Houston County, Georgia has an unusual number of houses whose owners live somewhere else. Robins Air Force Base moves families in and out on orders, and many keep the house as a rental. Adult children inherit a parent's home in Perry or Centerville and live two states away. Landlords in Warner Robins sit between tenants for a month or a season. For every one of those owners, four rules apply that do not apply to the family living next door, and two of them changed in the last two years.
The first works in the owner's favor. Georgia's Squatter Reform Act, in effect since April 24, 2024, made it a crime to live in someone else's house without permission and gave owners a fast track through the Houston County Magistrate Court. The second works against an owner inside Warner Robins city limits: the city's blight tax, adopted in August 2024, can add up to 10 mills to the city tax on a house that sits vacant and unmaintained, which at the city's 2026 rate of 10 mills means paying double. The third is the homestead exemption, which a civilian owner loses by moving out and renting, but which Georgia law protects for an owner absent on military duty. The fourth is the county's short-term rental certificate, required since July 1, 2025 for any home in unincorporated Houston County rented for 30 days or less.
None of these appears on a closing statement or a lease. They turn up in a tax bill, a notice from the city, or a call from a neighbor, usually after the owner has moved. This guide lays out each rule, which addresses it reaches, and what an owner who is holding a house from a distance should do about it.
The Four Rules That Change When the Owner Moves Out
Rule | Who it reaches | What it means | Where to confirm |
Georgia Squatter Reform Act (2024) | Every owner in Georgia | Unauthorized occupant can be cited; 3 business days to show a lease; owner's affidavit gets a 7-day hearing | Houston County Magistrate Court, 89 Cohen Walker Dr, Warner Robins, (478) 987-4695 |
Warner Robins blight tax (2024) | Owners inside Warner Robins city limits | Up to 10 extra mills on a vacant, unsafe or unmaintained property; 20 mills total at the 2026 rate | City of Warner Robins code enforcement and municipal court |
Homestead exemption (O.C.G.A. 48-5-40) | Every owner who claimed homestead | Lost when a civilian owner moves out and rents; protected for absence on military duty | Houston County Tax Assessor, (478) 218-4750; file by April 1 |
Short-term rental certificate (2025) | Unincorporated county: Bonaire, Kathleen, rural addresses | Required for rentals of 30 days or less; expires Dec 31; not transferable on sale | Houston County Financial Department |
Squatters: The Rule That Now Favors the Owner
Before 2024, a Georgia owner who found a stranger living in a vacant house was told it was a civil matter, and the intruder affidavit process could be dragged out for months by a counter-affidavit and a demand for a jury trial. The Squatter Reform Act changed three things. It created the misdemeanor of unlawful squatting under O.C.G.A. 16-7-21.1, so a deputy or city officer can issue a citation and the person has 3 business days to produce a signed lease or other written authorization or face arrest. It rewrote the owner's affidavit process so that a contested case goes to a non-jury hearing in magistrate court within 7 days. And it allowed the court to award the owner fair market rent for the time the squatter occupied the home.
In Houston County the affidavit is filed with the Magistrate Court at 89 Cohen Walker Drive in Warner Robins. The one limit an absent owner should understand is that the Act does not apply to anyone who ever had a lease, even an expired one, or who has a genuine claim of right. Those occupants are tenants and go through the standard dispossessory process. For an owner on orders or out of state, the practical step is to keep a copy of every lease and every payment record somewhere reachable from anywhere, because the whole fast track turns on paper. The full process is covered in the squatter law post.
The Blight Tax: The Rule That Reaches Warner Robins Addresses Only
The City of Warner Robins adopted its blight tax on August 5, 2024. It allows the city to add up to 10 mills to the city property tax on a property found to be blighted, meaning vacant and also unsafe or not maintained. The process starts with a complaint from a city officer or from at least 5 residents, followed by written notice to the owner, a 30-day window to request a hearing in municipal court, a city inspection and a judge's decision. With the regular 2026 city rate adopted at 10 mills, a flagged property pays 20 mills in city tax, double the house next door, and the surcharge continues each year until the property is brought into compliance.
