The short answer
- Three state laws take effect January 1, 2027 and ask for an association's records from outside the board: in Georgia, North Carolina and Minnesota.
- Each one has a date, and two carry a stated price for missing it. In Georgia, an association that has not registered may not collect fines or fees or file liens.
- The check is one evening now: know which rule applies, who files, and where the records it asks for live.
On January 1, 2027, a Georgia HOA that has not registered with the Secretary of State may not collect a single fine. No late fee, no lien either. Nothing in the community changed. A law did.
North Carolina and Minnesota have laws starting the same day. All three ask an association to hand something to a person outside the board: a state office, or an owner who asks.
Changing software, changing managers or staying put, the 2027 question is the same: can you produce the records when someone outside asks? Here is each law, checked at the statute. This is general information, not legal advice: your governing documents and your association's attorney decide what applies to you.
Georgia: Register, or lose the right to collect
Georgia's SB 406, the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act, takes effect January 1, 2027. Its new chapter 43-17A opens with a short rule: no person may operate an owners' association in Georgia unless it is registered.
What registration asks for, under § 43-17A-2:
- A copy of the governing documents (declaration, bylaws, articles and rules).
- A registration statement naming the association, its address and its officers.
- A financial statement dated no more than one year before filing.
- $100, for the first filing and for each yearly renewal. Registration expires December 31 every year.
- An amended statement within 30 days when the name, address or officers change.
The price of not registering is the part to read twice. An unregistered association may not collect fines or fees, file or record liens, or start a foreclosure. An association can tell the Secretary of State in writing that it chooses not to register, but then it may not assess or collect fines, fees or accelerated assessments at all.
10 years is how long § 43-17A-2(g) tells a Georgia association to keep every record about assessments, fines, fees, liens and foreclosures, in any format. — O.C.G.A. § 43-17A-2(g), SB 406 as passed
The same law gives owners the right, in § 43-17A-7, to inspect and copy the association's records on written demand. It names the accounting records: the finalized balance sheet, budget, profit and loss statements and bank statements for the past three years.
North Carolina: A short report, every November
North Carolina's Session Law 2026-52 adds G.S. 55A-16-22.1, starting January 1, 2027. It applies to every corporation formed under North Carolina's Nonprofit Corporation Act, and to out-of-state nonprofits authorized to operate there. If your association is incorporated as a North Carolina nonprofit, it applies to yours; your articles of incorporation will say.
The report is short:
- The corporation's name, its registered office and registered agent, with the agent's email.
- Its principal office address and phone number.
- The names, titles and business addresses of its principal officers, and a contact person who can say who has authority to sign for it.
- A brief description of what it does.
It is due by November 15 each year. The fee is $18 online or $25 on paper.
What happens to a North Carolina report that never arrives.
- November 15: The report is due.
- 60 days later: The Secretary of State may presume it is delinquent.
- Then: A delinquent report is grounds for administrative dissolution.
The Secretary of State may then start an administrative dissolution. It is not automatic, and the law provides a way back through reinstatement, but the simpler fix is a calendar entry and a named officer who files it.
Minnesota: Six years of bids, open to owners
Minnesota's Laws 2026, chapter 82, amends a dozen sections of the state's common interest community law, chapter 515B. The one about records is in section 515B.3-103, effective January 1, 2027.
It reaches associations governed by Minnesota's Common Interest Ownership Act, chapter 515B: generally communities created on or after June 1, 1994. Many older planned communities are covered only if they chose to be, so ask your attorney whether yours is.
Before signing any contract for maintenance, construction, repair or reconstruction estimated over $50,000, the board (or its property manager) must ask for at least three written competitive bids. Any bid from someone connected to a board member, the property manager or their families must be disclosed before the vote, and that disclosure goes in the minutes.
Then the record: under § 515B.3-103 the association "must maintain a record of the bid selection process, including the criteria used, and the contracts awarded for the last six years," and make those records available to owners at cost.
How to Bid Out an HOA Contract
What the three share: The record has to exist before anyone asks
| Georgia | North Carolina | Minnesota (ch. 515B) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The law | O.C.G.A. § 43-17A-2 | G.S. 55A-16-22.1 | Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-103 |
| Starts | January 1, 2027 | January 1, 2027 | January 1, 2027 |
| Who asks | Secretary of State, then owners | Secretary of State (nonprofit corporations) | Owners |
| What they ask for | Governing documents, officers, a financial statement under a year old | Officers, registered agent, principal office | Bid records and contracts, six years |
| How often | Every year, by December 31 | Every year, by November 15 | Whenever an owner asks |
| Missing it costs | The right to collect fines and fees, or file liens | Grounds for dissolution | No penalty in the section; an owner's request the board cannot answer |
Most of what the three ask for, a well-run board already keeps. Each one asks for it on a date, from someone who is not on the board. A financial statement on one volunteer's laptop is fine until the state wants one dated within the past year.
The filings are new. Most of the records behind them are not. What changes is that someone outside the board now sets the date.
Your check: Could your board answer these tonight?
- We know whether our association is a nonprofit corporation, and in which state.
- One named officer owns each state filing, with the date in the board's calendar.
- We can produce a financial statement dated within the last twelve months.
- Every contract we signed this year is in the board's records, with the bids we compared.
- If an owner asked tomorrow for three years of bank statements, we know where they are.
HOA Handover Checklist: The Five Open Items Boards Lose
Frequently asked questions
Does Georgia's SB 406 apply to condominiums? Its definition of an owners' association includes condominium developments, neighborhoods and other common interest communities with recorded covenants. Your attorney can confirm how it applies to yours.
When is the first North Carolina annual report due? If your association is a North Carolina nonprofit corporation, the first report under the new law is due by November 15, 2027, and every November 15 after that. It is filed with the North Carolina Secretary of State: $18 online, $25 on paper.
Does Minnesota's bid rule apply to every contract? No. Three written bids must be sought before contracts for maintenance, construction, repair or reconstruction estimated over $50,000. The law lists exceptions, including emergencies, warranty work and a sole available vendor.