As we have written previously, the enactment of Georgia’s Restrictive Covenant Act has been stained with uncertainty as to its effective date. While Georgia voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment in November of 2010 which was intended to pave the way for the Act to become effective the day after the election, glitches in the framework of the amendment caused doubt to set in as to whether the Act would be effective on January 1, 2011 – or ever.

House Bill 30 was introduced at the beginning of the legislative session in January 2011 with the goal of eliminating a constitutional challenge and making the Restrictive Covenant Act effective upon the signature of the Governor. Last Tuesday, February 22, 2011, House Bill 30 cleared its first hurdle, receiving approval from Georgia’s House of Representatives by a vote of 104 to 58.