Sandy Springs Together

Everyone Deserves a Voice

Renters' Rights Summit

What are the Hidden Costs Associated with a Lack of Affordable Housing?

The lack of affordable homes impacts our community in many ways. From poor healthcare to education accessibility issues, there are significant hidden costs associated with a lack of affordable housing. 

Some leaders might believe that now is not the time to address the problem, but the issue of affordable housing has steadily gotten worse in Sandy Springs over the past five years. This issue is now taking its toll on Sandy Springs in multiple areas, from education to transportation. Below, we will examine how a lack of affordable housing impacts all of us .

Education

Findings provided by Habitat for Humanity show that the location and condition of a child’s home play a significant role in their physical, cognitive and emotional development and well-being. This, in turn, impacts their educational and social progress. 

Low-income households tend to move at more than twice the rate of families with higher incomes, primarily because of their housing cost burden (spending more than 30% of their income on housing), structural and environmental housing problems, neighborhood violence or foreclosures and evictions. 

Having to move frequently can significantly hinder a child’s progress in school, according to two recent studies. These studies found that children from low-income households who moved three times in a six-year span fell one full school year behind their peers. Students who moved even once during that timespan fell behind 4-6 months. This also impacts the overall performance of their schools, as research shows schools with highly mobile student body populations tend to underperform those with stable student body populations. 

Sandy Springs public schools are not immune to the problem of having a high rate of transience. There is data which shows that enrollment in the 11 Fulton County Schools in Sandy Springs has decreased by 11% over the last 5 years and 22% since the 2014-2015 school year. This decline in enrollment is not due to families moving their children to private schools, because the data also reveals a 10% decrease in private school enrollment. 

Families are leaving our city and new young families are not able to afford to move here.

Affordable housing promotes stability and improves educational outcomes through improved attendance, better cognitive and behavioral health and improved academic achievement. 

Health

The Children’s HealthWatch organization, a research policy network based at Boston Medical Center, estimates that more than $110 billion in healthcare and education costs could be saved across the United States over the next 10 years if all families with children had access to stable housing.  

This estimate is based on the projected cost of health-related care for mothers and children who have either experienced homelessness, moved two or more times or been behind on rent in the previous year. The direct costs linked to unstable housing include increased hospitalizations, ambulatory visits, dental procedures, mental health care for mothers and special education services for children.

Economic Strain

Communities with a shortage of affordable housing often face higher economic costs as well. Businesses may struggle to attract and retain employees who can’t afford to live nearby, leading to increased commuting times and transportation costs. This can reduce productivity and hinder economic growth.

Child Welfare

High housing costs also impact parents and their children when it comes to dealing with child welfare. According to an analysis by WABE and ProPublica, the Department of Family & Children Services (DFCS) reported “inadequate housing” as the sole reason for a child being removed from their living situation in more than 700 cases between fiscal years 2018 and 2022.

Having an ample supply of affordable places to live creates many economic benefits for communities but also aids in healthier communities, increased civic participation, increased public safety and a greater sense of community pride.

We appreciate you taking the time to learn more about how affordable housing shapes our community. In our next entry, we will review the key takeaways raised throughout this blog series and share actions that we can all take to help move our city forward.

What Happens at The End of Your Lease?

Sandy Springs Speaks: Renters’ Rights Summit 2023 – What Happens at the End of Your Lease?

Crystal Redd, co-director of the Safe & Stable Homes project through the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, discusses what renters should do to prepare for their lease agreement to be terminated, extended, or renewed. This video was filmed at the 2023 Sandy Springs Speaks: Renters’ Rights Summit, hosted by Sandy Springs Together.

Crystal Redd, co-director of the Safe & Stable Homes project through the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, discusses what renters should do to prepare for their lease agreement to be terminated, extended, or renewed. This video was filmed at the 2023 Sandy Springs Speaks: Renters’ Rights Summit, hosted by Sandy Springs Together.

This is the third blog in our series on Renters’ Rights. Click here or below to read our first two blogs in this series; you don’t want to miss any of the CRUCIAL information that’s being shared.

