ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A metro Atlanta renter says her apartment has rats eating the floorboards, sewage spewing fecal matter in the backyard, and no heat as winter continues in Georgia.
“I was wondering why it was always smelling like someone going to the bathroom,” Kendrea Bills said, pointing to a brown pile in the grass. “That is sewage that code enforcement has confirmed it has fecal matter in there. Every day it gets larger.”
Bills’ situation reflects similar stories Atlanta News First Investigates has uncovered across metro Atlanta. A gap in renters’ rights law in Georgia is leaving families to prove their cases in court.
A mother’s fight for safe housing
Bills moved into her Decatur, Georgia, apartment in fall 2025 after leaving a domestic violence shelter. She said the unit has no functioning heat; rat damage to floors confirmed by an exterminator; and the sewage leak…