Georgia Senate passes amended bill limiting overnight removals from extended-stay hotels after heated debate

The Georgia Senate passed House Bill 61 on March 19, 2026, approving a committee substitute that changes how extended-stay hotels and innkeepers may remove guests who have stayed long periods. The final vote on passage was 32 yeas to 18 nays.

The bill, offered on the floor as a public-safety and property-rights measure, had been transformed in committee into a multi-part substitute that includes provisions addressing unlawful squatting, magistrate-court procedures and processes for removal of disruptive or criminal guests. On the floor the chamber debated two competing amendments that drew distinct majorities: Amendment 1, which would have conferred fuller landlord-tenant protections after a 90-day threshold, failed 22-28; Amendment 1a (making the 90 days consecutive) failed 24-26. A compromise, Amendment 2, was adopted without objection; it provides that guests who have lived at an extended-stay facility for 90 or more consecutive days should not be put out overnight for nonpayment and must be given a defined notice and a 10-day period to respond or cure before removal; the amendment also includes measures addressing eviction records and certain procedural safeguards.

Senator (48th…