Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB 393: "HOA Accountability and Training Act"; enact

Last action January 14, 2026 · Senate Read and Referred

A Georgia Senate bill would stop homeowners' associations from enforcing traffic laws in their neighborhoods themselves, letting them ask local police instead, and would require HOA board members to complete new training starting in 2028.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Georgia's Property Owners' Association Act currently lets HOAs enforce their governing documents broadly, and some HOAs have used that authority to issue tickets or penalties for traffic and parking violations on private roads within their communities. This bill, called the "HOA Accountability and Training Act," would remove that authority. HOAs would no longer be allowed to enforce state or local traffic laws, ordinances, or parking rules themselves. Instead, an HOA could ask a local law enforcement agency to handle traffic and parking enforcement within its privately owned residential streets. The bill also adds a new requirement for HOA leadership. By January 1, 2028, the Secretary of State must create or approve a training program of at least four hours covering topics like board members' financial duties, record keeping, conflicts of interest, following association rules, contract oversight, and resolving disputes. Every new board or governing body member would have to complete this training within 90 days of taking office, and the Secretary of State could write rules to carry out the requirement.

What the bill does

Removes homeowners' associations' authority to enforce state or local traffic laws, ordinances, or regulations, including parking violations, within their communities.
Allows an HOA to request that a local law enforcement agency enforce traffic and parking rules within its privately owned residential streets instead.
Directs the Georgia Secretary of State to create or approve a training program of at least four hours for HOA board members by January 1, 2028.
Requires every new HOA board or governing body member to complete the training within 90 days of being appointed or elected.
Authorizes the Secretary of State to write rules and regulations to put the training requirement into effect.

Who it affects

Homeowners' associations and their boards of directors, residents living in HOA-governed communities who currently face HOA-issued traffic or parking penalties, local law enforcement agencies that may be asked to take over enforcement, and the Georgia Secretary of State's office, which must build and oversee the new training program.

Why it matters

Residents in HOA communities would no longer be subject to traffic or parking enforcement directly by their association, shifting that role to local police if the HOA requests it. HOA board members would also face a new training mandate aimed at improving how associations handle finances, records, and disputes.

Key provisions

Section 1 names the bill the "HOA Accountability and Training Act."
Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 44-3-231 to bar property owners' associations from enforcing state or local traffic laws, ordinances, or regulations, including parking violations under Article 10 of Chapter 6 of Title 40.
Section 2 also allows an HOA to have such laws enforced instead by a local law enforcement agency within the privately owned residential area, per O.C.G.A. § 40-6-3.
Section 3 adds new Code Section 44-3-236, requiring the Secretary of State to develop or approve a four-hour training program for HOA board members by January 1, 2028, covering fiduciary duties, record keeping, conflicts of interest, compliance, contracts, and conflict resolution.
Section 3 requires new board members to complete the training within 90 days of taking office and lets the Secretary of State issue implementing rules.
Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

From the bill

“a property owners' association shall not have the authority to enforce any state or local traffic laws, ordinances, or regulations, including, but not limited to, parking violations under Article 10 of Chapter 6 of Title 40”
This is the bill's core ban on HOAs enforcing traffic and parking rules themselves.

“Each member of the board of directors or other governing body of an association shall complete the training set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section within 90 days of his or her initial appointment or election to such board or body.”
This sets the deadline for new HOA board members to finish the required training.

Discussed in meetings (3)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

Senate Urban Affairs Committee, January 29, 2026
From 1:02:48 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 393 would require training for people serving on homeowners’ association boards, arguing that board members may not understand their authority or the effects of their decisions on homeowners. The sponsor said a provision concerning association fines for matters handled by local law enforcement had led to assignment to the Public Safety Committee. The sponsor planned to focus on training and request a committee transfer and hearing. A condominium resident supported training, saying the resident’s board disregarded legal requirements and the community’s governing documents. The resident said some households went without water for three weeks until a lawsuit produced a temporary restraining order. The resident also said the law required a $750 judgment before an association could shut off water. No amendment or vote was taken.
Senate Urban Affairs Committee, February 26, 2026
From 1:31:08 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair described SB 393 as a proposal to train association board members. The chair said an effort to include its main provisions in SB 406 the previous day had been unsuccessful, but changes could still be sought on the Senate floor or in the House. The chair reported that the training bill’s sponsor had contacted House members about a possible amendment or replacement version and said the proposal was not dead. No amendment or vote occurred.

Read aloud: Senate floor session, January 14, 2026 (legislative day 3), 0:35:35

Status timeline

2026-01-14Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2026-01-13Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

homeowners associations
HOA regulation
traffic enforcement
property owners rights
board member training

Ask about this bill

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb393.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp