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.
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 LegiScan holds.
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”
“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.”
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
- Donzella James (D, SD-028)
- Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
- Jaha Howard (D, SD-035)
- Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
- Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
- Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
- Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
- Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
- Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
- Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
- Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
Topics
- homeowners associations
- HOA regulation
- traffic enforcement
- property owners rights
- board member training