An Ohio bill would give your board 60 days' non-renewal notice, not 30
An Ohio bill would give your board 60 days' non-renewal notice, not 30
2026-09-15 · Ohio · Legislation · Pending — not yet law
A bipartisan Ohio bill would double the notice an insurer must give before declining to renew a policy, from 30 days to 60. It has not passed, and it is the only live measure in the 136th General Assembly that would materially change an Ohio condominium board's insurance position.1
House Bill 652 was introduced on January 20, 2026 by Representatives Brian Lorenz (R-Powell) and Sean P. Brennan (D-Parma), with fourteen cosponsors from both parties. Its official title is “To amend section 3937.26 and to enact section 3937.261 of the Revised Code regarding time frames for insurance policy nonrenewal notifications.”
It was referred to the House Insurance Committee on February 4, 2026. It has not passed. If enacted as drafted, the change would take effect January 1, 2027.
What it would do
The bill would extend the non-renewal notice period from 30 to 60 days for commercial lines and homeowners policies, and would permit electronic delivery where the policyholder has previously consented.
Representative Brennan's statement on introduction sets out the case:
“Thirty days is often not enough time for consumers to find replacement coverage in today's insurance market. This bill simply ensures Ohioans are treated fairly and given reasonable notice so they can make informed decisions and protect their homes, livelihoods, and financial stability.”
And on scope: “This is a commonsense consumer protection. It does not limit insurers' ability to underwrite risk or make business decisions—it simply ensures policyholders are not left scrambling at the last minute.”
The Ohio Insurance Agents' government affairs manager, George Christy, put the commercial-lines case directly:
“Ohio currently has a 30-day notification period for non-renewal of commercial lines (ORC 3937.26). When a commercial property policy is non-renewed with only 30 days' notice, it puts agents and their clients in a difficult position. Complex risks cannot be remarketed overnight.”
He also placed it in a national context: “Late in 2025, the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) adopted a model resolution urging states to update their non-renewal periods from 30 days to 60 days,” adding that “Ohio is not looking for any new groundbreaking laws. We are following the lead of other states” — Texas in 2023, Georgia effective January 1, 2026, Indiana pending.
A master policy is the association's largest single contract. Our Ohio insurance requirements page covers what it must include.
Why this is an association story
A condominium master policy is a commercial-lines policy. That single fact is why HB 652 belongs on a board's watch list and why almost no coverage of the bill mentions associations at all.
Consider what 30 days actually means for an Ohio condominium. The notice arrives addressed to the association, often at a management company. It has to reach the board, which in most Ohio associations meets monthly or quarterly. The board has to authorise a broker to remarket a complex commercial property risk with multiple buildings, a schedule of values, current loss runs and an updated replacement-cost figure. Underwriters then have to quote it.
Thirty days does not accommodate one board meeting cycle plus a remarketing. Sixty barely does. Our Ohio insurance requirements page covers what the master policy has to carry once you find one.
What a lapse breaks
A master policy that lapses does not merely leave the buildings uninsured. It breaches, simultaneously:
The declaration. Essentially every Ohio condominium declaration obliges the association to maintain property insurance on the common elements, usually at stated coverage levels. A lapse is a breach of the instrument the board is charged with administering.
Every mortgage in the building. Unit mortgages require the association's master policy to be in force. A lapse puts every financed owner technically in default and exposes them to lender force-placed coverage, which is expensive and narrow.
Secondary-market eligibility. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both require a compliant master policy for any unit loan in the project. A gap in coverage is a gap in the project's financeability, and it does not close the moment the new policy binds — the questionnaire asks about it.
Where a board stands now, whatever happens to the bill
Confirm where the non-renewal notice would be delivered. If it goes to a management company's general mail, find out who opens it and what happens next. The single most common way 30 days becomes 12 is internal routing.
Put renewal on the calendar 120 days out, not 30. A board that begins remarketing four months before expiry is never in the position HB 652 is designed to fix, because it is not relying on the statutory notice at all.
Keep the underwriting file current year-round. Schedule of values, roof ages, updated replacement cost, completed repairs, loss runs. An association that can produce that package in a week can be remarketed in 30 days. One that cannot, cannot — and the statutory notice period is then the whole of its protection.
Track the bill, but do not plan around it. Referred in February, one committee meeting on record in the House Insurance Committee for February 17, 2026, and no passage. The 136th General Assembly's remaining window is short. If it does pass, the effective date as drafted is January 1, 2027.
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