Alabama HOA Fining Authority

Section 1: Overview

Alabama gives associations two separate paths to fining authority — and for some older communities, no statute at all, just the covenants recorded years ago. Take condominiums first. If yours formed on or after January 1, 1991, the Alabama Uniform Condominium Act supplies the power: the association may, "after notice and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations of the association."¹ Planned-community HOAs follow a different statute. Boards formed on or after January 1, 2016, along with older HOAs that voted to opt in, draw their authority from the Alabama Homeowners' Association Act,² which lets the board "assess reasonable penalties against a member for any violation of the declaration or rules."³ Title 10A of the Alabama Code governs these nonprofit corporations — it sets director duties and meeting formalities, but it does not grant fining power on its own; that power comes from the two property statutes and from the declaration itself.⁴ In both tracks, the real ceiling is reasonableness. Neither statute fixes a dollar cap.^1,3 Pre-1991 condominiums occupy a hybrid position: the 1991 Act reaches backward and applies its fining power and its lien section to any event after January 1, 1991.⁵ Planned communities formed before 2016 that never opted in have no statutory fining power at all — they may fine only if the recorded declaration says they can.⁶ And the question that matters most downstream — whether an unpaid fine can become a lien and support foreclosure — comes back yes for condominiums, yes for HOAs under the 2016 Act, and only if the declaration says so for older, non-electing planned communities.^7,8 The Quick-Reference table below lays out every parameter.

Section 2: Quick-Reference Fining Mechanics Table

Here's the fining picture at a glance. The Condominiums column covers post-1991 condominiums under the 1991 Act; pre-1991 condominiums get their own treatment in Section 3A. The Planned Communities column covers HOAs governed by the 2016 Homeowners' Association Act. Planned communities formed before 2016 that never elected coverage are CC&R-derived, and Section 3A covers those too. Every figure below is sourced in the detailed discussion that follows.

Condominiums column reflects post-1991 condominiums under the Alabama Uniform Condominium Act of 1991. Pre-1991 condominiums under the Condominium Ownership Act are addressed in Section 3A. Planned-community values are statutory under the 2016 Act or, for older non-electing communities, CC&R-derived. Last verified: July 14, 2026.

Section 3: Fining mechanics in detail

3A. Source and outer limits of fining authority

For condominiums created on or after January 1, 1991, the power to fine comes straight from the statute. The 1991 Act lets an association, "after notice and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations of the association."¹ The standard is reasonableness — the Act sets no dollar cap. But that power doesn't float free. Associations exercise it subject to the declaration, which typically spells out the fine schedule and the procedure.

Older condominiums answer to an older law. The Condominium Ownership Act governs anything built before 1991, and its powers provision lets the association adopt and enforce reasonable rules — but it never mentions fines.⁹ The 1991 Act closes that gap itself. Its applicability section extends the fining power in § 35-8A-302(a)(11) and the lien section in § 35-8A-316 to condominiums created before January 1, 1991, "but those sections apply only with respect to events and circumstances occurring after January 1, 1991."⁵ So a pre-1991 condominium carries the same statutory fining power and the same fine-inclusive lien as any newer one, for any violation after that date.

Planned communities split along a different line: formation date. HOAs created on or after January 1, 2016, plus older HOAs whose members voted to opt in, fall under the Alabama Homeowners' Association Act.⁶ Its powers-of-the-board provision lets the board, "to the extent authorized by the declaration and governing documents," assess reasonable penalties for any violation.³ The declaration still holds the keys — the statute hands over the power only where the governing documents authorize it. Planned communities formed before 2016 that never opted in have no statutory fining power at all; they can fine only if the recorded declaration grants it, and only within common-law bounds of reasonableness. Title 10A of the Alabama Code requires post-2016 HOAs to organize as nonprofit corporations, and it supplies the corporate formalities — director duties, notice rules — but it is not where the fining authority comes from.⁴ And across both tracks, Alabama courts step in with equitable limits on covenant enforcement, declining relief where the burden on the owner is considerably disproportionate to the benefit the association gains.¹⁰

3B. The required fining procedure

For condominiums, an enforceable fine follows a clear sequence. Identify the violation. Give the owner notice and a chance to be heard. Let the board make its determination. Then impose the fine. The 1991 Act locks in the two due-process elements — notice and an opportunity to be heard — but it sets no notice period, no hearing-request deadline, and no written-decision requirement.¹ Boards and managers have to look to the declaration and bylaws for the actual day-count. And where those documents stay silent, the board needs to build a record it can defend: reasonable notice, and a genuine chance to respond.

Planned communities under the 2016 Act follow a similar procedure, with one notable difference. The statute lets the board "assess reasonable penalties against a member for any violation of the declaration or rules adopted by the board of directors after the member is afforded the opportunity to be heard and represented by counsel before the board of directors."³ That right to counsel at the hearing goes further than anything the condominium statute spells out. If a tenant, not the owner, commits the violation, the board can assess the penalty directly against the tenant — but only after giving notice to both tenant and owner and an opportunity to be heard.³ Just as with condominiums, the Act fixes no notice period and no scheduling deadline; those still come from the declaration and governing documents. Pre-2016 communities that never opted in look to the declaration alone, backed by the common-law expectation of reasonable notice and a real opportunity to respond before any covenant-based charge takes effect.

