A sale triggers a penalty of twice the yearly tax savings, on the whole tract, unless a qualified buyer continues the covenant.
The penalty counts every completed or partial covenant year. A breach caused solely by the death of an owner who signed the covenant carries no penalty, and some foreclosures carry a smaller one.
This is general information, not legal advice. State rules vary.
Jump to a section
Do you know when your covenant started?
Free. No obligation. You choose the closing date.
Selling land under a conservation use covenant in Georgia starts with one question: will the buyer keep the covenant going? Around Ellijay, plenty of orchard, pasture, and timber tracts carry these 10-year covenants. They lower the tax bill in exchange for keeping the land in farm or forest use. If a sale breaks the covenant, state law charges a penalty of twice the tax savings for every covenant year, on the whole tract.
This guide walks through the rule for Gilmer County owners and heirs. It explains how the law works, not what any one tract would owe. The Gilmer County tax assessor's office and a tax professional are the right people for your numbers.
What happens when you sell land under a conservation use covenant?
A sale breaches the covenant and triggers a penalty unless the buyer qualifies and continues it for the rest of the 10-year term, under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(i). The standard penalty is twice the tax savings for each completed or partially completed covenant year, and it covers the entire tract (subsection (l)).
A few events carry no penalty, or a smaller one:
- Death: no subsection (l) penalty when the breach comes solely from the death of an owner who signed the covenant (subsection (n)).
- Eminent domain: no subsection (l) penalty for a taking, or for a sale to an entity that could have condemned the land (subsection (n)).
- Foreclosure: on a qualifying commercial loan, the penalty drops to one year of tax savings plus interest (subsection (q)).
- Late renewal years: a renewal covenant broken in years 6 to 10 by the original owner or a close relative costs the savings once, not twice (subsection (x)).
Covenants are common here. The Georgia Department of Revenue's annual report (January 2026) counts 1,910 Gilmer County parcels in conservation use for tax year 2024. Together they removed $155,747,972 in assessed value from the county digest. The same report puts the resulting tax shift to other Gilmer taxpayers at $2,413,159 for that year.
How do you find out whether your Gilmer County land is in a covenant?
The Gilmer County tax assessor's office can tell you, and the county's courthouse phone directory lists it at 706-276-2742 for exemptions, conservation use included. The county website also links the Board of Assessors' parcel search.
The covenant is also a public record. Georgia law requires each approved application to be filed with the clerk of superior court and recorded in the real property records (subsection (j)). In Gilmer County, the Clerk of Superior Court's county office sits at 1 Broad Street, Suite 203, in Ellijay (706-635-4462) and records deeds, liens, and plats.
Four facts worth confirming before you list
- The start year. A covenant runs from January 1 of the year the land qualifies to December 31 of the tenth year (subsection (d)).
- Original or renewal. Renewal covenants have their own reduced-penalty rules in the later years.
- Who signed it. The exceptions for death and for relatives depend on the parties to the covenant.
- What it covers. The acres in the covenant, and whether the house sits on the same parcel.
Where the house fits
For covenants first signed or renewed on or after May 1, 2012, conservation use value excludes the entire value of any residence and its underlying land (subsection (a)(1)(B)). That underlying land is the local minimum residential lot size or two acres, whichever is less. The house and that lot do not get the lower value, even though they may sit inside the covenant tract.
How is the CUVA breach penalty figured when you sell?
The CUVA breach penalty is twice the yearly tax savings, added up for every completed or partially completed year of the covenant, on the entire tract. "Tax savings" means the gap between the tax paid under conservation use and the tax that would otherwise have been due.
"The penalty shall be applicable to the entire tract which is the subject of the covenant and shall be twice the difference between the total amount of tax paid pursuant to current use assessment..."
O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(l), Georgia's conservation use statute
A hypothetical example
Picture a made-up tract whose covenant began January 1, 2019, with a round $1,000 in tax savings every year. A 2026 sale to a buyer who does not continue falls in the eighth covenant year. That is seven completed years plus one partial year.
- Savings over eight years: 8 x $1,000 = $8,000
- Penalty at twice the savings: 2 x $8,000 = $16,000
Real savings change every year with values and millage rates, so an actual bill will differ. Only the Board of Assessors can calculate it.