Renters make up over half of the residents in Sandy Springs. As a renter, one of the most important things you can do is to arm yourself with knowledge about your rights. That is why Sandy Springs Together hosted a Renters’ Rights Summit in November 2023. One topic that was discussed is the termination of your lease. 

The content that follows is intended to inform the reader and is not meant to be legal advice. 

The landlord and tenant may only end a written lease according to its terms. A lease can be terminated, extended or renewed at the end of its term depending on what the lease says. 

  • Termination: If the lease expires or otherwise ends, the landlord can require that you immediately sign a new lease with new terms or leave. If a new lease is not signed, and the landlord continues to accept monthly rent, the terms of the original lease still apply, except the landlord is required to give 60 days’ notice before terminating the lease or changing the terms, and you are required to give 30 days’ notice before leaving. 
  • Extension: A lease may allow you to stay longer under the same lease provisions through automatic extension at the end of the current lease unless you give notice that you want to leave. If your lease allows that, and you do not notify the landlord that you plan to leave, you could end up responsible for another lease term.
  • Renewal: A lease may allow the tenant to renew by signing a new lease. If your lease allows that, you must give the landlord written notice of your intention to renew the lease. If you do not timely renew the lease, the landlord may treat the lease as expired at the end of the term and take back the rental property.

One of the biggest areas of dispute for renters is the return of the security deposit. When you are moving out of your rental property you should clearly document the condition of the property by taking photos and video of every part of your rental unit, including appliances. This will document the condition of the property you are leaving. Hopefully, you have also retained pictures and an inspection report from when you initially took possession of the property at move-in. Here are a few additional things to keep in mind:

  • The landlord must inspect the unit and prepare a list of all damage beyond normal wear and tear. The landlord must sign the list and provide it to you listing every item and the associated charge.  
  • You must sign the move-out inspection list or specify in writing the items you disagree with and why.
  • Landlords must return the security deposit within 30 days after termination of the lease or the date that you leave the premises, whichever occurs last. 

A landlord must have a legal reason to terminate your lease early. In Georgia, those legal reasons are failing to pay rent or violating the terms of the lease or rental agreement.

Eviction is a legal process a landlord must follow in order to remove a tenant from the rental property and terminate the lease. It is illegal to evict outside of the court process by removing belongings, terminating utilities or intimidation.

To perform a legal eviction, the following actions must take place:

  • The landlord serves an eviction notice called a demand for possession of property either verbally or in writing. 
  • The landlord files an eviction lawsuit with the court.
  • The court serves a summons to the tenant from the State of Georgia and the county of residence stating the reason for the eviction.
  • The tenant has 7 days to respond to the notice. DO NOT IGNORE the notice. You must file an answer with defenses (for example, failure to repair, retaliation, etc) You can also file a counterclaim.
  • The landlord and tenant attend a court hearing and receive judgment. Keep documentation as evidence and bring it to court. This includes photos, emails, text messages, receipts or anything that helps tell your side of the story.
  • If the judgment is in favor of the landlord, the tenant has seven days to move out and/or appeal the judgment. 

Resources:

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation – provides free legal services to lower-income residents. Their services include landlord/tenant disputes, domestic violence/intimate partner abuse, evictions etc.   

Esther Graff-Radford – private litigation attorney; tried the first landlord harassment case in Georgia.  

Georgia Appleseed – Georgia Appleseed advocates for reforms large and small, local and statewide, that increase access for low-income children and their families to stable, healthy housing and out of the criminal justice system

Georgia Appleseed Healthy Housing Advocacy Handbook 

Atlanta Legal Aid Society- Helping low income people meet basic needs, removing barriers to justice through civil legal assistance.   https://atlantalegalaid.org/  

Georgia Department of Community Affairs: The Georgia Landlord – Tenant Handbook

iProperty Management – Georgia Landlord Tenant Rights

Apartment Maintenance

Sandy Springs Speaks: Renters’ Rights Summit 2023 – Apartment Maintenance

Esther Graff-Radford, Atlanta-based civil litigation attorney, walks the attendants of the 2023 Renters’ Rights Summit through the process of making a maintenance request for your apartment.

