SB315: SB315 Property Owners' Associations; property owners' associations to provide disclosures and certain documents before a lot sale closes; require

Right now, buyers of homes in property owners' associations (POAs), including many homeowners' associations, are not guaranteed a standard set of disclosures before signing a purchase contract. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's property owners' association law (O.C.G.A. § 44-3-231.1) requiring sellers or declarants to give prospective buyers a disclosure summary describing dues, special assessments, lien risks, and the association's covenants before the buyer signs a contract. The bill also requires sellers to give buyers copies of the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, management contracts, budgets, and any recreational facility leases at least seven days before the contract is signed. If these documents or the disclosure summary are not provided on time, the buyer can cancel the contract, and a willful violation carries a $1,000 fine plus a right to sue for damages and attorney's fees. The law would take effect July 1, 2025, and apply to lot sales made on or after that date.

• Requires sellers or declarants in property owners' associations to give buyers a standardized disclosure summary before a sales contract is signed, covering dues, assessments, and lien risks.
• Requires sellers to provide copies of the association's declaration, bylaws, articles of incorporation, budgets, management contracts, and facility leases at least seven days before signing.
• Gives buyers the right to void a sales contract if the disclosure summary or required documents were not delivered on time, though this right ends at closing.
• Creates a $1,000 fine for willful violations by a declarant, seller, sales agent, or broker, plus a private right to sue for damages and attorney's fees.
• Sets a one-year window (measured from events like closing or certificate of occupancy) to bring a damages lawsuit, capped at five years after closing.
• Requires sales brochures for these communities to disclose which recreational facilities are owned in common and any limits on the seller's obligation to complete them.

Prospective home buyers in Georgia neighborhoods governed by property owners' or homeowners' associations, the associations themselves, declarants (developers who create the community), sellers of individual lots, and real estate sales agents and brokers involved in these transactions.

Buyers in Georgia communities with mandatory homeowners' association dues would get formal, written warning about fees, special assessments, and lien risks before signing a contract, and a chance to back out if they don't receive it. Sellers and associations would face new paperwork duties and potential fines or lawsuits for skipping them.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 44-3-231.1 requiring a disclosure summary in a specified form covering membership obligations, dues, special assessments, and lien risk.
• The disclosure must be referenced and incorporated into the sales contract, with a required warning statement that the buyer should not sign until receiving it (subsection (b)).
• Buyers may void the contract within 3 days of receiving the disclosure summary or before closing, whichever comes first, and this right cannot be waived (subsections (c) and (d)).
• Sellers must furnish seven categories of documents, including the declaration, bylaws, budgets, and facility leases, at least seven days before the buyer signs, and this requirement cannot be waived (subsections (e) through (g)).
• A nonrefundable deposit of up to $25.00 may be charged for these documents, applied to the purchase price if the sale goes through (subsection (f)).
• Sales brochures must disclose ownership and completion status of recreational facilities and include a required caveat about oral representations (subsection (k)).
• Buyers harmed by false statements or missing disclosures may sue for damages within one year of specified triggering events, capped at five years after closing, with attorney's fees for the prevailing party (subsections (l) and (m)).
• Willful violations by a declarant, seller, agent, or broker result in a $1,000 fine (subsection (n)); the Act takes effect July 1, 2025, applying to lot sales on or after that date (Section 2).

1. 2025-03-03Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-28Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)Primary sponsor
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)

• homeowners associations
• real estate disclosures
• property owners associations
• home buying rights
• housing law