TITLE 44 PROPERTY

Section 7. Landlord and Tenant, 44-7-1 through 44-7-119.

ARTICLE 1 IN GENERAL

44-7-21. Written brokerage agreement as binding obligation; notice of commission rights form.

1. Where a landlord or tenant has entered into a written brokerage commission agreement for the payment of compensation or promise of payment to a real estate broker in consideration of brokerage services rendered in connection with the consummation of a lease, then, notwithstanding any rule or construction of law under which such written brokerage commission agreement might otherwise be considered the personal obligation of the original landlord or tenant specifically named in the lease, such written brokerage commission agreement shall, pursuant to the terms of this Code section, constitute a binding contractual obligation of such landlord or tenant, as the case may be, and of their respective grantees, successors, and assigns. Upon any sale, transfer, assignment, or other disposition, including, without limitation, by reason of the enforcement of any mortgage, lien, deed to secure debt, or other security instrument, of a landlord's interest in real property or upon any sale, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of a tenant's leasehold interest, the succeeding party shall be bound for all obligations occurring after the sale, transfer, assignment, or other disposition with the same effect as if such succeeding party had expressly assumed the landlord's or tenant's obligations relating to the written brokerage commission agreement if:
   1. A written brokerage commission agreement is incorporated into the lease;
   2. The real estate broker has complied with subsection (b) of this Code section;
   3. The succeeding party assumes the benefits of the tenancy, rental amount, and term of the lease; and
   4. The written brokerage commission agreement has not been waived in writing by the broker.

      The conveyance or transfer of the real property coupled with the continuing assumption of the tenancy, rental amount, and term of said lease shall constitute conclusive evidence of the succeeding landlord's or tenant's agreement to pay such periodic commission payments under the written brokerage commission agreement.

(b) A real estate broker shall be entitled to the protections afforded by this Code section only upon the broker's recording a notice of commission rights in the deed records in the office of the clerk of the superior court in the county in which the real property or leasehold interest is located within 30 days of the execution of the lease incorporating the written brokerage commission agreement. Said notice of commission rights must be filed before conveyance of the real property, must be signed by the broker or by a person expressly authorized to sign on behalf of the broker, and must follow substantially the following form:

" NOTICE OF COMMISSION RIGHTS

The undersigned licensed Georgia real estate broker does hereby publish this NOTICE OF COMMISSION RIGHTS pursuant to Code Section 44-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated to establish that the lease set forth below contains a written brokerage commission agreement providing for the payment or promise of payment of compensation for brokerage services. __________________________________________________________________________ Owner __________________________________________________________________________ Landlord __________________________________________________________________________ Tenant __________________________________________________________________________ Lease date Lease term __________________________________________________________________________ Project name or building Legal Description: All that tract or parcel of land lying and being in the State of Georgia, County of ________, being more particularly described on Exhibit 'A' attached hereto and made a part hereof. (A full and complete legal description is required for this form to be valid.) Given under hand and seal this ________ day of ________________________, ________. Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of: Broker: ______________________________ __________________________ (Seal) Unofficial Witness Name:__________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Notary Public Georgia Real Estate (Notary Seal Attached) License No. ____________________________" (c) The real estate broker must file a release of commission rights within 30 days of receipt of the final payment of commissions due under the written brokerage commission agreement. (d) This Code section shall only apply to leaseholds of all or a portion of commercial real estate as that term is defined in Code Section 44-14-601 which are entered into on or after July 1, 1997.

Notwithstanding any provision of this Code section to the contrary, this Code section does not create an interest in the real property which is the subject of the lease.

(Code 1981, §44-7-21, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 825, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 44.)