Fulton County

As new year starts, Fulton County changes location for legal notices to be published

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — With the new year, Fulton County has changed where it requires people to publish legal notices.

The new “legal organ” only publishes once a week and is not currently distributed county-wide.

Things like foreclosures and court calendars by state law have to be advertised in the county’s legal organ.

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The South Fulton Neighbor takes over as legal organ from the Fulton County Daily Report.

Fulton County officials tell Channel 2 consumer investigative reporter Justin Gray they had no choice but to make the change because the Daily Report moved to online-only December 28th. By Georgia law, the legal notices have to be published in print.

“This transition is a result of extenuating circumstances beyond our control. After vetting all of the available options, we are confident that Fulton County residents will continue to have access to important notices in print and now online,” Fulton County Clerk of Courts Che Alexander said.

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But Atlanta real estate investor Steve Chaudoin told Channel 2 Action News he’s worried that will make it harder to meet laws for foreclosure notices that have to be published for 4 straight weeks.

“One day a week, and if you may miss that day, you may miss the month,” Chaudoin said.

Chaudoin also says he had to drive all over the county, looking for a copy of the South Fulton Neighbor where his ad ran.

“It actually took me 2 weeks to find a copy of the newspaper in which my ad was supposed to appear, and I had to go outside the county to the printer to get a copy of the newspaper,” Chaudoin said.

But the publisher of the company that owns the South Fulton Neighbor, Otis Brumby tells Channel 2 that single copy locations can be find on their website and more will be added in the coming weeks. While the South Fulton Neighbor is technically the legal organ, they will also be publishing the notices in the North Fulton Neighbor and online at FultonNeighbor.com. “Our weekly print distribution of over 40,000 copies is one of the largest in Georgia,” Brumby said.

“The vast majority of legal organ publications in Georgia print weekly and we look forward to working with our customers on the transition to ensure accurate and timely publication,” Brumby continued.

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