People living at extended-stay hotels won protection from informal, on-the-spot eviction this week, when the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled they should legally be recognized as residents, not guests, and, thus, are covered by landlord-tenant law.
The March 7 decision found that Efficiency Lodge in south DeKalb County illegally kicked out three tenants in 2020 who had fallen behind on rent, because the hotel was actually their landlord, as first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Atlanta Legal Aid Society attorney Lindsey Siegel, who represented the former tenants, told Atlanta Civic Circle that, as rent and home prices spike, extended-stay hotels offer much-needed housing for low-income people. Consequently, the ruling has far-reaching implications.
