Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights (SB 406): What Every GA Homeowner Needs to Know

Georgia's most sweeping HOA reform in the state's history is now law. Senate Bill 406 — the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act — passed the Georgia Senate 51–0 and the House 155–10 in March 2026. Governor Kemp's deadline to act on the bill was May 12, 2026; the bill did not appear on his veto list, meaning it has become law.

SB 406 is not a minor tweak. It creates a mandatory HOA registration system with real enforcement teeth, raises the bar for foreclosure significantly, rewrites how HOA payments are applied, establishes a state-level complaint process homeowners can actually use, and limits the circumstances under which your HOA can bill you for its attorney. Every Georgia homeowner in an HOA should understand what this law does — and when each part of it takes effect.

Important dates: Most provisions of SB 406 take effect January 1, 2027. The attorney-fee provisions take effect July 1, 2026 for any action filed on or after that date. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice — consult a licensed Georgia attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

The most structurally significant provision of SB 406 is the mandatory HOA registration requirement. Beginning January 1, 2027, every homeowners association, property owners' association, and condominium association in Georgia must register annually with the Georgia Secretary of State.

What Registration Requires

Associations must file annual registration documents and pay a $100/year fee. The registration process requires associations to submit key governing documents and financial information to the Secretary of State's office.

The Consequence of Non-Registration Is Severe

An HOA that fails to register — or that lapses in its registration — loses the authority to:

• Collect fines and fees from homeowners
• Record liens against properties
• Initiate foreclosure proceedings

This is not a temporary suspension — an unregistered association simply has no enforcement authority until it comes into compliance. For homeowners disputing a fine or fighting a lien, confirming that your HOA is properly registered with the Secretary of State is now a legitimate threshold defense. An enforcement action from an unregistered HOA is legally infirm on its face.

Before SB 406, Georgia law allowed an HOA to initiate foreclosure once a homeowner owed at least $2,000 in unpaid assessments (under the Georgia Property Owners' Association Act, O.C.G.A. §44-3-232). That minimum is now $4,000 — and critically, fines and fees no longer count toward the threshold.

This change is more significant than the dollar figure alone. Under the old law, an HOA could pad a homeowner's balance with fines, late fees, and attorney fees to hit the $2,000 threshold faster — and then foreclose. SB 406 closes that door. The threshold is calculated from regular assessments only. Fines for CC&R violations, late charges, and attorney fees are excluded entirely.

Extended Foreclosure Notice: 30 Days → 60 Days

SB 406 also extends the required notice period before an HOA lien can be foreclosed, from 30 days to 60 days. Homeowners now have two months after receiving a lien foreclosure notice before any action can proceed.

What This Means Practically

If you're being threatened with foreclosure over HOA debt, calculate your balance excluding fines, fees, and attorney charges. If the remaining amount in regular assessments only is under $4,000, the foreclosure threshold won't be met starting January 1, 2027. Document this breakdown in writing and raise it at any hearing.

SB 406 mandates a specific order in which HOA payments must be applied. When a homeowner makes a partial payment, the association must apply it in this sequence:

1. Regular assessments (dues) — satisfied first
2. Fines
3. Late charges
4. Attorney fees and collection costs — applied last

Many existing HOA governing documents specify the opposite order — applying payments to attorney fees and fines first, which keeps regular dues unpaid and keeps the homeowner technically delinquent on their core obligation. That approach is now unlawful in Georgia under SB 406.

SB 406 prohibits HOAs and their management companies from purchasing homes at their own foreclosure auctions. This closes a documented conflict-of-interest loophole in which an association or its affiliated management company could purchase a foreclosed home at a suppressed auction price.

Under the new law, neither the association nor any affiliated management company may bid on or purchase a property at a foreclosure auction conducted to satisfy the association's lien. This ensures that foreclosure auctions function as genuine arms-length sales, not mechanisms for insiders to acquire properties below market value.

