-4(f)(4) applies to service under the Civil Practice Act, and we plan those attempts around it. For the dispossessory summons itself, the question of who may serve comes first, which is why we never assume a gate pass equals permission.

Military tenancies add a federal layer. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. 3931, a plaintiff seeking a default judgment generally must file an affidavit stating whether the defendant is in military service, and courts must appoint an attorney before a default against a servicemember. Columbus sits beside Fort Benning and Augusta beside Fort Gordon, so landlords there often check the Defense Department's SCRA website. Service on an installation depends on base access rules, and we coordinate with counsel before any attempt on base; our Columbus process server page has more.

Many Georgia rental properties belong to owners who live elsewhere, including in Tennessee. Delator Field Services is managed from Nashville and can coordinate the related civil papers for an out-of-state owner's Georgia case through one intake, with the same written quote and affidavit standard. When the tenant has moved to another state before a money claim is filed, our out-of-state papers service explains how that delivery is matched to the issuing court's rule.

Services

Landlord-Case Papers We Serve in Georgia

• Dispossessory summons, where acceptedServed only after the filing magistrate court confirms it accepts an approved process server and our assigned server meets its requirements, all in writing.Learn more
• Demand and three-day noticesThird-party delivery and documented posting of a landlord's written demand or nonpayment notice when counsel wants an independent record of the posting.Learn more
• Back-rent magistrate claimsStatements of claim up to $15,000 for unpaid rent or damages, delivered under O.C.G.A. 15-10-43 with an affidavit stating time and place.Learn more
• Hearing subpoenasSubpoenas for property managers, maintenance staff and other witnesses, with the $25 daily fee and mileage tender delivered when required.Learn more
• Garnishment noticesPersonal delivery of post-judgment garnishment notices to the defendant where O.C.G.A. 18-4-8 permits a non-party adult or listed server to deliver them.Learn more
• Superior court suitsSummons and complaint for larger lease, guaranty or property damage disputes, served personally, at the abode or on a registered agent.Learn more
• Business tenantsCommercial tenants served through an officer, managing agent or registered agent, with the current agent confirmed before the first attempt.Learn more
• Tenants who moved awayMoney claims against former tenants now living in Tennessee or another state, delivered under the issuing court's rule for out-of-state service.Learn more
• Rush schedulingFaster first attempts on related papers at 2 or 3 times Routine when a hearing or answer date leaves little room.Learn more

How it works

How We Take a Georgia Landlord Case

1. 01

   Send the filing details

   Tell us the county, the magistrate court, the property address and what has been filed, and upload the affidavit, summons or other papers you need delivered.

2. 02

   We confirm court practice

   We check whether the filing court accepts an approved process server for the dispossessory summons and tell you in writing which papers we can and cannot serve.

3. 03

   Written price and server

   For each paper we accept, we confirm the county rate, the tier and an assigned server who meets that court's requirements before any attempt is made.

4. 04

   Attempts and affidavit

   Attempts are logged in the statute's order of methods, and you receive a signed affidavit with dates, times, the person served and any posting and mailing.

Compare

Georgia Dispossessory Practice in Selected Counties

Statewide coverage

Georgia Cities Where Landlord Cases Reach Us

Dispossessory volume is heaviest in the metro magistrate courts, so many requests start from our Atlanta process server page or the Lawrenceville process server page for Gwinnett filings. Coastal landlords reach us through the Savannah process server page, and middle Georgia owners through the Macon and Warner Robins pages. Wherever the property sits, the first step is the same: we confirm what the local magistrate court allows before we quote.

• Atlanta
• Lawrenceville
• Savannah
• Macon
• Augusta
• Columbus
• All of Georgia

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Service areas

Process servers across Georgia