The rule applies only inside Warner Robins city limits. A vacant house in Bonaire, Kathleen or unincorporated Houston County is not subject to it, and Perry and Centerville have not adopted an equivalent. For an owner who inherited a house north of Watson Boulevard or holds a rental between tenants inside the city, the 30-day clock is the detail that matters, because it starts the day the notice arrives, not the day the owner reads it. The Warner Robins blight tax post covers the process step by step.
Homestead: The Rule With a Military Exception
Georgia's homestead exemption reduces the assessed value on which a homeowner's property tax is calculated, and in Houston County it also carries the floating homestead exemption under HB 581, which limits how much a homesteaded property's assessed value can rise from one year to the next. Under O.C.G.A. 48-5-40, the homestead must be the real property owned by and in possession of the applicant on January 1 and must be actually occupied as the applicant's permanent residence. A civilian owner who moves out and rents the house no longer meets that test, the exemption comes off, and the house is assessed at full market value each year with no cap.
The statute treats military absence differently. Section 48-5-40(3)(J) states that absence of an individual from the residence because of duty in the armed forces shall not be considered a waiver of the exemption, and allows a family member or friend to notify the tax receiver or tax commissioner of the absence, after which the exemption is granted. An Attorney General opinion cited in the code annotations states that members of the armed services can continue to claim a homestead exemption on property rented out. For a family that keeps its Houston County house as a rental through an assignment elsewhere, that is a meaningful difference from a civilian landlord, and it is worth confirming with the Houston County Tax Assessor at (478) 218-4750 how the office wants the absence documented. Homestead applications and changes are filed with the Tax Assessor by April 1.
Short-Term Rentals: The Rule for Bonaire, Kathleen and the Unincorporated County
Since July 1, 2025, any residential dwelling in unincorporated Houston County rented for 30 consecutive days or less must hold a county accommodation excise tax certificate before it is advertised. The certificate costs $150 initially and $100 per year to renew, expires every December 31, and its number must appear in every listing. The owner must name a local contact who can respond in person within 2 hours; 3 missed responses in a year can cost the certificate, and a revoked property cannot be re-certified for 12 months. Overnight occupancy is capped at 2 per bedroom plus 2, with a maximum of 15, and the owner collects a 5 percent county lodging tax on every stay. Operating without a certificate carries fines up to $1,000 per day.
Two details matter most for an owner who does not live nearby. The certificate is not transferable, so a buyer of a house that has been earning on Airbnb or Vrbo has 7 days to apply for a 30-day grace period or the rental must stop. And the ordinance applies only outside the city limits of Warner Robins, Perry and Centerville, which set their own rules. The full ordinance is covered in the short-term rental post.
Which Rules Apply Where in Houston County
Community | Squatter law | Blight tax | Homestead rules | County short-term rental certificate |
Warner Robins (city limits) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, city rules apply |
Perry (city limits) | Yes | No | Yes | No, city rules apply |
Centerville (city limits) | Yes | No | Yes | No, city rules apply |
Bonaire | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Kathleen | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Neighboring Byron (Peach County) | Yes | No | Peach County Tax Assessor | Peach County and City of Byron rules |
Should I Sell the House I Moved Out Of, or Keep Renting It?
There is no single right answer, and the tax, insurance and legal pieces of it belong with a CPA, an insurance agent and an attorney. What can be said plainly is that the costs of holding a house from a distance in Houston County are specific and knowable: the homestead exemption and the HB 581 cap come off for a civilian owner the year after the move, a vacant house inside Warner Robins can draw the blight surcharge, the county water base rate keeps billing, and a short-term rental needs a certificate renewed every December. Against that sits a rental market with steady demand from Robins Air Force Base and a sale market where Perry alone recorded 35 closings in August 2026.
What I tell owners who are weighing it is to put the real numbers on one page before deciding. That page should show the tax bill with and without homestead, the insurance quote for a rental or vacant home versus an owner-occupied one, the cost of a local contact or property manager, and what the house would bring today. Most owners have never seen those four figures side by side, and the decision usually gets easier once they do. For a military family keeping the house through an assignment, the homestead protection changes that math in their favor, and it is worth confirming with the Tax Assessor before the orders arrive rather than after.
What Should I Check When Buying a House That Sat Empty or Was Rented?
