Georgia's Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act: What SB 406 Requires

Most of the Act takes effect **January 1, 2027**. One part — the new rules on attorney's fees and judicial review in collections cases — takes effect earlier, on **July 1, 2026**. Boards that wait until the new year to look at this will already be behind on that piece.

Here's what the law actually does, paraphrased from the statute, and what your board should be doing before each deadline.

Why boards are paying attention

Two provisions are driving most of the urgency:

• A registration mandate.** Starting in 2027, associations must register annually with the Georgia Secretary of State. Skip it, and the association loses its ability to collect fines or fees, file liens, or foreclose.
• A new state complaint process.** Owners get a formal channel to challenge association action (or inaction) through the Secretary of State's office, with an automatic pause on related collection activity while the complaint is pending.

Neither of those existed in Georgia before. Combined with new records, payment-processing, and foreclosure rules, SB 406 changes how a Georgia board runs its day-to-day compliance calendar, not just what's written in its covenants.

The registration requirement

Beginning in 2027, most Georgia community associations must register with the Secretary of State, with registrations renewing annually by **December 31**. A complete registration is expected to include a **$100 filing fee**, the association's governing documents, a statement identifying the association's name, address, and officers, and a financial statement no more than a year old. Associations must file an amended registration within **30 days** of a material change to that information.

An association can choose not to register, but the tradeoff is steep: an unregistered association can't collect fines or fees, file a lien, or pursue foreclosure. The Secretary of State also has authority to deny, suspend, or revoke a registration, and to limit an association's collection authority or bar individuals from serving on a board, after notice and a hearing.

This is a big enough operational shift that it deserves its own deep dive — we cover the registration mechanics, deadlines, and what happens if a board misses one in a separate piece. The short version here: **put an annual registration task on the calendar now**, well before the first December 31 deadline.

Ten-year records retention

SB 406 sets a statutory floor for how long associations must keep certain records: a minimum of **ten years**, covering assessment history (regular, special, and specific assessments), fines and fees, lien filings and releases, and foreclosure documentation. Records must be retained in Georgia, in both electronic and other formats, and made accessible for owner inspection consistent with the Act's disclosure rights.

If your association's current retention policy is "whatever's on the management company's server," this is a good year to write an actual policy down.

A mandatory order for applying payments

The Act also standardizes how an association must apply an owner's payment when it comes in. Paraphrased, the required order is:

1. Regular assessments and dues, until current

2. Special assessments, until current

3. Specific assessments, until current

4. Other fees and fines

Associations can't refuse a partial payment or use an accelerated-assessment demand to get around this sequence. For boards used to applying payments to whatever balance is oldest or largest first, this is a real change to collections workflow, not just paperwork.

Attorney's fees: new notice rules, effective July 1, 2026

This is the part of SB 406 that's already live. Before an association can collect attorney's fees in a collections matter, it must:

- Send an **initial written notice** by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery,

- **Itemize** the outstanding fines or delinquent fees and the attorney's fees being claimed, and

- Give the owner a **30-day cure period** before proceeding.

Judicial review is also tightened: judges are required to assess the reasonableness of claimed attorney's fees at a bench trial before they're awarded. Because this section took effect July 1, 2026, any collections file opened or advanced after that date should already reflect the new notice sequence. If your association's collection letters haven't been updated, that's worth flagging to counsel now rather than waiting for the rest of the law to phase in.

The Owners' Bill of Rights

The Act's namesake provision spells out roughly a dozen enumerated rights for owners in a covered association, including the rights to:

- Inspect association records and financial statements covering the last three years

- Receive certificates of insurance

- Attend annual meetings

- Access common areas

- Ingress and egress to their property

- Receive foreclosure notice and the benefit of the statutory foreclosure process

- Vote on amendments to governing documents at the applicable approval threshold

- Expect directors to act in good faith and with ordinary care

- Receive disclosure of director conflicts of interest

- Determine their own household composition, subject to lawful occupancy limits

- Challenge discriminatory practices

Most of these formalize protections that well-run associations already extend informally. What's new is that they're now enumerated in statute, which gives owners a clearer basis to point to when something isn't happening.

The new administrative complaint process

Owners can file a written complaint with the Secretary of State within **180 days** of the association action or inaction they're challenging. A hearing officer is appointed to investigate, with a formal hearing at the officer's discretion, and issues findings. Both sides get roughly **15 days** to comply with the conclusions (that window can be extended), or either side can pursue further enforcement.

The provision boards should plan for operationally: **filing a complaint automatically pauses the association's collection of the related fines or fees** while the matter is pending. That's a real incentive for owners to use this process instead of, or alongside, going to court.