The attorney-fee provision of SB 406 takes effect July 1, 2026 — the earliest effective date in the bill, and immediately relevant to homeowners in active disputes. Before an HOA can pass its attorney fees to a homeowner, two things are now required for any action filed on or after July 1:

1. Itemized statement: The HOA must provide an itemized breakdown of attorney fees sought — not just a lump sum. Homeowners are entitled to see exactly what legal services were billed and at what rate.
2. Judicial review of reasonableness: A court must review and approve the attorney fees as reasonable before they can be collected from the homeowner.

Attorney fees that do not satisfy both requirements are not lawfully collectible for actions filed on or after July 1, 2026. If your HOA is billing you for attorney fees without a court order approving those fees, raise this as a defense immediately.

Before SB 406, a Georgia homeowner's primary remedy against a rogue HOA was to hire an attorney and sue. That path is expensive, slow, and inaccessible for most disputes over a few hundred dollars.

SB 406 creates an alternative: homeowners can file complaints with the Georgia Secretary of State. A dedicated hearing officer will handle disputes, with binding outcomes available. The process will be established ahead of the January 1, 2027 effective date. Key elements:

• Formal complaint process through the Secretary of State's office
• Dedicated hearing officer for HOA disputes
• Possibility of court review for disputes requiring it
• Binding outcomes — the HOA cannot simply ignore adverse rulings

Even before this process launches, its existence changes the leverage calculus. HOAs that previously operated knowing most homeowners wouldn't litigate now face an accessible accountability mechanism that doesn't require a lawyer to use.

SB 406 adds two financial transparency provisions:

• 10-year records retention: All financial records must be retained for a minimum of 10 years — closing a loophole that allowed associations to destroy records before homeowners could audit historical spending.
• Statutory inspection rights: Homeowners gain explicit statutory rights to inspect records on request. This right is now state law — not just a contractual right that could be limited by the HOA's own governing documents.

If you believe your HOA has been mismanaging funds or awarding contracts improperly, you now have a statutory right to inspect the records that would show it. A formal written inspection request citing SB 406 carries legal weight that a polite email does not.

Most of SB 406 takes effect January 1, 2027, but two provisions are actionable now:

1. Attorney fee disputes: The July 1, 2026 rules apply soon. If your HOA is pursuing attorney fees in any action filed on or after July 1, 2026, confirm whether those fees were itemized and court-approved. Starting that date, unapproved lump-sum attorney fees are not collectible.
2. Request a hearing on any active violation today. Under Georgia's existing POAA (O.C.G.A. §44-3-223), you have the right to a hearing before any fine is imposed — this right exists now, before SB 406 takes full effect. Send a certified letter requesting a formal hearing immediately after any violation notice.
3. Foreclosure threat? Run the numbers. Starting January 1, 2027, only regular assessments count toward the $4,000 threshold. Calculate your balance excluding fines, fees, and attorney charges. If it's under $4,000, the threshold won't be met.
4. Watch for the SOS registration portal. When it launches ahead of January 1, 2027, check whether your HOA has registered. An unregistered HOA loses all enforcement authority — including the ability to fine you.
5. Document payment misapplication now. If your HOA is applying payments to attorney fees first, document it. Starting 2027, regular dues must be satisfied before fines and fees. Evidence of misapplication created now will be useful in future disputes.

SB 406's vote margins — 51–0 Senate, 155–10 House — tell the story. Sponsor Sen. Donzella James documented widespread HOA abuse: associations foreclosing over trivial balances, boards enriching affiliated vendors, homeowners with no affordable remedy. The Community Associations Institute lobbied against the bill, arguing it "treats HOAs like state-controlled entities." The legislature disagreed by a landslide.

Georgia joins a wave of states acting in 2025–2026: California capped non-safety fines at $100 (AB 130), Florida restricted foreclosure and fine amounts, and Minnesota passed its own HOA Bill of Rights in May 2026. The trend is consistent: state legislatures are responding to documented HOA abuse with real, enforceable tools.

For Georgia homeowners, SB 406 shifts the leverage. Starting in 2027, an HOA that isn't registered has no enforcement authority. An HOA that misapplies payments inflates a balance the law no longer lets it foreclose on. An HOA that bills unapproved attorney fees is collecting an unlawful debt. Review your full Georgia HOA rights to understand both your current protections and what's coming in 2027.