Four things, in order. First, whether the house is inside Warner Robins city limits and whether it has ever been flagged under the blight tax, because that history follows the address and the surcharge continues until the city clears it. Second, who is living there now and under what paper, because an occupant with any lease, even an expired one, is a tenant who conveys with the house until a dispossessory is complete, and a buyer inherits that process. Third, if the house has been a short-term rental, whether the certificate is current and what the 7-day reapplication window means for the buyer's plans. Fourth, what the tax bill will look like once the buyer files homestead by April 1, since a house that has been a rental may have been assessed at full market value with no cap.
My advice to buyers is to treat an empty or rented house as a house with a paper trail, and to read all of it before the offer. A house that has been well managed from a distance can be a good buy, and plenty of them in Houston County are, but the buyer should know whether they are purchasing a clean property or a property with a tenant, a city notice or a lapsed certificate attached. I pull the city limits status, the qPublic record and any occupancy paperwork for every property my buyers consider, so there are no surprises in the inspection period.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to my homestead exemption if I move out and rent my Houston County house?
For a civilian owner, the exemption ends. Under O.C.G.A. 48-5-40 the homestead must be the property the owner possesses on January 1 and actually occupies as a permanent residence, so a rented house no longer qualifies, and the Attorney General has long held that the exemption does not extend to rented property. Losing homestead in Houston County also removes the floating homestead exemption under HB 581, which limits annual increases in assessed value, so the house is assessed at full market value the following year. Owners should notify the Houston County Tax Assessor when the house stops being their residence.
Can a military family keep the homestead exemption on a Houston County house they rent out while on orders?
Georgia law says absence from the residence because of duty in the armed forces is not a waiver of the homestead exemption, and O.C.G.A. 48-5-40(3)(J) allows a family member or friend to notify the tax commissioner of the absence so the exemption continues. An Attorney General opinion cited in the code annotations states that members of the armed services can continue to claim homestead on property rented out. Because the opinion is guidance rather than statute, a Robins Air Force Base family should confirm with the Houston County Tax Assessor at (478) 218-4750 how to document the absence before the house is rented.
Does the Warner Robins blight tax apply to a rental house?
It can, if the house is inside Warner Robins city limits and the city finds it vacant and unsafe or unmaintained. A rental with a tenant in it is occupied and would not meet the vacancy test, but a rental sitting empty between tenants is exactly the property the ordinance was written for. The city said the idea came from other Georgia towns using the tool on out-of-town landlords. The surcharge is up to 10 mills on top of the city's regular rate, which was adopted at 10 mills for 2026.
How quickly can I remove a squatter from my house in Houston County?
Under the Squatter Reform Act, a person cited for unlawful squatting has 3 business days to produce a lease or other written authorization or face arrest. On the civil side, an owner files an affidavit with the Houston County Magistrate Court at 89 Cohen Walker Drive in Warner Robins; the occupant has 3 days to file a counter-affidavit, and if one is filed the court must hold a non-jury hearing within 7 days. Without a counter-affidavit, a writ of possession can issue. The court can also award the owner fair market rent for the period of occupancy.
Is a tenant with an expired lease a squatter in Georgia?
No. The Squatter Reform Act applies to a person who enters and resides on property without the owner's knowledge or consent. Anyone who had a lease, even one that has expired, or who otherwise has a genuine claim of right to occupy, is a tenant and must be removed through Georgia's standard dispossessory process in magistrate court. That is why an absent owner should keep every lease and payment record accessible: the paper decides which track applies.
Do I need a permit to rent my Bonaire or Kathleen house on Airbnb?
Yes. Since July 1, 2025, any home in unincorporated Houston County, which includes Bonaire and Kathleen, rented for 30 days or less needs an accommodation excise tax certificate from the county before it is advertised. The initial fee is $150, renewal is $100 per year, and the certificate expires every December 31. The owner must name a local contact who can respond within 2 hours, limit overnight occupancy to 2 per bedroom plus 2 with a maximum of 15, and collect a 5 percent county lodging tax. Fines for operating without a certificate run up to $1,000 per day.
Does a Houston County short-term rental certificate transfer when the house sells?