Neither statute says anything about per-day or continuing fines, so a running daily fine only works if the declaration or rules authorize it. The bottom line holds across every track: a fine imposed without adequate notice and a genuine opportunity to be heard invites a challenge in Circuit Court. And for a covenant-only community, the whole question of enforceability rises or falls on what the declaration actually says.

3C. Enforcement of unpaid fines: assessments, liens, and foreclosure

This is where the analysis matters most, and Alabama comes down association-favorable on both statutory tracks. For condominiums, the lien section says the association "has a lien on a unit for any assessment and any other moneys due the association … or fines imposed against its unit owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due," and that lien "may be foreclosed in like manner as a mortgage on real estate" once the association gives reasonable advance notice to the owner and to lienholders of record.⁷ The same section adds that, unless the declaration says otherwise, fines charged under the powers provision "are enforceable as assessments."⁷ That means a fine-only balance is lienable and foreclosable on its own. The association has three years from the date the full amount becomes due to bring an action enforcing the lien, and a first mortgage recorded before the delinquency keeps its priority — except during the association's six-month priority window for common-expense assessments. A court can also fold reasonable attorney's fees and costs into a judgment or decree enforcing the lien.^7,11

Planned communities under the 2016 Act reach the same destination by a different road. The powers provision states that "the amount of any penalty assessed under this section shall be considered an assessment for purposes of Section 35-20-12,"³ and § 35-20-12 puts a lien on every lot for unpaid assessments, one that "may be enforced or foreclosed as provided in the declaration or governing documents or as provided in this section" — judicial enforcement and sale after published notice included.⁸ Follow the chain: a penalty from a covered HOA becomes an assessment, the assessment carries a statutory lien, and the lien can be foreclosed. Pre-2016 communities that never opted in get none of that automatically — no statutory assessment lien exists unless the recorded declaration creates one, and the whole analysis falls back on the declaration plus common-law contract and property doctrine. There's also a lighter-touch tool available: the 2016 Act lets a covered board suspend a member's right to use facilities or services over nonpayment, so long as the member still has access to the lot itself.³ The 1991 Act grants condominiums no equivalent power to suspend voting or amenity rights — any such remedy there has to come from the declaration.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No bill passed in the 2024, 2025, or 2026 regular sessions touched the fining authority, the due-process conditions, fine caps, or the lien-and-foreclosure treatment of fines in either statute. One condominium measure came close and is worth flagging below.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two rulings this year test how far an association's remedies can reach — one on whether a foreclosure survives when the association skipped an owner's notice, and one on whether tearing down a nearly finished house is too harsh a fix for breaking a setback rule.

C. Active legislative debates

Right now, the legislature's attention sits on condominium consents, waivers, and dispute resolution — HB260 and its companion, SB121 — not on fining authority. The Real Estate Commission, meanwhile, is working through how the 2025 license-law changes apply to community-association managers, including a new condominium-manager exception. Nothing moving through Montgomery would cap fines, require a published fine schedule, or restrict foreclosure on fine-only debt.¹³

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Step back, and Alabama fits into one of three broad patterns states use for fining authority. Some states — the UCIOA states like Alaska, and comprehensive-statute states like California and Florida — build statutory fining power in alongside statutory due-process rules. Others rely on CC&R-derived authority with a common-law due-process overlay; that's where Alabama's pre-2016, non-electing planned communities sit, alongside states like Arkansas. A third group caps fines outright, mandates published schedules, or restricts foreclosure on fine-only debt.

Alabama's own split is unusual. Post-1991 condominiums and post-2016 HOAs look like the statutory model; older, non-electing planned communities remain purely contractual. Anyone operating across state lines has to check both the community type and the creation date before assuming a rule applies. And on the question that matters most — lien and foreclosure — Alabama comes down association-favorable relative to its peers, because both statutory tracks fold fines directly into the foreclosable assessment lien instead of barring foreclosure on fine-only balances the way some states do.

HOA Weekly updates this coverage quarterly as the legislature and the courts act. Federal law applies here too, regardless of what Alabama's own statutes say — notably the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which can reach third-party collection of fines, along with the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the rules governing satellite dishes and antennas.

1. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-8A-302(a)(11), Powers of unit owners' association ↩
2. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-20-11, Powers of board ↩
3. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-20-11, Powers of board (opportunity to be heard, right to counsel, and penalty-as-assessment provisions) ↩
4. Alabama Secretary of State, Homeowners' Associations ↩
5. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-8A-102, Applicability ↩
6. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-20-3, Applicability of chapter ↩
7. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-8A-316, Lien for assessments ↩
8. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-20-12, Liens for unpaid assessments ↩
9. Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 35-8-9, Duties and responsibilities of association ↩
10. Justia, Englund v. Dauphin Island Property Owners Ass'n, Nos. SC-2024-0414 & SC-2024-0437 (Ala. Aug. 29, 2025) ↩
11. Nolo, Alabama HOA and COA Foreclosure Laws ↩
12. Alabama Legislature, HB260 (2026 Regular Session), Introduced Text ↩
13. LegiScan, Alabama HB260 (2026 Regular Session) ↩
14. Alabama Legislature, Bill Search, HB260, Condominiums; Consents and Waivers, Arbitration and Mediation ↩
15. CaseMine, Relative Hardship Over Breach: Alabama Supreme Court Clarifies Clean Hands Limits and Balancing in Restrictive Covenant Injunctions ↩
16. Justia, Ross v. West Wind Condominium Ass'n, No. CL-2025-0064 (Ala. Civ. App. July 25, 2025) ↩