Attorney: Court ruling will help Georgia motel residents

Individuals who depend on motels for long-term housing in Georgia may have better safety in opposition to compelled removing below a state appeals courtroom ruling, an legal professional stated.

The Second Division of the Courtroom of Appeals of Georgia dominated that an prolonged keep motel exterior Atlanta couldn’t kick two residents out with out submitting formal eviction circumstances in courtroom.

The motel — Effectivity Lodge — had argued the residents had been company who may very well be eliminated summarily.

The second division disagreed, noting in a call on Monday that one of many residents — Armetrius Neason — had lived on the lodge for greater than 5 years. Each of the residents had, moreover, put private belongings of their rooms and stated they did not obtain housekeeping or linen service, based on the courtroom.

“None of those information are according to the concept Effectivity Lodge handled the plaintiffs because the transient company of a resort as such is known by a fairly widespread particular person,” the courtroom stated.

As an alternative, the courtroom concluded the 2 residents had been tenants — a designation held by conventional leaseholders that offers them the correct to contest an eviction try earlier than a choose.

“This units a brand new precedent that applies statewide,” stated Lindsey Siegel, an legal professional with the Atlanta Authorized Help Society that introduced the case.

Roughly 26,000 extended-stay models in metro Atlanta alone are used as semi-permanent or everlasting housing, consultants estimated in a short filed within the case. Siegel stated the ruling, due to this fact, may have a “big affect.”

Effectivity Lodge will enchantment the ruling to the Georgia Supreme Courtroom, legal professional Roy Barnes informed the Atlanta Journal-Structure in a narrative on Wednesday.

“Although we respect the ruling of the Courtroom of Appeals, we imagine the courtroom was fallacious in its evaluation,” Barnes informed the AJC in an e-mail.

Housing attorneys say long-term motel and resort dwellers face a heightened threat of homelessness throughout the nation as a result of many states don’t clearly outline when resort and motel company change into tenants. That threat elevated through the pandemic as a result of resort company had been excluded from a federal moratorium on evictions for individuals dealing with monetary hardship, based on the attorneys.