2026-09-10 · Georgia · Legislation

What happened. New O.C.G.A. § 43-17A-7, created by the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act, sets out twelve rights that belong to owners in a Georgia owners' development from 1 January 2027. It is the section the Act is named for.¹

Some of the twelve restate what Georgia law already provides. Two are specific enough to change what a board has to hand over.

The records right, and the three-year list

The first right is to “inspect and obtain copies of owners' association records, accounting records, and other records of the owners' association upon written demand and in compliance with the laws of this state and the governing documents.” Then the sentence that gives it teeth:

“Such accounting records shall be the finalized balance sheet, budget, profit and loss statements, and bank statements for the past three years.”

Four named documents, a three-year window, and the word finalized — which forecloses the familiar answer that the figures are draft or unaudited. Bank statements in particular are the item Georgia associations most often decline to produce.

Note the qualifier that precedes it, though: the right is exercised “in compliance with the laws of this state and the governing documents.” Whether a declaration that excludes bank records from inspection is overridden by this paragraph, or merely supplemented by it, is a genuine open question that Georgia's community-association bar has already flagged.

The insurance right

The second right is narrower than owners might hope and more useful than it looks: on written demand, “a copy of the owners' association certificate of insurance for all such insurance obtained by the owners' association for the benefit of the owner and that may apply to a potential claim or submitted claim.”

It is a certificate, not the policy. But it is tied to a potential claim as well as a submitted one, so an owner does not have to file first to find out what coverage exists.

Meetings, access, and the duty of care

Rights (3) through (10) are the governance floor:

• notice of members' meetings “in a fair and reasonable manner”;
• attendance at members' meetings, “which shall be called and held by the board of directors at least annually”;
• access to common areas, amenities and common elements, subject to the governing documents;
• ingress, egress and access to one's own property;
• statutory notice and process should the association foreclose;
• amendment of the governing documents at the thresholds Georgia law and the documents require;
• an expectation that a director performs their duties “in good faith and with the degree of care an ordinary, prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances”; and
• an expectation that directors disclose conflicting interests in a transaction to the rest of the board.

The annual-meeting requirement is the one with immediate practical bite. Georgia communities where no meeting has been called in years — and there are documented examples — are in breach of a statutory right from January.

1. Senate Bill 406, as passed (26 LC 49 2879S) — signed copy, Office of the Governor ↩
2. Watts v. Joggers Run Property Owners Association, Inc., No. 22-13763 (11th Cir. 7 Apr. 2025) — published opinion ↩