Georgia homeowners could soon have new protections against aggressive homeowners associations after SB 406 passed the General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support and now awaits action from Gov. Brian Kemp.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Matt Brass of Newnan, would require associations to register annually with the Georgia Secretary of State if they plan to collect fines and fees, double the current $2,000 debt threshold required before filing a lien against a property, limit the types of debt associations can use to place liens, require associations to open their financial records to members, and establish a formal dispute hearing process overseen by the Secretary of State.
Brass said he pursued the legislation after hearing from numerous homeowners about associations that had abused their authority.
“You might have a rogue board member or a bad management company that wants a neighbor out or they want to try to get possession of that property,” Brass said at a committee hearing. “And they start fining and feeing people.”
Among those who testified was Caroline Simmons, a Decatur-area condominium owner in a long-running dispute with her association over the cost of new water meters she says were unnecessary.
“It means I have someplace other than the court to go to be able to rectify everything that I believe that the board is doing in violation of not only our declaration but of Georgia law,” Simmons said.
Other homeowners described battles over pavers placed in a muddy yard, costly disputes over drainage work, and one case in which a man faced losing his home over a failure to repaint his front door while caring for his dying wife.
A representative for the Community Associations Institute argued the bill was unnecessary, noting that associations already have internal accountability processes including board elections and that lawmakers were hearing from a small number of complainants.
“We don’t think it’s good law to make law based on a few rogue actors,” said Julie Howard, a lawyer volunteering for the organization.
Brass pushed back, describing the protections in SB 406 as modest and the burden on associations as minimal — a $100 annual registration fee and basic financial transparency requirements.
“I was trying to rein in the bad associations without punishing the good ones,” Brass said. “And I think that was as close as we could get it, for now anyway.”
