On Friday, when I last filled in for Clark Howard on the radio, someone called into the show to ask about the 10 and under rule for landlords. I didn’t know what the caller was referring to, but pledged to find out and report back on today’s Clark Howard Show (2-4pm EST/1-3pm CST).

Here are the highlights: Under the Georgia Landlord-Tenant Law, if you own 10 or more properties, and you manage them yourself, there are four provisions of the law that do not apply to you:

44-7-31, requiring landlords who own more than ten properties to maintain an escrow account to hold security deposits;

44-7-32, which allows the landlord to substitute a surety bond posted with the clerk of superior court for an escrow account;

44-7-33, which outlines the requirements for pre-move in and post-move out inspections of the property and details the responsibilities and rights of landlord and tenant regarding inspections;

44-7-35, which limits the ability of the landlord to retain any part of a security deposit for damages if the landlord fails to comply with the above three sections of the code.

Chet Burgess, an Enrolled Agent and owner of Brookwood Tax Service in Atlanta, sent me an email detailing these differences in the law. Thank you Chet.

I’ll talk about this on the show today, as well as some travel news that’s fairly significant, including www.GoTrump.com — yes, The Donald has decided to go on vacation with you and has launched a travel site designed to compete with Travelocity, Expedia, Hotwire and other online travel websites.

You can listen to the Clark Howard Show online simply by going to www.wsbradio.com. You can call the show to ask me a question by dialing 404-872-0750 or 800-WSB-TALK. I hope you’ll join us.

Published: Jan 24, 2006