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How much does it cost to file an eviction in Georgia?

Georgia evictions are called dispossessories, they are filed in magistrate court, and their filing fees are set county by county: $50 for one defendant in Clayton County and $80 for one defendant in Effingham County, before service. In Fulton County the published numbers are the Marshal's: $50 per defendant to serve a lawsuit and $35 for a proceeding against a tenant holding over.

Georgia dispossessory fees at a glance

Every figure is a county's own published number. Clayton County's Magistrate Court landlord-tenant page sets the dispossessory filing fee at $50 for one defendant with service by the court's designated process server at $25 per case, and notes that e-filing is mandatory for Clayton dispossessories. Effingham County's Magistrate Court dispossessory page sets $80 for one defendant and $25 for each additional defendant. Fulton County splits the money differently: the Marshal's Department's published service-cost table charges $50 per defendant for service of a lawsuit and $35 for a proceeding against a tenant holding over, with $25 for a writ of possession and turnover order for personal property, while the Fulton County Sheriff's civil processing unit charges $25 per defendant to stand by and keep the peace while the landlord's crew physically removes the tenant's property. There is no statewide Georgia eviction fee — the honest budget is your county's combination of its filing fee plus its service charge. The national table is on the eviction filing costs hub; compare Florida eviction costs and Texas eviction costs.

Demand first, then a 7-day answer clock

Georgia procedure has two features landlords from other states miss. First, before filing, the landlord must demand possession and be refused — the county courts state it plainly: a landlord-tenant relationship must exist, and the landlord must have demanded the premises back before the proceeding begins (O.C.G.A. §44-7-50). Separately, ending a tenancy at will requires 60 days' notice from the landlord under §44-7-7, though a tenant who simply fails to pay rent can be put into a dispossessory once rent is due and demand has been made. Second, once the dispossessory affidavit is served — personally, or by tack-and-mail posting on the premises plus mailing where the statute allows — the tenant has only seven days to file an answer (§44-7-55), weekends and holidays included unless the seventh day falls on one. No answer means the landlord can take a writ of possession by default; an answer gets a hearing, typically the following week in busy metro courts. A tenant who answers and wants to stay during an appeal must pay rent into the registry of the court — the mechanism that makes Georgia answers in nonpayment cases effectively pay-to-defend.

How the case runs

1. Demand possession from the tenant and, for a tenancy at will, give the 60-day statutory notice; document the demand — the court will ask
2. File the dispossessory affidavit in the magistrate court of the county where the property sits, sworn before the clerk or a notary $50 Clayton / $80 Effingham, one defendant
3. Have the affidavit served by the marshal, sheriff or the court's designated process server $50 per defendant Fulton Marshal / $25 per case Clayton
4. The tenant has seven days from service to answer; no answer, and you apply for the writ of possession — in Fulton practice after the seven days run, with the writ application fee where the court charges one
5. The marshal or sheriff executes the writ with your labour crew; if a deputy must stand by during the set-out, budget the standby charge $25 per defendant, Fulton Sheriff

What an eviction really costs beyond the clerk

The filing and service fees are the small end of a Georgia eviction. The writ is executed by officers, but the physical labour is yours: Fulton County's own guidance tells landlords to hire an eviction company or supply their own crew — usually five or more able-bodied people — and that labour is a market price no court publishes. Lost rent during the seven-day answer window, the hearing cycle and the writ queue dwarfs the $50–$80 filing fee in most cases, and a tenant who answers and pays rent into the registry can extend the timeline while the case is heard. Money judgments for back rent can be taken in the same dispossessory up to the magistrate court's $15,000 civil jurisdiction, which is one reason to plead the exact amounts owed in the affidavit. Attorney fees, where a landlord uses counsel (required in substance for many entity landlords once a case leaves magistrate court), are market-priced and not estimated here. See the Georgia court costs guide for the rest of the state's fee landscape.

Can't afford the fee?

Georgia's general indigency statute (O.C.G.A. §9-15-2) lets a filer who files a proper affidavit of indigency proceed without prepaying costs, subject to the court's review and to repayment if the claim turns out not to be made in good faith. Landlords rarely qualify in practice, but the mechanism exists for individual filers; the fee waiver guide explains how these affidavits work generally. Tenants answering a dispossessory pay no filing fee to answer — the seven-day deadline, not a fee, is the barrier that matters.

Sources: Clayton County Magistrate Court — Landlord-Tenant Dispossessory (filing fee $50 for one defendant; designated process server $25 per case; 7-day answer) · Effingham County Magistrate Court — Dispossessory (filing fee $80 for one defendant, $25 each additional; 7-day answer) · Fulton County Marshal's Department — Marshal Service Costs (lawsuit service $50 per defendant; proceeding against tenant holding over $35; writ of possession and turnover order $25) · Fulton County Sheriff, Civil Processing Unit (eviction standby $25 per defendant) · O.C.G.A. §§44-7-7 (60-day notice), 44-7-50 (demand for possession), 44-7-55 (answer period; writ of possession), 9-15-2 (indigency). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with your county magistrate court clerk.