SB108: SB108 Property Owners' Associations; certificates of good standing for payment of annual assessments; provide

Georgia law lets property owners' associations (POAs) place liens on a homeowner's lot for unpaid assessments. This bill changes several rules around that process. It requires associations to give lot owners a free certificate each year showing their assessments are paid in full and the lot is in good standing, within 45 days of the end of the fiscal year. Before an association can create a lien for unpaid assessments, it must first offer the lot owner a chance to use alternative dispute resolution such as mediation or arbitration, and must actually participate if the owner asks. Both sides must act in good faith, and a lot owner can recover attorney's fees if the association does not. The bill also adds unpaid medical bill liens to the list of liens that outrank the association's lien, though tax liens and mortgages still come first. These changes would not apply to contracts signed before July 1, 2025, until they expire or are first renewed.

• Requires POAs to give lot owners a free annual certificate of good standing within 45 days of the fiscal year's end if all assessments are paid.
• Bars an association from creating a lien for unpaid assessments unless it first offers the lot owner alternative dispute resolution (mediation, arbitration, conciliation, or similar).
• Requires associations to participate in that dispute resolution process if the lot owner requests it, and forbids charging the owner a fee for it.
• Lets a lot owner recover attorney's fees if the association fails to act in good faith during the dispute resolution process.
• Adds liens for unpaid medical bills to the list of liens that rank ahead of an association's assessment lien on a lot.
• Exempts contracts signed before July 1, 2025 from these new rules until they expire or are first renewed.

Homeowners who belong to property owners' associations, the associations themselves and their managing agents, and lot owners facing liens for unpaid dues. It also touches anyone with unpaid medical debt liens on a property, since those liens would now outrank association liens.

Homeowners facing an association lien would gain a required chance to resolve payment disputes through mediation or arbitration before losing their good standing, plus a way to recover legal fees if the association drags its feet. Associations would face new paperwork and process obligations before they can enforce liens.

• Section 1 adds a new subsection (e) to O.C.G.A. § 44-3-225 requiring associations to issue a free annual certificate of good standing to lot owners current on assessments.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 44-3-232(a) to add unpaid medical bill liens to the categories of liens that rank above an association's assessment lien.
• Section 3 creates new Code Section 44-3-232.2, defining alternative dispute resolution and requiring associations to adopt a written policy for a fair, reasonable, and expeditious process.
• Section 3 also requires associations to give lot owners the ADR policy annually, use available low-cost local mediation programs, and bars fees to lot owners who invoke the process.
• Section 3 states no lien can be created unless the association first offers ADR and participates if the owner requests it, and allows recovery of attorney's fees for bad-faith conduct in ADR.
• Section 4 limits the Act's application, excluding contracts entered into before July 1, 2025 until they expire or are first renewed.
• Section 5 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
2. 2025-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2025-03-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2025-02-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2025-02-05Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Donzella James (D, SD-028)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)

• property owners' associations
• HOA liens
• homeowner disputes
• alternative dispute resolution
• property law