SB 230: Condominiums; maximum amount of insurance deductibles payable by unit owners; remove the limitation

SB 230 started as a narrow bill about condominium insurance deductibles, but the House Insurance Committee's substitute folds in several unrelated real estate and courts topics under one new short title, the Real Estate Security and Title Act. On condos, it raises the cap on how much of an insurance deductible a condo association can pass on to an individual unit owner after a covered casualty, from $5,000 to $25,000 per loss, and requires associations to notify unit owners in writing whenever the master policy deductible changes materially. Separately, the bill expands who counts as a protected person under Georgia's law shielding judges' and their spouses' personal information from public records, broadens the definition of personally identifiable information, and adds new procedures for protected people or their designated representatives to get access to restricted records, request removal of a restriction, or authorize title insurers to see unredacted property records. It also lets the holder of a foreclosed security instrument submit a credit bid instead of cash at a judicial sale, and tightens the qualifications required to serve as a special master in quiet title lawsuits, requiring state citizenship for three years and five years of relevant title litigation experience.

• Raises the maximum insurance deductible a condominium association can charge to an individual unit owner after a covered casualty loss from $5,000 to $25,000 per incident.
• Requires condo associations to give unit owners written notice whenever there is a material change to the master insurance policy's deductible.
• Expands the legal definition of 'protected person' in Georgia's judicial privacy law to explicitly include spouses of current and former judges and justices, and broadens what counts as their personally identifiable information.
• Creates new procedures letting protected judges and their spouses, or authorized third parties like title insurers, request access to records that have had personal information restricted, or request that a restriction be lifted.
• Allows the entity foreclosing on a property to submit a credit bid instead of cash, a cashier's check, or certified funds when purchasing the property at a judicial sale.
• Tightens qualifications to serve as a special master in quiet title lawsuits, requiring three years of Georgia citizenship and five years of experience litigating or advising on land title matters.

Condominium unit owners and homeowners associations, current and former judges and justices and their spouses, state and local government agencies that hold public records (such as the Secretary of State, tax assessors, and clerks of court), title insurers and their attorneys, foreclosing lenders, and people involved in quiet title lawsuits over land ownership.

Condo owners could face much larger out-of-pocket insurance deductible bills after damage to their unit, up from a $5,000 cap to $25,000. Judges and spouses would get stronger privacy protections in public records, while lenders foreclosing on property would gain a new way to pay at auction without cash.

• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 9-13-166 to let a foreclosing lender submit a credit bid instead of cash or a certified check at a judicial sale.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-5-110 to redefine 'protected person' to explicitly include spouses of current and former judges, and to redefine what counts as their personally identifiable information.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-5-112 to add procedures for protected persons and third parties like title insurers to access or release restricted records, with a 30-day compliance window for restriction requests and a 45-day window for release requests.
• Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 23-3-63 to require special masters in quiet title cases to be U.S. residents of the judicial circuit, Georgia citizens for three years, and have five years of relevant title litigation experience.
• Section 6 amends O.C.G.A. § 44-3-94 to raise the per-unit insurance deductible cap condo associations can pass to owners from $5,000 to $25,000 and to require written notice of material deductible changes.
• Section 1 gives the overall Act the short title 'Real Estate Security and Title Act.'

1. 2026-03-20House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-09House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-06House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-04Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
5. 2026-03-04Senate Third Read (Senate)
6. 2026-02-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
8. 2025-03-03Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)Primary sponsor
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)

1. FailedSenate voteMarch 4, 2026

   22 yea, 32 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Adoption Of Amendment #1 By The Senator From The 28th: Senate Vote #632

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 4, 2026

   51 yea, 2 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #633

• condominium insurance
• property law
• judicial privacy protections
• foreclosure sales
• title insurance