Georgia's new HOA law, and the older ones still in force

Until this year, Georgia left most homeowners associations to their own documents. The state had a law for condominiums, an optional law for other associations, and the general rules every nonprofit corporation follows. On May 12, 2026, the governor signed the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act, Senate Bill 406, and from January 1, 2027, nearly every association in the state answers to the Secretary of State.

Here is what that means for a small, self-managed board, and which older laws still apply. It is written by a board member, not a lawyer, it is current as of October 2026, and the Secretary of State's rules for the new law are still proposals. Check anything that matters to your community with your association's attorney.

Which laws apply to your association

There are four layers, from the most specific to the most general:

1. Your own documents: the declaration of covenants, the bylaws, the articles of incorporation and any rules the board has adopted.
2. The Property Owners' Association Act, if your community opted in. It is opt-in: the declaration has to say so. Condominiums have the Georgia Condominium Act instead.
3. The Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code, if the association is incorporated, as most are. It covers meetings and members' access to records.
4. The Property Owners' Bill of Rights, from January 1, 2027. It reaches neighborhoods, condominiums and other communities with recorded covenants, whether or not they are under the Property Owners' Association Act.

To find out where you stand, open your declaration and look for language electing to be governed by the Property Owners' Association Act. Our earlier post explains what opting in changes.

The new law

Most of the Act takes effect January 1, 2027. One section, on attorney's fees in collections, took effect July 1, 2026. The Secretary of State's FAQ dates some of the other changes to July 1 as well, but the Act itself says January 1, 2027 for everything except that one section.

Every association registers with the Secretary of State

From January 1, 2027, no one may operate an owners' association in Georgia unless it is registered. Registering means filing:

• the governing documents: declaration, bylaws, articles of incorporation and board rules;
• a registration statement signed by an officer, with the association's name, address and officers;
• a financial statement dated no more than a year before the filing.

The fee is $100. Registration expires every December 31, so it is renewed and paid for each year, and changes to the name, address or officers have to be filed within 30 days. The Secretary of State says filing opens on or after January 1, 2027, through an online portal.

An association that is not registered cannot collect fines or fees, file liens or start a foreclosure. An association can instead tell the Secretary of State in writing that it will not register, and then it can never assess or collect fines, fees or accelerated assessments. Whether such an association can still file a lien is not settled, so that one is a question for your attorney.

Registered associations must keep their records of assessments, fines, fees, liens and foreclosures for ten years, and the Secretary of State may examine them.

Twelve rights for owners

The Act lists rights every owner has. In plain terms, owners may:

1. inspect and copy the association's records on written request, including three years of the finalized balance sheet, budget, profit and loss statements and bank statements;
2. get a copy of the association's certificate of insurance, on written request;
3. receive fair notice of members' meetings;
4. attend members' meetings, which the board must hold at least once a year;
5. use the common areas and amenities, under the governing documents;
6. get to and from their own property;
7. receive the notice and process the law requires before any foreclosure;
8. amend the governing documents with the votes the law and the documents require;
9. expect directors to act in good faith, with the care an ordinary prudent person would use;
10. expect directors to tell the rest of the board about any conflict of interest;
11. decide who lives with them, within limits the association may still set on how many people live in a home and how much of the shared facilities, such as parking, each home uses;
12. challenge discrimination by the association.

Records requests

The Act gives owners the right to inspect and copy records on written demand, but it sets no deadline and no rule on copying charges. The Secretary of State's proposed rules would fill those in: acknowledge a request in writing within five business days, make the records available within ten days after that, charge only the actual, reasonable cost of copies, give electronic copies for free when they take no real staff time, and give an itemized estimate before charges pass $25. Those rules are open for comment until November 2, 2026, and are proposed to take effect January 1, 2027.

If your association is incorporated, the Nonprofit Corporation Code already lets members inspect and copy the basic records with at least five business days' written notice. Those include the articles, the bylaws, three years of minutes of members' meetings and three years of financial statements. Accounting records and the membership list need a stated, proper purpose.

Collections

From January 1, 2027, a registered association has to apply an owner's payment in this order: regular assessments until they are current, then special assessments, then specific assessments (repairs an owner caused, and fees or fines for late payment or violations), then any other fees and fines. It may not turn away a partial payment, and it may not accelerate assessments. Filing a complaint with the Secretary of State pauses collection of the fines or fees in dispute.

Since July 1, 2026, before an association under the Property Owners' Association Act can collect attorney's fees from an owner, it has to send notice by certified mail, give the owner 30 days to pay, and list the fees it claims, item by item. When a judge hears the case, the judge has to find the fees reasonable before awarding them.

