A new Georgia law is limiting how homeowners associations can charge attorney's fees, and it's worth a look, even for Boards who will never operate under it. Not because it applies here. It doesn't. But because the tension behind it, protecting a homeowner accused of a violation while also protecting the neighbor who has to live next door to an unresolved problem, is a tension every Board in every state eventually faces.

That balance, more than any specific rule, is where HOA leadership actually lives.

We explore this exact territory, how governing documents establish fair process and how communities can update their own rules over time, in *Boards, Bylaws, and Better Governance*, the first volume of the *Lessons from the Neighborhood* series. Learn more at www.LessonsFromTheNeighborhood.com.

What Georgia's new law actually does

Georgia's Senate Bill 406, the Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act, changes how associations there can pursue attorney's fees and, later, how they handle registration, foreclosure, and complaints.

The attorney's fees provisions took effect July 1, 2026, and apply to actions filed on or after that date. Before a Georgia HOA can collect or be awarded attorney's fees, it must send written notice by certified mail identifying any outstanding fines or fees, give the homeowner 30 days to pay before pursuing attorney's fees, and provide an itemized list of any fees being claimed. In bench trials, a judge must also review those fees for reasonableness before they can be awarded.

The remainder of the law takes effect January 1, 2027. At that point, Georgia HOA boards must register with the Secretary of State to collect fines or fees, issue liens, or foreclose. Homeowners will be able to file complaints with that office, which automatically pauses collection while the complaint is under review. The foreclosure threshold rises, fines and fees are excluded from that threshold, foreclosure notice extends to 60 days, and payments must be applied in a set order, with regular dues first.

Why a law like this gets written

Reporting on the bill traced its origins to real complaints from homeowners across Georgia, people who said HOA boards and attorneys claimed they owed tens of thousands of dollars, often stemming from fines as small as $50 for something like leaving a trash bin out too long. Homeowner advocacy groups pushed hard for the bill, and lawmakers heard directly from families who described the fear of losing a home over a dispute that started small and escalated without much warning.

That's a legitimate concern, and it's not unique to Georgia. Anywhere fines can generate legal fees, a homeowner with limited resources can end up facing costs that are wildly disproportionate to the original violation, especially if there was little notice and no real check on whether the fees claimed were reasonable.

The other side of the balance

At the same time, national industry advocates, including the Community Associations Institute, raised concerns while the bill was moving through the legislature. Their argument was that broad, one-size-fits-all state mandates can make it harder for volunteer boards to act decisively, add cost and complexity to routine enforcement, and shift authority away from the kind of private, community-based governance associations were originally built on.

There's a practical version of that concern worth sitting with. Picture a homeowner living next to a property that has genuinely deteriorated into a hazard, not a minor cosmetic issue, but something serious enough that it's affecting their safety, their property value, or their ability to enjoy their own home. Extended notice periods, mandatory cure windows, and complaint-triggered stays exist to protect the accused homeowner's due process, which matters. But those same protections can also slow down a Board's ability to resolve a legitimate, serious problem for the neighbor who has been waiting for it to be fixed.

Worth noting directly: an HOA is not law enforcement, and neither the association nor its management company is responsible for guaranteeing anyone's personal safety. If a situation involves an actual threat to a person, that belongs with law enforcement, not an association's enforcement process. What we're describing here is the more common version of this tension, a property or use violation serious enough to genuinely affect a neighbor's quality of life, not a criminal matter.

Neither side of this is wrong. A homeowner shouldn't lose sleep over a trash can fine ballooning into a legal bill they can't pay. A neighbor also shouldn't have to wait indefinitely for a legitimate, documented problem to get resolved. Good process tries to hold both of those truths at once.

The art of HOA leadership is finding the balance

This is, in our experience, the actual job. Not choosing a side between the accused and the affected, but building a process fair enough to protect both. That means real notice. A genuine chance to cure. Documentation instead of memory. And also, a Board that doesn't confuse patience with paralysis when a legitimate problem is affecting someone else's home.

We've sat with Boards wrestling with exactly this. A homeowner facing an enforcement action who insists the process feels rushed and unfair. A different homeowner two doors down who is frustrated the Board hasn't acted faster on something that's been affecting them for months. Both can be right about their own experience. The Board's job is to build a process that would look fair to either one of them if they traded places.

Several years ago, we watched a Board handle a version of this well. One homeowner had let a portion of their property fall into serious disrepair, well past a cosmetic issue, to the point that a neighboring family raised real safety concerns. The homeowner, for their part, felt targeted and said they hadn't been given a fair chance to address it. The Board slowed down just enough to document everything properly, notice, a defined cure period, a follow-up inspection, while still moving with real urgency given the safety concern involved. It wasn't fast enough to satisfy the frustrated neighbor immediately, and it wasn't informal enough to feel arbitrary to the homeowner being cited. It was, by design, somewhere in between. That's usually where the right answer lives.