No. The certificate is issued to the owner and does not convey with the property. A buyer who wants to keep operating must apply within 7 days of closing, which provides a 30-day grace period while the new certificate is processed; otherwise the rental must stop. Buyers of a house marketed as an income property should confirm the certificate is current and plan the application before closing.
Does a vacant house in Houston County still get a water bill?
Yes, if it is a Houston County water customer. The county's monthly base rate is $14 and covers the first 2,500 gallons whether or not any water is used, so an empty house in Bonaire, Kathleen or the unincorporated county keeps paying the base every month. Houses inside Warner Robins, Perry and Centerville are on city systems with their own base charges. Owners who want service suspended should contact the utility directly rather than assuming a zero-use month means a zero bill.
Does homeowners insurance cover a house that sits empty?
Many standard homeowners policies treat a home that has been vacant for an extended period differently from an occupied one, and some limit or exclude certain losses after a vacancy period. The specifics depend on the carrier and the policy, so an owner planning to leave a Houston County house empty between tenants, during a PCS, or while settling an estate should ask their insurance agent before the house sits, not after a claim. A home that is rented rather than vacant typically needs a landlord policy instead of an owner-occupied one.
Who do I call about a vacant house in Houston County?
It depends on the address. Inside Warner Robins, Perry or Centerville, the city's code enforcement office handles complaints about vacant or unmaintained property, and Warner Robins can apply its blight tax. In unincorporated Houston County, including Bonaire and Kathleen, Houston County Planning and Zoning and Building Inspection at 200 Carl Vinson Parkway in Warner Robins handle property maintenance and zoning questions. For a suspected squatter at any address, the Houston County Sheriff's Office or the city police department can issue a citation under the 2024 law.
If I inherit a house in Houston County, when does the homestead exemption end?
The exemption belongs to the person who claimed it and occupied the house. Once that person no longer owns and occupies the property on January 1, the exemption does not carry over to an heir who lives elsewhere, and the house is assessed without it for the next tax year. An heir who moves into the house as a permanent residence can apply for homestead in their own name with the Houston County Tax Assessor by April 1. Heirs who keep the house as a rental or leave it empty should expect the bill to rise once the exemption and the HB 581 cap come off.
Does the Warner Robins blight tax history follow the house to a new owner?
The ordinance attaches the additional millage to the property while it is found to be blighted, and the surcharge continues until the property is brought into compliance, so a buyer who purchases a flagged house inherits the obligation to resolve it. The city's finding is a matter of public record, and the municipal court process includes an inspection and a judge's decision. Buyers of older homes inside the city should ask the seller and the city whether a blight notice has ever been issued for the address and whether it has been cleared.
About the Author
William Walton-Dean is a licensed REALTOR® with Walton Dean Realty, operating under Real Broker LLC, serving buyers and sellers across Houston County, Georgia, including Perry, Warner Robins, Bonaire, Kathleen, Byron, and the surrounding Middle Georgia housing market. He brings a data-driven, hyper-local approach to both residential and commercial transactions, working with first-time buyers, move-up sellers, investors, and families relocating to the area, including those tied to Robins Air Force Base. Drawing on a prior career as a C-level executive, he helps buyers and sellers at every price point make clear, confident decisions backed by real market insight.
📱 478-371-7069
Walton Dean Realty | Real Broker LLC
Own a House in Houston County You Don't Live In? Let's Talk
Whether you kept the house when orders came, inherited a parent's place, or are holding a rental between tenants, the rules that reach an absent owner here are specific and they can be managed. I can walk you through what applies to your address, what the house would bring today, and what to have in order before anything goes wrong. Reach out and we will go through it together.
William Walton-Dean | Walton Dean Realty
📱 478-371-7069
A More Strategic Approach to Real Estate
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute real estate, legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Statutes, ordinances, fees, tax rates and court procedures are set by the State of Georgia, Houston County and the cities of Warner Robins, Perry and Centerville and may change. Homestead eligibility, including treatment of military absence, should be confirmed with the Houston County Tax Assessor, and legal questions about occupants or evictions should be directed to a Georgia attorney. Consult a licensed REALTOR®, attorney, CPA or insurance professional regarding your specific situation. Walton Dean Realty operates under Real Broker LLC. Equal Housing Opportunity.
