O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 44-7-74 (2019)

Answer; grant of distress warrant on failure to answer; trial; possession pending final outcome

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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(a) At or before the time of the hearing, the defendant may answer in writing. The defendant may answer orally at the time of the hearing. If the answer is oral, the substance thereof shall be endorsed upon the affidavit. The answer may contain any legal or equitable defense or counterclaim. (b) If the tenant fails to answer, the court shall grant a distress warrant; and the plaintiff shall be entitled to a verdict and judgment by default for all rents due as if every item and paragraph of the affidavit provided for in Code Section 44-7-71 were supported by proper evidence, which verdict shall be in open court or chambers and without the intervention of a jury.

(c) If the tenant answers, a trial of the issues shall be had in accordance with the procedure prescribed for civil actions in courts of record except that if the action is tried in the magistrate court the trial shall be had in accordance with the procedures prescribed for that court. Every effort shall be made by the trial court to expedite a trial of the issues. The defendant shall be allowed to remain in possession of the premises and his property pending the final outcome of the litigation, provided that he complies with Code Section 44-7-75.

History

(Ga. L. 1920, p. 147, § 1; Code 1933, § 61-406; Code 1933, § 61-404, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1514, § 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 44; Ga. L. 1983, p. 884, § 3-30.1.)

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Time for answer. - Timely answer to an application for a distress warrant is made if the tenant files the tenant’s answer before the date of a rescheduled hearing, regardless of the length of time between the date of

service of the summons for the tenant to appear and the date of filing of the answer. Daniel v. Wells Oil Co., 205 Ga. App. 331, 422 S.E.2d 55 (1992).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 49 Am. Jur. 2d, Landlord and Tenant, § 615 et seq.

C.J.S. - 52A C.J.S., Landlord and Tenant, §§ 1301, 1305 et seq.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case, 1992–1992 · leading case: Daniel v. Wells Oil Co., 422 S.E.2d 55 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992).

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Daniel v. Wells Oil Co., 422 S.E.2d 55 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 4× “” OCGA § 44-7-74 (a). Thus, regardless of the time of the hearing, the answer of a tenant in dispossessory proceedings is untimely if it is not filed within seven days of the actual service of the summons.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.