Disclaimer: The following content is intended to inform the reader and is not intended to be legal advice.

In November of 2023, we brought together apartment residents to hear from experts in several disciplines, from specialized attorneys and policy makers, to advocates to discuss some of the most prevalent issues facing renters in Georgia. There are approximately 4.5 million renters in Georgia and slightly more than half of the residents right here in Sandy Springs are renters. 

Whether you are an apartment renter or you know someone who is, it’s important to know the steps to take and the contacts to make in any given situation. Whether you have questions about your lease or, in the case of this blog, you’re dealing with maintenance issues in your apartment, we have the info you need to work through almost any problem you may encounter as an apartment resident.

When dealing with apartment maintenance issues it is important to know that your landlord is responsible for keeping your unit in good repair. This is determined by state minimums and includes: making sure your toilets work properly; ensuring that your faucets provide clean water; making sure that the locks on your doors work; having working heat and air conditioning systems; ensuring that the smoke detectors work and that your windows open properly, in case of an emergency; overseeing the community trash bin disposal; and keeping up with regular rodent and insect control measures.

If you are having issues with your landlord not responding to your requests for repairs, the first step you should take is to submit a request IN WRITING and TAKE PICTURES of the problem. If you communicate this issue to your landlord via a text, email or using the tenant portal, be sure to take a screenshot of the request with the date the request was submitted CLEARLY VISIBLE in the screenshot. 

Without documentation it is easy for your request to be forgotten, ignored or disputed.

As a renter, it’s important to give your landlord a reasonable amount of time to fix the problem. A reasonable amount of time is discretionary, and some problems like a stopped up toilet should be addressed immediately, while others, like a stuck window, may take a bit more time.  

However, if a reasonable amount of time has passed and you’ve made several requests (and documented all of the requests) to repair the same problem, it may be time to call the City of Sandy Springs Code Enforcement at 770-730-5600 or by using the Sandy Springs Works mobile app.  Sandy Springs Works is available at no cost for iPhone in the Apple App Store and for Android in the Google Play store. The city has basic standards that need to be met by apartment owners and they can help in many cases to get your problem addressed. Click here to learn more about Sandy Springs Code Enforcement.

If management doesn’t respond in a reasonable time and your maintenance problem is something you can repair yourself or hire someone to do for you, Georgia’s “Repair and Deduct” provision allows you to get the repair done, then send the receipt for the repair and deduct that amount from the rent for that month.  AGAIN, it is a good idea to take pictures and make sure you have documented several requests for the repair to be made by management before you decide to make arrangements to get it done yourself.   

If your landlord refuses to accept less rent as a result of you having to get the repairs done yourself, or if your landlord tries to terminate your lease as a result of you requesting less rent under this provision, you may need to contact a lawyer. There are several legal aid resources listed at the end of this blog.  

It is important to know the difference between Repair and Deduct and the act of withholding your rent. In Georgia, a renter cannot withhold rent because a landlord isn’t fixing something. You also cannot pay rent into an escrow account until the problem is fixed. Both of these actions are illegal. You must continue to pay your rent; if you stop paying rent due to an unaddressed repair, you will run the risk of forfeiting many of your rights as an apartment renter.

If your unaddressed maintenance concern is causing an unsafe or unhealthy living environment for you, such as leaking sewage, no locks on your does, or more, then you have the right to consider terminating your lease as the landlord has not addressed the problems that you’ve documented. If you reach this step, we highly recommend obtaining advice from an attorney. We have listed several attorneys and legal aid services that specifically handle disputes between renters and landlords at the end of this blog.  

Resources:

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation – provides free legal services to lower income residents, including handling landlord/tenant disputes, domestic violence/intimate partner abuse, evictions and more.

Esther Graff-Radford – private litigation attorney; tried the first landlord harassment case in Georgia.

