Can the tenant file an Answer and not pay the Rent?
No. If the tenant wants to fight the dispossessory, the tenant must pay the rent into the Registry of the Court. The tenant cannot both stay and not pay. O.C.G.A. Section 44-7-52 When tender of payment by tenant serves as complete defense. In an action for nonpayment of rent, the tenant shall be allowed to tender to the landlord, within seven days of the day the tenant was served with the summons pursuant to Code Section 44-7-51, all rents allegedly owed plus the cost of the dispossessory warrant. Such a tender shall be a complete defense to the action; provided, however, that a landlord is required to accept such a tender from any individual tenant after the issuance of a dispossessory summons only once in any 12 month period.