Timing, interest, and the lien
Under the Department of Revenue's conservation use rules, the board sends notice of a breach before any penalty and allows 30 days from the postmark to correct it (Rule 560-11-6-.06). No penalty is imposed until any appeal of the breach decision is over. After that, the owner has 60 days from the bill to pay before interest runs (subsection (l)).
Unpaid penalties and interest are a lien on the land. They are collected the same way as unpaid property taxes (subsection (m)).
- The breachA sale or change ends the qualifying use
- NoticeThe board sends notice of the breach
- 30 daysTime from the postmark to correct it
- AppealNo penalty until any appeal is over
- The billTwice the savings for each covenant year
- 60 daysTime to pay the bill in full
- After thatInterest runs, and the penalty is a lien on the land
Some summaries describe a penalty that slides from five times the savings down to two times. That scale belongs to a different program, Preferential Agricultural Assessment, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue's January 2026 annual report. The conservation use penalty in subsection (l) is twice the savings.
Which sales and events trigger the penalty?
A sale to a buyer who does not continue the covenant triggers the full penalty, while death, condemnation, and some foreclosures do not. The table sums up what O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4 says about each situation.
| Situation | What the statute says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sale to a qualified buyer who continues the covenant | No breach; the buyer carries the covenant for the rest of the term | (i) |
| Sale to a buyer who does not continue it | Breach; twice the savings for each completed or partial year, on the entire tract | (l) |
| Death of an owner who signed the covenant | No subsection (l) penalty | (n)(3) |
| Foreclosure, or a deed in lieu, on a bona fide commercial loan from a regular lender | Penalty limited to the savings for the year of the breach, plus interest | (q)(1) |
| Eminent domain, or a sale to an entity that could have condemned the land | No subsection (l) penalty | (n)(1)-(2) |
| Up to 5 acres transferred to a relative for a single-family house | No breach if the statute's use and occupancy conditions are met | (o) |
| Renewal covenant broken in years 6 to 10 by the original owner or a relative | The savings for each renewal year, once, plus interest | (x) |
| Covenant never recorded in the real property records | A transferee is not bound by it or subject to a penalty for its breach | (j)(1) |
The statute also offers reduced penalties for owners who stop the qualifying use because of a medically demonstrable illness or disability, and for some owners age 65 or older (subsection (q)). Those rules have conditions about renewals and years of use, so the assessor is the place to ask whether a sale fits.
What if the buyer continues the covenant?
If the buyer qualifies to sign an original covenant, the buyer can continue yours for the rest of the term, and the sale is not a breach (subsection (i)). Whether a buyer qualifies depends on who the buyer is and how the land will be used.
Continuing takes paperwork. The buyer's continuation application is due by the last date for filing tax returns in the year after the sale (subsection (j)). Under the Department of Revenue's rule, a missed deadline can be treated as evidence of a breach (Rule 560-11-6-.04(7)). The board then sends a notice of intent to assess a penalty to both the seller and the buyer, giving the new owner 30 days to apply.
The seller's share if the buyer breaks it later
A continued covenant can still reach back to the seller. If land transferred under subsection (i) is later breached, the rule treats the breach as covering all the land in the original covenant. The penalty is then split among the parties in proportion to the tax benefit each received (Rule 560-11-6-.06(2)). A Georgia closing attorney can explain how a purchase contract deals with that.
What if the buyer will not continue it?
When the buyer will not continue the covenant, the sale is a breach and the subsection (l) penalty applies to the whole tract. That often includes buyers who plan to build, subdivide, or simply live on the land without farming or managing timber.
Once assessed, the penalty and interest are a lien on the land (subsection (m)). Some sellers ask the assessor for an estimate before agreeing on a price. A Georgia closing attorney can then put in the contract who bears the penalty.
One rule protects buyers. If the covenant was never recorded in the real property records, a transferee is not bound by it or subject to any penalty for its breach (subsection (j)(1)). A title search in the Gilmer County clerk's records is where a recorded covenant shows up.
Can you sell part of the tract or only the house?
Selling part of a covenant tract avoids the penalty only when the buyer of that part continues the covenant, or the transfer fits a statutory exception. A breach on any piece is costly, because the penalty applies to the entire tract in the covenant, not only the acres sold (subsection (l)).
