HB190: HB190 Property; prohibit condominium and property owners' associations from retaliating against property owners for taking certain actions

Georgia condominium owners and homeowners in property owners' associations sometimes report safety or maintenance problems, file complaints, or organize with neighbors to push back on their association's decisions. Currently there is no specific state law stopping an association from punishing an owner for doing that. HB190 would add new sections to Georgia's condominium and property owners' association laws (O.C.G.A. Title 44, Chapter 3) defining what counts as a protected 'permissible action' and what counts as a 'retaliatory action,' such as filing lawsuits, cutting off use of the unit or common areas, reducing services, raising fees, or interfering with an owner's rights, when done in response to a complaint. An owner could prove retaliation by showing they raised a life, health, safety, or habitability concern and the association retaliated within three months. Associations would have defenses for lawful fee increases or service changes applied broadly, or for enforcement actions that could have been pursued anyway. Owners who prove retaliation could use it as a defense against foreclosure and recover one month's assessment fees plus $500, court costs, and attorney's fees.

• Creates new Code sections (44-3-118 for condos, 44-3-232.2 for property owners' associations) banning retaliation against owners who complain, report issues, or organize about the association.
• Defines protected 'permissible actions,' including filing complaints with courts or government agencies, giving feedback, and forming or joining resident groups.
• Defines 'retaliatory actions,' including improper foreclosure or damage suits, denying use of a unit or lot, cutting services, raising fees, or interfering with an owner's rights, when tied to a complaint.
• Lets an owner establish retaliation by showing the association acted within three months of the owner raising a life, health, safety, or habitability concern.
• Allows retaliation to serve as a defense against a foreclosure action and lets the owner recover one month's assessment fee plus $500, court costs, and attorney's fees.
• Provides defenses for associations that raise fees or change services under written agreements or across the whole community, or that pursue enforcement actions they could have brought anyway.

Condominium unit owners and property owners' association lot owners across Georgia, along with the associations and boards that govern them, including any person or manager acting on an association's behalf, and courts handling foreclosure or fee disputes between owners and associations.

Owners who raise safety, maintenance, or fee concerns with their association could gain a legal shield: if the association responds by cutting services, raising fees, or moving toward foreclosure within three months, the owner could fight back in court and potentially recover money and stop a foreclosure.

• Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 44-3-118, applying the anti-retaliation rules to condominium associations and unit owners.
• Section 1 defines a three-month window: if an association takes a listed retaliatory action within three months of an owner's complaint or organizing effort, the owner has a prima-facie retaliation case.
• Section 1 sets remedies: retaliation is a defense to foreclosure for unpaid assessments, and the owner can recover one month's assessment fees plus $500, court costs, and attorney's fees.
• Section 1 exempts associations from liability for fee or service changes made under existing written agreements or applied uniformly across the whole condominium.
• Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 44-3-232.2, applying the identical anti-retaliation framework to property owners' associations and lot owners.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting state laws.

1. 2025-02-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-30House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-29House Hopper (House)

• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)Primary sponsor
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
• Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)

• condominium law
• homeowners associations
• property owners' rights
• housing disputes
• foreclosure defense