If a party is unhappy with the hearing officer's decision, they can appeal to magistrate court (for disputes under $15,000) or superior court, generally within 20 days. The party that doesn't prevail on appeal pays the other side's court costs, and a $100 administrative fee applies to the non-prevailing party at the hearing-officer stage as well. The Act also prohibits knowingly making false statements during a hearing.

Foreclosure changes under the POAA

For associations governed by Georgia's Property Owners' Association Act, SB 406 recalibrates the foreclosure process:

- The pre-foreclosure notice period is extended from **30 to 60 days**.

- The delinquency threshold that permits foreclosure rises from **$2,000 to $4,000**, or **12 months of regular assessments** (with a $2,000 minimum) — whichever framework applies.

- Specific assessments, fines, and fees are **excluded** from that delinquency-threshold calculation.

- An association's own bid at a foreclosure sale is capped at the **lien amount**.

- A lien's effective period is extended from **4 to 6 years**.

Net effect: it takes longer, and a higher unpaid balance, to get to foreclosure in Georgia — and an association can't use accumulated fines and fees alone to cross that threshold.

Board checklist before the deadlines hit

• Calendar both effective dates:** July 1, 2026 for attorney's-fee notice and judicial-review rules; January 1, 2027 for everything else.
• Update collections letters now** to include the certified-mail (or statutory overnight) notice, itemized fees, and 30-day cure period required for attorney's-fee claims.
• Build the annual Secretary of State registration into your compliance calendar**, with the December 31 renewal date and the 30-day window for amended filings after any material change.
• Write down a formal records-retention policy** covering the ten-year minimum for assessments, fines/fees, liens, and foreclosure records, stored in Georgia and accessible for inspection.
• Reprogram payment processing** (or confirm with your management company) so payments apply in the statutory order: regular, then special, then specific assessments, then other fees and fines.
• Review your foreclosure workflow** against the new 60-day notice period and the raised, recalculated delinquency threshold.
• Brief the board on the new complaint process**, including the automatic stay on collections once an owner files, so no one is caught off guard by a paused file.
• Ask your D&O and general-liability carriers** whether Secretary of State enforcement proceedings and complaint appeals are covered.
• Confirm with counsel** whether your association falls within the Act's definition of a covered association and, if not registering, understand exactly what collection rights you'd be giving up.

FAQ

• When does Georgia's SB 406 take effect?

Most of the Act takes effect January 1, 2027. Section 7, covering attorney's-fee notice requirements and judicial review in collections cases, took effect earlier, on July 1, 2026.

• Do Georgia HOAs have to register with the Secretary of State?

Registration isn't legally compelled, but the consequence of skipping it is significant: an unregistered association loses the ability to collect fines or fees, file liens, or foreclose. Registration renews annually by December 31.

• What happens if an owner files a complaint against a Georgia HOA?

The Secretary of State appoints a hearing officer to investigate and issue findings. Filing a complaint automatically pauses the association's collection of the fines or fees connected to that complaint until the matter is resolved.

• How much does Georgia HOA registration cost?

Based on the Act's requirements, a $100 filing fee applies, along with submission of governing documents, a registration statement (name, address, officers), and a financial statement no more than a year old.

• Did SB 406 change Georgia HOA foreclosure rules?

Yes. Under the Property Owners' Association Act, the pre-foreclosure notice period grows from 30 to 60 days, the delinquency threshold rises to $4,000 (or 12 months of regular assessments, minimum $2,000) and excludes fines and specific assessments, an association's own foreclosure-sale bid is capped at the lien amount, and lien effectiveness extends from 4 to 6 years.

• Does SB 406 apply to condominium associations too?

Yes. The Act's registration, records, and complaint provisions apply broadly to nongovernmental residential property owner associations, which the law's supporters and commentary describe as covering HOAs, condominium associations, cooperatives, and other common-interest communities.

Keep your compliance calendar ahead of two deadlines, not one

SB 406 gives Georgia boards two dates to track instead of one, plus a new annual registration cycle once 2027 arrives. My Front Yard helps boards keep governing documents organized and track upcoming compliance deadlines, so a July or January effective date doesn't slip past a volunteer board. [See how it works →]

---

Sources: SB 406 / 2026 Ga. Laws Act 715 (signed May 12, 2026); Freeman Mathis & Gary, "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act: What's New and When It Takes Effect"; NowackHoward, "SB 406: What Every Community Association Needs to Know About the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; WSB-TV Atlanta, coverage of SB 406's passage; HOA Alliance, "SB 406 Is Now Law!"*

*Informational only, not legal advice. Talk to your association's attorney before changing collection practices, registering with the Secretary of State, or updating governing documents.*