Why legislators struggle, and why your own documents may already help

There's a broader pattern worth naming here, and it isn't unique to Georgia. State legislatures write laws that have to apply uniformly to every community in the state, regardless of size, budget, culture, or the specific problem a Board is actually trying to solve. A rule calibrated to stop a bad actor from bankrupting a homeowner over a trash can risks also slowing down the Board dealing with a genuinely serious violation next door to a family who just wants it resolved. Broad mandates are a blunt instrument by design, because they have to work for thousands of communities the legislature will never know personally.

That's part of why most community associations already have a more precise tool available to them, their own governing documents. In many communities, subject to federal and state law restrictions, the declaration and bylaws can be amended through a vote of the membership, commonly a majority or a supermajority, depending on what those specific documents require. That process lets a community calibrate its own fairness protections and enforcement procedures to its actual circumstances, rather than waiting for, or being entirely bound by, a single statewide template. It's self-government working the way it was designed to.

What this means for Boards outside Georgia

To be clear, this Georgia law does not apply to communities in North Carolina or South Carolina. Nothing in this article should be read as a description of North Carolina or South Carolina law, or as guidance about how either state's requirements apply to any specific community. Community association law varies significantly by state, and Boards with questions about their own state's requirements should consult qualified legal counsel.

What travels well across state lines isn't the statute. It's the underlying question. Does our enforcement process give an accused homeowner real notice and a genuine chance to be heard? And does it move quickly enough to protect a neighbor living with a legitimate, documented problem? Those are questions worth asking on your own timeline, not just when a legislature forces the issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Georgia's new HOA law actually change?

Starting July 1, 2026, Georgia HOAs must provide written notice, a 30-day opportunity to pay, and an itemized fee list before pursuing attorney's fees, and the law requires a judge to review those fees for reasonableness. Starting January 1, 2027, associations must register with the Secretary of State, homeowners gain a complaint process that pauses collections, the foreclosure threshold rises, and payments must follow a set priority order.

Does this Georgia law apply to HOAs in North Carolina or South Carolina?

No. This is a Georgia state law that applies only to Georgia community associations. North Carolina and South Carolina each have their own separate legal frameworks, and any changes affecting Carolina communities would come through their own legislative or regulatory processes. Boards should rely on their own legal counsel for questions about their state's requirements.

Can a community change its own enforcement or fee-recovery procedures without waiting on new legislation?

In many communities, yes. Declarations and bylaws typically include a process for amendment, often requiring a vote of the membership by a majority or supermajority as specified in the governing documents. Whether a particular amendment is appropriate, and what threshold applies, depends on your community's specific documents, so this is worth discussing with your association's attorney.

Paul's Key Guidance

Here's what I'd take from a story like this, whether or not it ever reaches a legislature near you. Pull your community's fee-recovery and violation-enforcement provisions and read them the way a frustrated homeowner would, not the way a Board writing them originally intended. Is there a clear notice? A real chance to cure before costs escalate? A way for someone with a serious, ongoing complaint next door to get a timely response?

If the honest answer is no in either direction, that's worth bringing to your attorney and considering for amendment through your own community's process, rather than waiting for a state legislature to decide it for you. Boards that get ahead of fairness usually don't need a law to force the issue.

The hardest part of this job was never picking a side between the accused homeowner and the frustrated neighbor. It's building a process fair enough, and fast enough, to serve both.

About the Author

Paul Mengert, CMCA®, PCAM®, is a visionary leader, award-winning educator, and transformative strategist in community association management. With over 40 years of experience, he is the founder and CEO of Association Management Group (AMG), an AAMC®-accredited firm that began in 1985 with three Greensboro, North Carolina, associations, and is now a leading, nationally respected management company. Today, AMG serves over 30,000 property owners across the Carolinas, stewarding communities with a combined asset value exceeding $5 billion.

Paul was named a Community Associations Institute (CAI) Educator of the Year and serves as senior faculty there. He is a longtime guest lecturer at Wake Forest University School of Law and teaches in the Harvard Business School alumni program at Queens University, focusing on the intersection of governance, finance, law, and human dynamics.

Paul's influence extends beyond community associations. He has advised the U.S. Department of State on housing initiatives in the former Soviet Union and served five terms as Chair of the Piedmont Triad International Airport Authority. Recognized as a "Most Admired CEO" by the Triad Business Journal, Paul is the author of the acclaimed *Lessons from the Neighborhood* book series. Through writing, speaking, and consulting, he equips community leaders with practical frameworks for governance excellence, while preserving the human touch that makes neighborhoods thrive.

Learn more at www.amgworld.com and www.LessonsFromTheNeighborhood.com.

Author's Note: I have spent more than 40 years working with community association Boards and managers throughout the Carolinas. My perspective is based on practical experience in community association management, governance, and Board decision making. I am not an attorney, and nothing in this article is intended to provide legal advice. This article describes a Georgia state law for informational and comparative purposes only. It is not a description of North Carolina or South Carolina law, and it should not be read as guidance about how any state's requirements apply to a specific community. Laws and governing documents vary significantly by state and by community. Boards should consult qualified legal counsel regarding their own association's circumstances.