Georgia Appleseed – Georgia Appleseed advocates for reforms large and small, local and statewide, that increase access for low-income children and their families to stable, healthy housing. Their Healthy Housing Advocacy Handbook provides useful information on how to access and advocate for more affordable housing in your community.
Atlanta Legal Aid Society – the Atlanta Legal Aid Society assists low income people with meeting basic needs and removes barriers to justice through civil legal assistance.

Apartment Lease Review – What You Need to Know BEFORE You Sign a Lease

Sandy Springs Speaks: Renters’ Rights Summit 2023 – What You Need to Know BEFORE You Sign a Lease

Esther Graff-Radford, an Atlanta-based Civil Litigation Attorney with Graff-Radford Law, LLC, informs attendants at the 2023 Renters’ Rights Summit what they should be looking for before signing a lease.

Sandy Springs Together hosted its first-ever Renters’ Rights Summit in November 2023. This event connected Sandy Springs apartment renters with experts who advocate for improved renters’ rights in the state of Georgia. 

These experts shared information regarding apartment leases, rental property policy and the current rights that renters have in Georgia, from getting repairs to lease termination (voluntary and eviction). 

This event also featured a discussion about the role of the state legislature in setting rules for landlords and municipalities in rental situations. 

We have compiled a list of tips and important information that will be helpful  to remember specifically when you are reviewing your lease agreement. This information was provided by Esther Graff-Radford, a private litigation attorney, and is meant to inform and not be taken as legal advice. 

LEASE REVIEW:

When looking at an apartment: 

  • Ask for a copy of the lease you would be signing PRIOR to actually signing it so that you can become familiar with the contents. Be wary of a “hard sell”.
  • Ask to see the actual unit you would be renting. Model apartments don’t always represent the actual unit you would be renting. They don’t show roach infestation, flooding damage or plumbing problems, to name a few.  
  • In Georgia, landlords cannot discriminate against you for color, race, national origin, disability or family status (too many children or same-sex or single parent).  

The content of the lease should: 

  • Indicate which, if any utilities are included as part of your rent.
  • Describe other services that are provided and the charges for those services, such as trash valet, security gate etc.     
  • Reveal whether the property has flooded in the past several years.
  • Identify where YOUR security deposit will be held.   

The lease should say:

  • Landlord is responsible for making repairs
  • Landlord is responsible for any harm to the tenant’s property caused by not making repairs.

Take Photos of your apartment before you move in: Inspect your new apartment carefully.  If there are areas where you see damage or excessive wear, these should be documented with photos and reported in writing to management immediately. Confirm that all appliances are in working condition. If not, immediately report these in writing as well. Make copies of anything you send to management about the “move-in” condition of your apartment; doing so could avoid you having to pay for these items when you move out.  Keep these photos and reports for reference.  

Change of apartment ownership or management company:

Georgia law requires apartment leases to remain in effect until the lease’s expiration date.  If a new owner or management company acquires your apartment community, the new landlord is obligated to honor the terms of your lease until it has expired, at which time you can elect to renew the lease with the new company.   

As a renter, having a clear understanding of your rights and responsibilities can make your rental experience more satisfactory.  Remember, you are not alone; there are slightly more renters in Sandy Springs than homeowners, and by working together, we can make a difference in how renters are respected and included in many city boards, committees and activities.  

Check out the helpful resources below to learn more, and stay tuned for more information from our first-ever Sandy Springs Speaks: Renters’ Rights Forum! 

Resources:

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation – provides free legal services to lower-income residents. Their services include landlord/tenant disputes, domestic violence/intimate partner abuse, evictions etc.  

Esther Graff-Radford – private litigation attorney, tried the first landlord harassment case in Georgia.   

Georgia Appleseed – Georgia Appleseed advocates for reforms large and small, local and statewide, that increase access to stable, healthy housing for low-income children and their families, keeping them out of the criminal justice system. Georgia Appleseed Healthy Housing Advocacy Handbook. 
Atlanta Legal Aid Society – Helping those with low incomes meet basic needs by removing barriers to justice through civil legal assistance.