About the Trees
Why Does Everyone Keep Talking About Trees?
Because inside the City of Atlanta the tree ordinance is the longest item on a demolition timeline. A pre-application arborist meeting, then an orange posting for ten business days, then a yellow posting for at least seven, then replanting or recompense into the Tree Trust Fund. None of it can be compressed.
The Fire Killed the Trees. Surely I Can Just Remove Them?
Not without a permit. Any tree of six inches diameter at breast height or more on private property is protected, with no exception by species or condition. Dead, dying and hazardous applications move faster and recompense is usually reduced or waived, but the permit is still required.
What If a Damaged Tree Is About to Fall on Something?
Verbal approval can be obtained from the Arborist Division by phone where there is genuine imminent danger, with photographs and a written application following within five days.
Does This Apply in My Suburb?
No. The ordinance is municipal to the City of Atlanta. Every other city and the unincorporated counties apply their own rules, which differ and are worth confirming rather than assuming.
About the Insurance Claim
My Claim Has Dragged on for Months. What Are They Required to Do?
This is the answer most Georgia owners have not heard. There is no automatic deadline. The sixty-day clock under the bad faith statute starts only when you send a written demand for payment. If no demand has been sent, nothing has started.
What Happens If They Still Refuse After Sixty Days?
Where the refusal is found to have been in bad faith, the insurer is liable for the loss plus a penalty of up to fifty percent of its liability or five thousand dollars, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees. That is why a properly drafted demand often produces payment without litigation.
Can They Avoid It by Paying Late?
No. The statute says expressly that the bad faith action is not abated by payment after the sixty-day period has run.
Should I Send the Demand Myself?
Speak to a lawyer. The demand has to be written, specify the amount and basis, and follow rather than precede the ordinary claims process. Sent too early, an insurer can argue the claim was not ripe. We are not adjusters or lawyers and take no part of your claim.
The Claim Was Denied. Is the House Still Worth Anything?
Yes. A denial affects your recovery from the carrier, not the value of the property. Denied and uninsured losses are common and we buy both.
About Disclosure
Do I Have to Fill in a Disclosure Form?
No Georgia statute requires one. Georgia is a caveat emptor state and the burden of investigation sits with the buyer. Most transactions use a voluntary industry form by convention rather than by law.
So I Do Not Have to Mention the Fire?
That is the wrong conclusion. You must disclose a latent defect you know about that a buyer could not discover by reasonable inspection, you must answer honestly if asked directly, and an as-is clause is no defence to a fraud claim built on concealment.
Is Visible Fire Damage Latent?
No, and that is the useful distinction. Charring a buyer can see is their responsibility to notice. Structural damage behind a repair, unremediated smoke in ductwork, or an earlier fire nobody mentioned are a different matter entirely.
Should I Volunteer a Written Disclosure Anyway?
On a fire-damaged property, usually yes. Working out which items are latent is harder than writing down what you know, and a buyer who receives it prices with confidence instead of discounting for what they suspect.
About the House
Is the Foundation a Problem?
Less often here than in slab-built markets. Much of Atlanta's older stock is on crawlspace or pier foundations, which can be inspected directly. That removes the uncertainty buyers discount heavily for elsewhere.
The Frame Survived but Everything Inside Is Gone.
Frequently the better outcome. Where the structural framing and foundation are sound, restoration usually beats clearance in this market, particularly inside the city limits where clearing brings the tree process with it.
Do I Need to Board It up or Clear the Debris First?
Not for us. Both are costs we price in, and you would be paying retail for work a buyer values at wholesale.
The House Has Been Vacant Since the Fire.
Normal, and it raises carrying cost because vacant fire-damaged structures are expensive to insure. That pressure is real and worth factoring into any decision about timing.
About the Paperwork
Where Do Deeds Record in Georgia?
With the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the land sits, rather than a county recorder. Atlanta spans Fulton and DeKalb, so two houses in the same city can record with different clerks.
The Owner on the Deed Has Died.
The estate has to be able to convey. It is the most common cause of delay on Atlanta fire property and worth starting even before you decide whether to sell.
There Is a Contractor's Lien.
It clears at closing, usually from proceeds. Raise it early rather than letting the closing attorney find it.
I Live out of State.
Common on inherited property. Remote signing through the closing attorney is routine.
If your question is specific to your property — and the good ones usually are — send the address. The answer often turns on whether you are inside the city limits, and our service area index sets out what changes where.