If you manage or serve on the board of a Georgia homeowners association, property owners’ association, condominium association, or other community association, Senate Bill 406 should be on your compliance calendar now.
Senate Bill 406, the Georgia Property Owners’ Bill of Rights Act, creates a new regulatory framework for many Georgia community associations.
The law gives the Georgia Secretary of State a new oversight role, creates a complaint process for residents, adds registration and recordkeeping requirements, and changes how associations handle owner payments, attorney’s fees, liens, and judicial foreclosure in some contexts.
One part of the law is already in effect: the attorney-fee provisions became effective July 1, 2026, for actions filed on or after that date. Most remaining provisions take effect January 1, 2027. That leaves boards and managers with a short window to review governing documents, update notices and ledgers, train staff, and build a compliance process.
What Is Georgia’s Property Owners’ Bill of Rights Act?
SB 406 adds a new Chapter 17A to Title 43 of the Georgia Code and amends parts of the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act in Title 44. In practical terms, the Act moves Georgia community association governance closer to a regulated compliance model.
Associations that previously relied primarily on recorded covenants, bylaws, and private collection practices will now need procedures that also satisfy state registration, recordkeeping, payment-priority, notice, complaint, and enforcement rules.
For boards and property managers, the biggest takeaway is simple: collection and enforcement practices that worked before SB 406 may need to change.
Does SB 406 Apply to My Association?
SB 406 uses a broad definition of “owners’ association” that includes neighborhood associations, condominium developments, common-interest communities, and other residential communities with recorded covenants and mandatory owner participation.
However, not every provision operates the same way for every type of community. The new Secretary of State registration, complaint, recordkeeping, owner rights, and payment priority provisions are written broadly. The foreclosure-threshold and attorney-fee changes are amendments to the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act, so condominium associations and communities that have not submitted to that Act should review their governing documents and applicable statutes with counsel before applying those rules wholesale.
When Do the New Georgia HOA Rules Take Effect?
The law has two key effective dates:
- July 1, 2026: The new attorney-fee notice, cure, itemization, and reasonableness-review provisions apply to actions filed on or after that date.
- January 1, 2027: Most other provisions take effect, including Secretary of State registration, annual renewal, recordkeeping, complaints and automatic stays, owner rights, payment priorities, and the revised foreclosure rules in the POA Act.
Because the Secretary of State must adopt rules and procedures to implement the new Chapter 17A, associations should also monitor forthcoming forms, filing processes, and agency guidance.
What Are the New Georgia Secretary of State Registration Requirements?
Beginning January 1, 2027, Georgia owners’ associations must register with the Georgia Secretary of State to use key enforcement tools. A registration statement must include the association’s governing documents and, at a minimum, the association’s name, address, officers, and a financial statement dated no more than one year before the filing.
Registration is not a one-time task. Each registration expires December 31, annual renewals are due by that date, and the filing fee for the initial registration and each renewal is $100.
Associations must also file an amended registration statement within 30 days of any change in name, address, officers, or any other change that materially affects the association’s business and control.
The Act also creates significant recordkeeping duties. Associations must maintain records relating to governing documents, finances, assessments, fines, fees, liens, and foreclosures for at least ten years at a Georgia office or, if the association has no Georgia office, at its principal office. Those records may be subject to reasonable examination by the Secretary of State.
What Happens If a Georgia HOA Does Not Register?
For registered owners’ associations, the practical consequence of failing to register is severe. Unless properly registered, an association or its agent may not collect fines or fees, file or record liens, or initiate foreclosure proceedings.
SB 406 also allows an entity to elect nonregistered status by written notice to the Secretary of State. That election is not a practical workaround for most communities. A nonregistered association may not assess or collect fines, fees, or accelerated assessments against any owner, and it may lose access to the enforcement tools most associations rely on when accounts become delinquent.
The Secretary of State may also deny, suspend, or revoke a registration; limit fines or fees; and, in appropriate cases, bar certain officers, directors, trustees, executive personnel employees, or board members.
How Does SB 406 Change Owner Payments?
SB 406 requires associations to apply payments from owners in a specific order:
1. Regular assessments or dues until current
2. Special assessments until current
3. Specific assessments until current
4. Other fees and fines
This is a major operational change for associations, property managers, and collection vendors. Ledger software, lockbox instructions, collection letters, payment portals, and owner-facing account statements should all be checked for compliance.
The Act says an owners’ association may not refuse to accept payment from an owner in any amount for any assessment. It also prohibits assessing or collecting accelerated assessments against any owner.
How Does SB 406 Impact HOA Foreclosure and Collection Procedures?
For communities governed by the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act, SB 406 makes judicial foreclosure more procedurally demanding and narrows what can be used to satisfy the foreclosure threshold.
Key changes include the following:
- 60-day notice period. The pre-foreclosure notice period changes from 30 days to 60 days. The notice must tell the owner that payment before the 60th day after receipt will eliminate the right of foreclosure.
- Higher foreclosure threshold. A foreclosure action is not permitted unless the lien amount reaches the lesser of $4,000 or 12 months of regular assessments in arrears but not less than $2,000.
- Specific assessments, fines, and fees excluded. Specific assessments and other fines or fees cannot be included in calculating the foreclosure threshold.
