Georgia renters are filing complaints, facing common rental problems, and dealing with landlords who rank near the bottom nationally, according to a new survey of renters across 48 states.
What It Means For You: If you rent in Georgia, you’re statistically more likely to file a formal complaint against your landlord and less likely to get issues resolved quickly compared to renters in most other states.
What’s Happening: Georgia ranked 46th out of 48 states in a landlord quality survey conducted in August 2025, scoring just 32.7 out of 100 points. The state landed in the bottom five alongside Arizona, Washington, Arkansas, and North Dakota.
Why Georgia Scored So Low: The survey found Georgia renters reported some of the highest complaint filing rates in the country. They also frequently cited common rental issues like delayed repairs, poor communication, and maintenance problems that went unaddressed.
The National Picture: The survey revealed sharp divides in how Americans experience renting. About one in four renters nationwide rated their landlords as poor or very poor, while nearly half gave positive ratings. The biggest complaints across all states included landlords failing to return communications (42%), delaying or refusing repairs (39%), and imposing surprise rent hikes (28%).
Between the Lines: Individual landlords scored better than property management companies in nearly every category. Renters with individual landlords were more than twice as likely to rate their experience as excellent compared to those dealing with management companies.
What Good Landlords Look Like: Maryland topped the rankings with a score of 73.3, earning high marks for preventive maintenance and communication. Hawaii came in second, with renters saying their landlords went above and beyond more often than any other state. Maine, Idaho, and Illinois rounded out the top five.
The Bottom Line: Poor landlord experiences don’t just frustrate renters — they force them to move. 43 percent of survey respondents said they’d moved specifically to escape a bad landlord, and nearly one in three moved due to unexplained or unfair rent increases.
The Sources: Survey conducted by Ovid Life.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