For associations under the Property Owners' Association Act, foreclosure changes on January 1, 2027. Today an association can foreclose once at least $2,000 is owed, after 30 days' notice. From January, the minimum is the lesser of $4,000 or twelve months of regular assessments, but never less than $2,000, and fines, fees and specific assessments do not count toward it. The notice period doubles to 60 days, the lien lasts six years instead of four, and the association may bid only up to the amount of its lien at the sale.

Complaints

Any resident can file a written complaint with the Secretary of State within 180 days. The Secretary of State appoints a hearing officer, who investigates and may hold a hearing. The parties then have 15 days to act on the officer's conclusions before the matter can go to court, and the side that loses pays a $100 fee. The office is accepting complaints now, but says it will act on none before January 1, 2027.

The older laws, still in force

The Property Owners' Association Act

For communities that opted in, the Act gives the association a lien for unpaid assessments, including fines, without filing anything at the courthouse. If the declaration provides for them, the association may charge a late fee of up to $10 or 10 percent, whichever is greater, interest of up to 10 percent a year, and the costs of collection, including reasonable attorney's fees. Members meet at least once a year, with 21 days' notice of an annual meeting and a report on the finances and the budget. The declaration can be amended by two thirds of the votes, or more if it says so, but never more than 80 percent. A buyer's closing attorney can ask for a statement of what a home owes, and the association has five business days to answer it, for a fee of no more than $10.

From January 1, 2027, a community can also opt in with an 80 percent vote of the association and a recorded certificate of that vote.

If your community is not under that Act

Its rules come from the declaration and Georgia's general law on covenants. In areas with zoning, covenants that restrict how land is used last 20 years. In a planned subdivision of 15 or more lots, they renew automatically for further 20-year terms, unless at least 51 percent of the owners record a termination in the two years before a term ends. Covenants recorded before July 1, 1993 may not renew this way, which is a question for your attorney. A new, stricter restriction binds only the owners who agree to it in writing, and the association can recover its collection costs, including attorney's fees, only if the covenants say so.

The Nonprofit Corporation Code

An incorporated association must hold an annual members' meeting, with a report on its activities and finances. Notice mailed first class 10 to 60 days before a members' meeting meets the law. Members holding 5 percent of the votes can demand a special meeting, and meetings can be held remotely unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise.

The Condominium Act

Condominium associations have their own act, with the same caps on late fees and interest. The new law's changes to foreclosure and attorney's fees are written into the Property Owners' Association Act, so condominium foreclosure stays where it was: $2,000 owed and 30 days' notice. Registration and the owners' rights apply to condominiums too.

Reserves

No Georgia law requires a homeowners or condominium association to have a reserve study or to keep a reserve fund; that is up to your declaration. The new law mentions reserves once, as something regular assessments can pay for. But owners can now ask for three years of balance sheets, budgets and bank statements, and the association files a financial statement with its registration, so the size of the reserve account will come up. Our reserve study guide covers how to answer that question.

What to do before January

1. Find out which laws apply. Check the declaration for the Property Owners' Association Act, and check whether the association is incorporated.
2. Gather the governing documents into one set: the declaration and its amendments, the bylaws, the articles of incorporation and the board's rules. Registration needs all of them.
3. Have a financial statement ready, dated within a year of when you will file.
4. Register on or after January 1, pay the $100, and put the December 31 renewal on the calendar.
5. Decide who answers records requests, and keep three years of finalized balance sheets, budgets, profit and loss statements and bank statements where you can find them.
6. Check your collections against the new order for applying payments, and stop turning away partial payments if you ever have.
7. Keep ten years of records on assessments, fines, fees and liens.
8. Comment on the proposed rules if you have a view. Written comments are due November 2, 2026, and the public hearings are November 4 and 5.

How we handle this

neighborPOP keeps the records the new law asks about together. The documents library holds the governing documents. Every home has a statement of each charge and payment with its date, and every violation notice keeps the date it was sent. The budget page holds the statements your management company sends, and the books export lists every dues payment and Stripe deposit. It does not register your association with the state, and it is not legal advice. What it changes is that a records request means gathering files you already have instead of rebuilding them.

Where this comes from

• Senate Bill 406 on the General Assembly's site
• The Georgia Code on Justia: Chapter 17A, the new law; the Property Owners' Association Act's lien section; and the law on how long covenants last
• The Secretary of State's proposed rules