---
title: HB 664. Property owners' associations; development and affirmative election; provisions
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb664
cite_as: HB 664, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb664
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb664.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb664/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70949
date: 2026-03-04
status: engrossed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 599
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb664.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 664
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-03-03
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Deborah Silcox
- Matt Reeves
- Esther Panitch
- Scott Hilton
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB664/2025
upstream_id: 1987889
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- property owners associations
- homeowners associations
- HOA law
- real estate law
- property law
---
# HB 664. Property owners' associations; development and affirmative election; provisions
## Text
House Bill 664 (COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)
By: Representatives Silcox of the 53rd, Reeves of the 99th, Panitch of the 51st, and Hilton of
the 48th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 6 of Chapter 3 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to property owners' associations, so as to provide for property owners' associations
to submit to said article after the creation of such associations; to provide for voting
procedures; to provide for recordation of a vote to submit to said article; to provide for
notice; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 6 of Chapter 3 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
property owners' associations, is amended by revising Code Section 44-3-222, relating to
creation of property owners' development and affirmative election to be governed by article,
as follows:
"44-3-222.
A property owners' development shall come into existence upon either the recordation of
the declaration pursuant to this article, or the amendment of a recorded declaration in
accordance with paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Code Section 44-3-235, or the
recordation of an instrument pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of Code Section
44-3-235. Any declaration or amendment intending to bring or avail a development of the
benefits and provisions of this article shall state an affirmative election to be so governed.
Any original declaration shall be duly executed by or on behalf of all of the owners of the
submitted property. Any such amendment to an existing declaration shall be executed in
accordance with the terms of the recorded declaration being amended thereby. Any such
instrument specified in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of Code Section 44-3-235 shall be
executed pursuant to that Code section."
SECTION 2.
Said article is further amended in Code Section 44-3-226, relating to amendments of
instrument and presumption of validity in court action, by revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b)(1) No amendment of an instrument shall require approval of lot owners to which
more than 80 75 percent of the association vote pertains and the mortgagees holding 80
75 percent of the voting interest of mortgaged lots; any property owners' association
which exists prior to July 1, 1994, and amends its documents to avail itself of the
provisions of this article or otherwise submits to this article pursuant to Code Section
44-3-235 shall be deemed to have amended the association instrument to conform to this
limitation. This subsection shall not be deemed to eliminate or modify any right of the
declarant provided for in the instrument to approve amendments to the instrument so long
as the declarant owns any lot primarily for the purpose of sale and, furthermore, this Code
section shall not be construed as modifying or altering the rights of a mortgagee set forth
elsewhere in this article.
(2) Provisions of any declaration of an association that submits to this article pursuant
to paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of Code Section 44-3-235 that require a majority in
excess of 75 percent of the association votes to amend shall not be affected or modified
by this Code section if, by the first anniversary of the date of submission, the association
and those mortgagees permitted to vote on amendments vote to retain the requirements
by a majority and, if no such vote occurs, those provisions requiring more than 75 percent
of the voting interest shall be deemed to only require 75 percent of the voting interest.
(3) This subsection shall not be deemed to eliminate or modify any right of the declarant
provided for in the instrument to approve amendments to the instrument so long as the
declarant owns any lot primarily for the purpose of sale and, furthermore, this Code
section shall not be construed as modifying or altering the rights of a mortgagee set forth
elsewhere in this article."
SECTION 3.
Said article is further amended in Code Section 44-3-235, relating to applicability of article,
by revising subsection (a) as follows:
"(a)(1) This article shall apply to all property which is submitted to this article.
(2) This article shall also apply to any association of owners subject to a recorded
declaration of covenants upon property, which covenants are administered by an owners'
association in which membership is mandatory for all owners of lots in the development,
which declaration is amended in accordance with Code Section 44-3-222 in order to
submit the property owners' association to this article; provided, however, that any
amendment must conform the instrument creating the property owners' association to this
article, and the property owners' development shall thereafter be deemed to be submitted
to this article.
(3) This article shall also apply to any association of owners subject to a recorded
declaration of covenants upon property, which covenants are administered by an owners'
association in which membership is mandatory for all owners of lots in the development
subject to such declaration, where 75 percent of the association votes to approve the
submission of such association to this article and records an instrument certifying such
vote. Such instrument shall give notice that the recordation of the instrument subjects the
association to the provisions of this article."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 664 would give existing Georgia property owners' associations a new way to opt into the state's Property Owners' Association Act (O.C.G.A. Article 6, Chapter 3, Title 44) through a 75 percent membership vote and a recorded instrument, and would lower the vote threshold needed to amend association documents from 80 percent to 75 percent.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia's Property Owners' Association Act currently lets a development come under the Act only two ways: by recording a declaration that invokes the Act when the community is created, or by later amending an existing declaration to add that election. HB664 adds a third path. An existing homeowners association whose covenants are already mandatory for all lot owners could submit to the Act simply by holding a vote, and if 75 percent of the association's votes approve, recording an instrument that certifies the vote and gives public notice.
The bill also lowers, from 80 percent to 75 percent, the share of lot owner and mortgagee votes needed to approve most amendments to an association's governing instrument. For associations whose existing declarations require a higher supermajority (more than 75 percent) to amend, the bill gives them one year from submission to vote to keep that higher bar; if they do not, the requirement automatically drops to 75 percent. The changes would repeal any conflicting state laws.
### What it does
- Creates a new way for an existing property owners' association to submit to the Property Owners' Association Act by a 75 percent membership vote and a recorded instrument, without amending its declaration.
- Lowers the required approval threshold for amending a property owners' association's governing instrument from 80 percent to 75 percent of both lot owner votes and mortgagee voting interest.
- Requires the recorded instrument used for the new opt-in method to give public notice that recording it subjects the association to the Act.
- Sets a one-year transition window for associations with amendment thresholds above 75 percent to vote to keep that higher threshold, or it automatically falls to 75 percent.
- Preserves existing declarant approval rights over amendments while a declarant still owns lots for sale, and preserves existing mortgagee rights elsewhere in the article.
### Who it affects
Existing homeowners and property owners' associations in Georgia, individual lot owners within those developments, mortgage lenders holding loans on association lots, and real estate developers (declarants) who still own unsold lots in a covered development.
### Why it matters
Associations that were created before the current Act existed, or that never formally opted in, would gain an easier path to come under the Act's statewide rules through a member vote instead of a formal declaration amendment. Lowering the amendment threshold from 80 to 75 percent would make it somewhat easier for associations to change their governing documents going forward.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 44-3-222 to recognize a third way a development can come under the Act: recording an instrument under the new paragraph (3) of Code Section 44-3-235(a).
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 44-3-226(b) to lower the approval threshold for amending an association's instrument from 80 percent to 75 percent of lot owner and mortgagee votes.
- Section 2 adds a rule that associations whose declarations require more than 75 percent to amend must vote within one year of submission to keep that higher threshold, or it becomes 75 percent by default.
- Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 44-3-235(a) by adding paragraph (3), letting an existing mandatory-membership association submit to the Act if 75 percent of its votes approve and it records a certifying instrument with public notice.
- Section 4 repeals any state laws that conflict with the bill.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2026-03-03)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-03-04)
- Sponsors: Deborah Silcox, Matt Reeves, Esther Panitch, Scott Hilton
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70949
> The history, votes, and amendments (599 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb664.md?full=1