Governor Brian Kemp has signed Senate Bill 406 into law (Act 715). Known as the Georgia Property Owners’ Bill of Rights Act (the “Act”), the legislation substantially changes how homeowners’ associations, property owners’ associations, condominium associations, and other community associations operate in Georgia.

The Act introduces a new Chapter 17A in Title 43 that limits associations’ enforcement powers, grants regulatory authority to the Secretary of State’s office (the “Secretary”), and implements new tools and hearing rights for property owners seeking transparency. Below is a high-level summary of the Act’s changes and their impact on your community’s immediate operations.

Key changes and deadlines are as follows:

• Fees and Collections (Effective July 1, 2026): Associations must provide a 30-day cure period, detailed fee itemizations, and judicial review of attorney’s fees for reasonableness. 
• Mandatory Registration (Effective January 1, 2027): In addition to normal corporate registration, Associations must annually register with the Secretary and submit governing documents and financial information to exercise certain powers. 
• Foreclosure Notice Requirements (Effective January 1, 2027): POA Act associations must provide at least 60 days’ notice by certified mail before foreclosure proceedings. 
• Foreclosure Threshold Changes (Effective January 1, 2027): Judicial foreclosure thresholds for POA Act associations increase to the lesser of $4,000 or 12 months of regular assessments, subject to a $2,000 minimum.

Mandatory Registration with the Secretary. 

The Act requires every owners’ association to register annually with the Secretary. In addition to the standard corporate registration filed with the Corporations Division, the Act requires associations to file an initial registration statement and annual renewals as “owners’ associations”. This filing must include:

• The name, address, and list of all current officers.
• A complete copy of the association’s governing documents.
• An association financial statement dated within the previous 12 months.

Additionally, a supplemental or amended registration must be filed within 30 days after any change in the name, address, or officers of the association, as well as any other change that “materially affects the business and control of an owners’ association”. These registration requirements create a prequisite for associations to exercise certain powers authorized by their governing documents. An association can opt out of registration (or fail to register), but doing so means voluntarily forfeiting the ability to assess fines, file liens, and enforce foreclosure rights against delinquent property owners. 

Changes to Foreclosure and Lien Procedures.

For associations governed by the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act (POA Act), the bar for judicial foreclosure has been raised significantly:

• Fines are Excluded. Only regular assessments may count toward the foreclosure threshold. Associations can no longer trigger a foreclosure based on accumulated specific assessments, fines, late fees, or other charges.
• Cure Period. The mandatory pre-foreclosure notice is extended from 30 to 60 days and must explicitly state that paying the assessment balance within that window completely eliminates the association’s right to foreclose.
• Lien Extension. One positive note for POA Act associations is that the statutory assessment lien lifespan has been extended from four years to six years.

Note that these specific foreclosure amendments are limited to the POA Act code sections. They do not make similar modifications to other code sections for condominiums, although condominium associations remain subject to the registration and payment priority rules. 

Administrative Oversight and Dispute Resolution.

The Act vests the Secretary with sweeping new oversight authority and administrative responsibilities, including robust records inspection rights, quasi-disciplinary powers, and mandatory grievance and dispute resolution procedures. The Secretary may revoke registrations, adjust or eliminate fines and fees, and remove and bar any person from participating in an association as an officer, director, trustee, or executive personnel if the Secretary finds that doing so is in the public interest and a person has:

• Failed to file a registration or filed any documentation that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact.
• Willfully violated the Act or any rule promulgated by the Secretary.
• Failed to pay the registration fee within 30 days after notice.
• Failed to comply with an order or subpoena from the Secretary.

Associations and individuals facing such actions are entitled to notice and a hearing before the Secretary, which must be held between five and 30 days following the request under O.C.G.A. § 43-17A-4. The Act specifies that a request must be sent within ten days of the notice, creating a tight timeline for securing a hearing.

The Act also creates a new dispute resolution procedure at O.C.G.A. § 43-17A-5 where an owner in an association may file a complaint within 180 days of an action or inaction by the association that damages the owner. Upon filing a formal complaint, an automatic stay is placed on the collection of any disputed fines or fees until the matter is resolved by the hearing officer. Following the hearing, participants will have 15 days to “make effective and satisfy” the hearing officer’s conclusions.

Appeals from either type of hearing may be taken by serving the Secretary, within 20 days of the decision, with a copy of the petition for review filed in the appropriate court. Appeals may be heard by the magistrate court (subject to civil jurisdictional limits) or the superior court in the county where the largest portion of the owner’s development is located. Appellants must pay the reasonable costs of the Secretary preparing the transcript of the proceedings.

Fees and Records.

Finally, the Act introduces several controls over how funds are handled, specifically targeting collection tactics, as well as how associations must handle records. The Act overrides these terms by establishing a legally required priority schedule for payments toward delinquent charges that associations must follow in this order: (1) regular assessments, (2) special assessments, (3) specific assessments, and (4) other fees and fines.

Effective July 1, 2026, POA Act associations seeking to recover legal fees must provide a detailed itemization to owners and allow a 30-day cure period. Judges will be required to review association fees for “reasonableness” before awarding them in lawsuits. Associations also cannot refuse to accept payment from an owner for an assessment, nor may they assess or collect accelerated assessments. 

Much debate has surrounded the scope of owners’ rights to inspect records under the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code and its intersection with association governing documents, including bylaws. The Act tries to resolve that debate by granting owners broad statutory rights to inspect association records, including accounting and banking records, but its qualification of this new right by requiring that inspections must be “in compliance with the laws of this state and the governing documents” instead creates ambiguity. If the governing documents exclude accounting and banking records from inspection, does the Act grant a new, superseding right to inspect them or merely clarify the right afforded (or denied) in the governing documents? What is the effect if the governing documents are silent on these specific records but otherwise address an owner’s rights of inspection? Setting aside such questions, with a records retention requirement of ten years and the right (if not implicit encouragement) of inspection requests by owners, associations should anticipate rising administrative and compliance costs associated with managing records and responding to inspection requests. 

Conclusion.

The potential impact of SB 406 on real estate developers, association officers, boards, property managers, and property owners should not be underestimated. The Act represents a significant shift toward greater government regulation for Georgia owners’ associations that will result in permanent changes to how these communities operate and the baseline cost of operation. Owners will have significantly greater rights to compel records inspections, dispute association actions, and defend against enforcement remedies. 

While most provisions of the Act take effect on January 1, 2027, the requirements regarding attorney’s fees and pre-collection notices become effective on July 1, 2026. Any collection action filed on or after this July deadline must comply with these new standards or jeopardize its right to recover corporate legal expenses. Because the attorney’s fee and itemization requirements take effect in just over a month from this writing, associations cannot afford to wait until next year to adjust their policies and procedures. 

Associations, developers, and property managers should begin reviewing their collection procedures, registration compliance, and records policies now to prepare for the Act’s phased implementation deadlines.

Contact HunterMaclean’s real estate practice group today to review your delinquency templates, audit your record-keeping practices, and protect your community’s financial health before the upcoming July 1 deadline.

Freddy Stroud and Zach Harris are members of HunterMaclean’s real estate practice group. They advise clients on real estate, community association, development, and regulatory matters across Georgia.