SB521: SB521 Specialized Land Transactions; a residency requirement for board members and officers of condominium associations and property owners' associations; establish

Under current Georgia law, condominium and property owners' association board members and officers are not necessarily required to live in the community they oversee. This bill amends Chapter 3 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated to require that, starting January 1, 2027, board members and officers of both condominium associations and property owners' associations be 'resident unit owners' or 'resident lot owners,' meaning they have physically lived in the community as their main home for at least six months in the prior year. The bill makes an exception for active duty military members who would qualify but for deployment or training. Board members or officers elected before 2027 may finish their current terms regardless of residency, but their successors must meet the new requirement. Associations must update their governing documents (bylaws and instruments) to include this residency requirement, and members who lose the required affiliation can be removed from office.

• Requires that, starting January 1, 2027, board members and officers of condominium associations be 'resident unit owners' who have lived in the unit as their main home for at least six months in the prior year.
• Applies the same residency requirement to property owners' association board members and officers, who must be 'resident lot owners.'
• Creates an exception for active duty military members who can't meet the residency requirement solely because of deployment, training, or ordered duty.
• Allows board members and officers elected before January 1, 2027 to finish their current terms without meeting the residency rule, but requires all successors to comply.
• Requires associations to revise their bylaws and governing instruments to include the new residency requirement.
• Makes board members or officers who lose their qualifying residency or affiliation subject to removal under the association's existing removal procedures.

Condominium associations and property owners' associations across Georgia, their boards and officers, unit and lot owners who serve or want to serve in leadership roles, and active duty military members who own units or lots but may be temporarily unable to live there.

Community association boards make decisions on fees, rules, and maintenance that directly affect residents. This bill would prevent absentee owners, investors, or outside managers from serving as board members or officers, tying association leadership to people who actually live in the community.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 44-3-104 to define 'resident unit owner' and require condominium board members and officers to meet that definition starting January 1, 2027.
• Section 1 exempts active duty military members from the physical occupancy requirement if deployment or training temporarily prevents them from living in their unit.
• Section 1 lets board members and officers elected before January 1, 2027 finish their terms without meeting the residency rule, but requires future successors to comply.
• Section 1 allows removal of a board member or officer who no longer meets the residency requirement or loses a qualifying ownership affiliation.
• Section 2 applies the same residency framework to property owners' associations by rewriting O.C.G.A. § 44-3-229, defining 'resident lot owner.'
• Section 2 requires property owners' association instruments and bylaws to include the residency requirement for board members and officers.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-18Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-17Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Donzella James (D, SD-028)Primary sponsor
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)

• homeowners associations
• condominium law
• property owners associations
• residency requirements