2026-09-10 · Georgia · Legislation

What happened. Section 5 of the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act rewrites O.C.G.A. § 44-3-232(c), the provision that governs when a Georgia property owners' association may foreclose an assessment lien. It takes effect 1 January 2027.¹

The change is widely reported as raising the threshold “from $2,000 to $4,000.” That is not what the enacted text says, and the difference decides real cases.

The threshold, verbatim

The Act strikes “$2,000.00” and inserts:

“the lesser of $4,000.00 or an amount equal to 12 months of regular assessments, as such term is defined in Code Section 43-17A-1, in arrears but not less than $2,000.00”

So it is a two-part test with a floor. Work it through:

• An association charging $500 a year: twelve months of regular assessments is $500, which is lower than $4,000 — but the floor applies, so the threshold is $2,000, exactly as before.
• An association charging $250 a month ($3,000 a year): the lesser figure is $3,000, above the floor, so the threshold is $3,000.
• An association charging $400 a month ($4,800 a year): the lesser figure is $4,000, so the threshold is $4,000.

For a great many Georgia neighbourhood associations with modest annual dues, the trigger has not moved at all.

The change that actually matters

The threshold arithmetic is the headline. The next clause is the reform:

“provided, however, that no specific assessment, as such term is defined in Code Section 43-17A-1, or other fine or fee shall be included in the calculation of the amount of such lien.”

“Specific assessments” is defined at § 43-17A-1(10) to cover both charges for owner-caused damage and — critically — “fees or fines for nonpayment, insufficient payment, or untimely payment of any assessment or for violation of a covenant.”

That closes the mechanism at the centre of Georgia's HOA foreclosure controversy: a modest dues delinquency inflated by violation fines, late fees and charges until it clears the statutory bar. From January, only regular assessments in arrears count toward the threshold.

Notice doubles, and gains a statutory cure right

The Act strikes “30” and inserts “60”: foreclosure may proceed not less than 60 days after certified-mail notice to the lot owner, sent both to the lot and to any other address the owner has designated in writing.

The notice must also now “state that payment of such amount prior to the sixtieth day following receipt of the notice will eliminate the right of foreclosure” — an express cure right that the previous text did not contain. Some coverage has reported this as a 90-day period. The word in the Act is sixty.

1. Senate Bill 406, as passed (26 LC 49 2879S) — signed copy, Office of the Governor ↩
2. Hale v. ASBM Investments, LLC, No. A25A1209 (Ga. Ct. App. 31 Oct. 2025) — slip opinion ↩
3. Smart Venture Capital, LLC v. River Mansions Property Association, Inc., No. A26A0540 (Ga. Ct. App. 21 Apr. 2026) — slip opinion ↩