- Association bidding limits. Unless the governing instrument prohibits bidding, the association may bid only up to the amount of the lien at a foreclosure sale.
- Longer lien duration. Assessment liens now lapse after six years instead of four years from the date the assessment or installment first became due and payable.
The practical result is that foreclosure will take longer, require cleaner notices, and depend more heavily on accurate account classification. Associations should separate regular assessments, special assessments, specific assessments, late charges, interest, fines, legal fees, and other charges in a way that supports statutory calculations.
What Rules Are Already in Effect?
SB 406’s attorney-fee provisions are already in effect for actions filed on or after July 1, 2026. Except for emergencies involving public safety or the preservation of property, before an association may collect or be awarded attorney’s fees, it must provide the following:
- An initial written notice by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery identifying outstanding fines or delinquent fees;
- 30 days from the owner’s receipt of that notice to pay those outstanding fines or delinquent fees; and
- An itemized list of the reasonable attorney’s fees claimed.
In bench trials to recover sums assessed against a lot owner, the judge must review attorney-fee claims for reasonableness and enter an order stating whether the fees were reasonable before the association can be awarded those fees.
Associations should immediately review attorney placement letters, collection demands, lawsuits, and settlement communications to make sure attorney’s fees are requested only after the required notice and itemization steps have been satisfied.
How Does the New Complaint Process Work?
Beginning January 1, 2027, a person residing in an owners’ development who claims damage from an association’s action or inaction may file a written complaint with the Secretary of State within 180 days of the alleged conduct. The Secretary of State appoints a hearing officer to investigate and, if appropriate, conduct a hearing.
The filing of a complaint creates an automatic stay that prevents the association from collecting or attempting to collect fines or fees that are the subject of the complaint or related to it. The stay expires when the hearing officer renders conclusions, but the hearing officer may extend it for 15 days.
That stay does not necessarily freeze every amount the owner owes. It is tied to the fines or fees in dispute. Still, it can delay collection activity and create new administrative costs. Associations should create an intake and response protocol for complaints before the January 2027 effective date.
There are guardrails. Complaints must be filed within 180 days, false or misleading statements during the hearing process are prohibited, and the nonprevailing party in a hearing must pay a $100 administrative service fee.
What Rights Does the New Owners’ Bill of Rights Create?
SB 406 lists specific rights for owners, including the right to inspect and obtain copies of association records, accounting records, and other records upon written demand, in accordance with Georgia law and the governing documents.
The accounting records identified in the Act include finalized balance sheets, budgets, profit and loss statements, and bank statements for the past three years.
Owners also receive rights related to certificates of insurance, fair and reasonable notice of member meetings, attendance at at least annual member meetings, access to common areas and their own property, statutory foreclosure notice and process, document amendments under applicable approval thresholds, good-faith board decision-making, director conflict disclosures, certain household-composition protections, and the ability to challenge discriminatory practices as allowed by state or federal law.
For boards, the immediate task is to make sure document-inspection policies, meeting notices, insurance request procedures, conflict disclosures, and annual meeting calendars are consistent with the new law.
What Should Georgia Community Associations Do Before SB 406 Takes Effect?
Before January 1, 2027, boards and property managers should consider the following steps:
- Confirm whether the association is governed by the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act, the Georgia Condominium Act, both, or another governing structure.
- Gather governing documents, amendments, rules, financial statements, officer information, and contact information needed for Secretary of State registration.
- Create an annual compliance calendar for registration renewal by December 31 and amended filings within 30 days of material changes.
- Update record retention policies to preserve required records for at least ten years.
- Review owner account ledgers and payment portals to ensure payments are applied in the order required by SB 406.
- Revise collection letters, attorney-fee notices, lien notices, and foreclosure templates.
- Build a protocol for complaints, automatic stays, hearing officer proceedings, and appeal deadlines.
- Train board members, managers, and collection vendors on the new rules.
- Review governing documents for provisions that may need clarification, amendment, or practical adjustment.
What Is the Risk for Georgia Associations That Don’t Prepare?
Associations that do not prepare may face lost attorney-fee claims, delayed collections, defective notices, suspended or revoked registration, limits on fines or fees, stalled liens and foreclosures, and increased administrative proceedings.
The financial risk is real. Associations depend on timely assessment income to maintain common areas, pay vendors, fund reserves, and keep communities operating. When collection procedures fail, the shortfall often shifts to the rest of the community.
How Can an Atlanta HOA and Community Association Attorney Help?
Most of SB 406 takes effect January 1, 2027, but compliance work should start now. Our attorneys help Georgia community associations and property managers evaluate how SB 406 applies to their communities and governing documents, update collection and attorney-fee procedures, prepare Secretary of State registration materials, revise notices and account ledgers, and respond to owner complaints.
We also help boards review governing documents, assess foreclosure options, train directors and managers, and build compliance calendars that protect the association’s ability to collect assessments and enforce its governing documents.
If your association is preparing for SB 406, contact us to get started. Whether you manage one Atlanta community or multiple communities across Georgia, getting ahead of the new law can help protect your association’s financial stability and enforcement rights.
Call us today at (678) 882-0830 or click here to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced Atlanta HOA and community association attorneys.
