Latest Legal Updates
Latest Legal Updates
HOA and condominium association legislation, court rulings and regulatory changes across every state, the District of Columbia and federal law — newest first.
Showing 1,609–1,632 of 1,989 updates
Kansas developer lost $1.4 million in dirt to a seven-year statutory clock
In Stonegate Motorplaza, the Kansas Court of Appeals held that convertible land a developer fails to convert within seven years of recording the declaration stays common area owned by the unit owners as tenants in common.
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Nineteen Massachusetts municipalities want a transfer fee. The Legislature approved none of them
S.1937 got the best committee report a transfer fee bill has received and stopped in Senate Ways and Means. In Boston and Cambridge, a fee on million-dollar sales would fall heavily on condo sellers.
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Georgia just doubled the home equity an HOA judgment cannot touch
HB 1024 raised the exemption from levy and sale from $21,500 to $50,000 — $100,000 for a married couple — effective 1 July 2026, and indexed it to inflation from 2031.
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An Illinois laundry-list records demand is not a Section 19 request
In Blue Ocean 21-1 v. Greenway Court Condominium Association the First District affirmed a finding of no breach where an omnibus multi-category document demand failed Section 19's particularity requirement — and noted the requester was a former owner.
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Iowa loosened its zoning variance standard — and a permit still does not beat a covenant
HF 652 lets Iowa boards of adjustment grant setback, height and lot-size variances on a "practical difficulties" test instead of "unnecessary hardship," which means more owners arriving at the ARC holding a city approval.
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Louisiana's building-restriction prescription bill died on the calendar — and the question went to the Law Institute
HB 1255 of 2026 would have reversed the practical effect of McCormick v. Ford on when a subdivision-regulation violation begins. It was called from the calendar three times and never voted on. The House then adopted HR 335 91-1, sending the question to the Law Institute with a March 1, 2027 report date.
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Colorado's builder warranty programme opened in January — check the county records before you buy
Since January 1, 2026 a Colorado builder of attached housing can record a notice of election to participate in the Multifamily Construction Incentive Program, which changes the claim rules for every unit in that project.
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Hawaii still does not license community association managers, and 2026 did not change it
Four 2026 bills would have created a licensure regime distinct from real estate licensure or required director education within 90 days of election; none was heard.
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Citizens now wants your milestone report at submission — but there is no statutory Citizens bar
Citizens amended its submission rule to require building safety or milestone inspection reports and five years of loss history. A widely repeated claim that HB 913 barred Citizens coverage without compliance does not survive checking.
Read the full updateIllinois caps mobile home park utility pass-through at 80% where common areas are not metered
Public Act 104-0064 bars park owners from billing residents for common-area water, sewer and trash, caps unmetered pass-through at 80% of the utility bill, and requires an annual written allocation explanation.
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Kentucky cities lost the power to zone out manufactured homes on 1 July — your covenant did not
2025 HB 160 took effect on 1 July 2026, voiding local zoning that excludes qualified manufactured homes from single-family zones — and it expressly leaves recorded deeds, covenants and subdivision restrictions untouched.
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Indiana's biggest HOAs can set speed limits — until July 2028
A pilot at IC 9-21-23.5 lets a subdivision with at least 1,500 lots and 15 miles of private road set speed limits and stop signs, and hire off-duty officers to enforce them. It expires 1 July 2028.
Read the full updateA Dacula HOA budgeted $40,000 in fines and collected nearly $200,000
Residents of Daniel Park say fines have topped $400,000 and foreclosures have begun — over leaves in the yard and an approved tree removal. A five-fold overshoot turns a deterrent into a revenue line.
Read the full updateMassachusetts replaced its zoning variance standard, and doubled how long a variance lasts
Chapter 137 of the Acts of 2026 struck and replaced G.L. c. 40A section 10. The substantial hardship test becomes practical difficulty, and variance rights now run two years with up to two more.
Read the full updateKCK suspended its one-rental-per-block rule and raised fines to $15,000
The Unified Government approved a temporary short-term rental regime on February 5, 2026 — replacing special use permits with a three-day administrative licence, suspending the one-per-block-face cap for the event period, and creating fines of $1,000 to $15,000 per violation.
Read the full updateThe most consequential Hawaii condo work of 2026 happened outside the Legislature
The Act 189 task force met ten times and adopted recorded recommendations for a statutory fining and appeals process, payment-priority protections, and RICO and Real Estate Commission enforcement of chapter 514B.
Read the full updateColorado HOAs are still shut out of state disaster mitigation money after SB26-049 died
SB26-049 would have made a homeowners' association an eligible entity for Colorado's natural disaster mitigation enterprise and created a $50,000 catastrophe savings account deduction. It cleared Senate Finance 7-2 and died in Appropriations.
Read the full updateFrom July 2026 the state construction code, not NFPA 101, governs Louisiana plan review
The State Fire Marshal replaced a plan-review standard that had stood since 2017. Anything built or remodelled in Louisiana except a one- or two-family dwelling is now reviewed against the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code's fire-protection, egress and accessibility provisions.
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Arizona HOAs may no longer ban backyard shade structures
HB 2342 creates A.R.S. § 33-1816.01, barring planned community associations from prohibiting backyard umbrellas, awnings, shade sails, gazebos, pergolas and canopies, and capping their rules at municipal zoning.
Read the full updateAn Illinois bill would have let owners pull noxious weeds without board permission; it died
HB 5069 would have barred Illinois associations from requiring permission before an owner removes state-designated noxious and exotic weeds, voiding any contrary provision in the community instruments. It died in committee.
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The FinCEN reporting question is closed for Alabama associations
FinCEN permanently ended beneficial ownership information reporting for U.S. companies effective August 14, 2026, which removes the Corporate Transparency Act question that had hung over incorporated Alabama HOAs and condominium associations.
Read the full updateTwo Georgia bills would have let homeowners vote their HOA out of existence
HB 1036 and HB 1219 proposed rival dissolution mechanisms — one by referendum, one by court-supervised termination with a trustee. Neither got a recorded committee vote, and one had Republican leadership sponsorship.
Read the full updateMaui set two dates to end 7,000 apartment-district vacation rentals
Ordinance 5909 amortizes Minatoya-list transient use out of A-1 and A-2 apartment districts — West Maui by January 1, 2029 and the rest of the county by January 1, 2031, with no opt-outs.
Read the full updateA bill would let one co-owner force a two-unit building into condominium form
H.5314 would let a tenant in common petition the Land Court to partition a two-unit building by converting it into two condominium units, with the court directed to order it.
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