The exceptions are narrow:
- A relative's homesite. Up to five acres in total may go to a relative within the fourth degree of civil reckoning, if a single-family house is started within a year and occupied within 24 months. That piece leaves the covenant, and the rest stays in (subsection (o)).
- Charitable, religious, or burial use. Transfers to those institutions are capped at 25 acres in total for one person (subsection (p)).
- A partial buyer who continues. Subsection (i) covers the acquisition of "all or a part" of the land by a qualified buyer.
Size matters too. For covenants signed or renewed on or after May 1, 2012, the assessor can ask the owner of a tract under ten acres for extra records proving bona fide conservation use, unless the owner shows farm tax schedules, expenses, or income from that use (subsection (b)(2)). Before carving the house and a few acres away from the farm, the assessor can say how the county would treat the split.
What do heirs inherit along with the covenant?
Heirs do not owe the breach penalty when the covenant ends solely because an owner who signed it died (subsection (n)(3)). The Department of Revenue's rule still treats that death as a breach of the entire original covenant (Rule 560-11-6-.04(9)). The covenant ends, and the land must qualify again before it can get conservation use value.
For a family holding an orchard or pasture after a parent's death, that leaves two clean choices. Heirs who want to keep farming can apply for a new covenant. Heirs who want to sell can do so without a penalty from the death itself, once the estate has authority to sell. If a surviving spouse or co-owner also signed the covenant, the assessor can explain how the death affects it.
The probate side follows ordinary Georgia rules. Our guide to selling an inherited Gilmer County house with no will covers the local court, and the statewide inherited house guide covers year's support and letters. For where values stand, see the Ellijay housing market for 2026.
How can Propcash help with land under a conservation use covenant?
Propcash is a direct cash homebuyer, and we buy houses as-is, including a farmhouse or cabin that sits on Gilmer County acreage. We'll make you one transparent, data-backed cash offer and show you how we got to our number. Take what you want, leave the rest.
An offer from us is one option to set beside a buyer who continues the covenant, or a listing with an agent. If a cash sale is not your best move, we will tell you. You can get a no-obligation cash offer or see our Ellijay cash offer page. You pick the closing date, and a closing can happen in as few as 7 days after the contract is signed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who pays the conservation use penalty, the buyer or the seller?
Georgia's statute imposes the penalty when the covenant is breached and makes it a lien on the land once assessed (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(m)). When a new owner fails to apply to continue, the Department of Revenue's rule has the board send notice to both the seller and the buyer. Who bears the cost between them is usually settled in the purchase contract, which a Georgia closing attorney drafts.
How long does a Georgia conservation use covenant last?
A covenant runs ten years, from January 1 of the year the land qualifies to December 31 of the tenth year (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(d)). The owner can renew in the ninth year so there is no gap. The subsection (l) penalty applies to a breach during the covenant period, so the end date matters when timing a sale.
Does a foreclosure on Gilmer County covenant land carry the full penalty?
Not always. If the breach comes solely from foreclosure, or a deed in lieu, on a bona fide commercial loan from a regular lender, the penalty is smaller. It is the tax savings for the year of the breach plus interest (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(q)(1)). The loan must have been real security for the debt, not a way to move the land around the penalty.
Can heirs keep the conservation use value after a parent dies?
Heirs can keep the lower value only by qualifying again. The Department of Revenue's rule says a death ends the entire original covenant without a penalty, and the land must meet every requirement again (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 560-11-6-.04(9)). The Gilmer County tax assessor's office handles new applications.
Is the conservation use penalty the same as the preferential agricultural penalty?
No. The Georgia Department of Revenue's January 2026 annual report describes a Preferential Agricultural Assessment penalty that slides from five times the savings down to two times. The conservation use penalty under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(l) is twice the savings for each completed or partial covenant year.
Does the house on a covenant tract get conservation use value?
Not for covenants first signed or renewed on or after May 1, 2012. For those, the statute excludes the entire value of any residence and its underlying land, which is the local minimum residential lot size or two acres, whichever is less (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(a)(1)(B)). The house can still sit inside the covenant tract, so the assessor's records are the place to confirm the layout.
Reviewed by the Propcash Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Published by Propcash, a direct cash buyer of houses. This guide is general information. Laws, fees, and market figures change, so check the current rules for your state.
