Why this is not the same as “nothing happened”

Plenty happened in 2026. It simply happened outside Title 55.1.

The corporate layer moved: Chapters 393 and 394 rewrote the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act, adding § 13.1-814.1(C) — under which a declaration outranks bylaws on dues, assessments, fees and membership — a new derivative-proceedings article, and judicial removal of directors, all effective January 1, 2027.

The land-use layer moved: § 15.2-2292.4 makes ADUs a permitted accessory use statewide from July 1, 2027, and § 15.2-2288.7 bars localities from prohibiting plug-in solar from January 1, 2027. Both contain an identical sentence declining to supersede association declarations.

The collections layer moved: the Uniform Consumer Debt Default Judgments Act arrives July 1, 2027.

The pattern is consistent. Where the 2026 session touched community associations, it did so through general law — corporate, zoning, consumer — rather than by editing the association statutes themselves.

The three bills that would have changed Title 55.1, and what became of them

Three 2026 bills proposed direct amendments to the Property Owners' Association Act. None passed.

HB 621 would have amended §§ 55.1-1804 and 55.1-2310 to require a declarant retaining board-appointment rights to disclose that control in a lot sale contract and on the resale certificate. It was continued to 2027 in House General Laws on February 12, 2026.

HB 1196 and SB 746 would have required an association common area's physical characteristics to be considered in valuing it on condemnation. Both were continued to 2027; the Senate committee vote was 15–0 on February 11, 2026.²

What a stable statute means in practice

For a Virginia board, the operational consequence is that the black-letter answers did not move this year. The charge cap in § 55.1-1819(D) is still “$50 for a single offense or $10 per day for any offense of a continuing nature”, and still cannot run more than 90 days. The hearing notice in subsection C is still at least 14 days. The reserve-study cycle in § 55.1-1826(B) is still at least once every five years.

Where pressure landed on Virginia associations in 2026, it came from three places outside the General Assembly: the Court of Appeals, which decided Terrace View Property Owner's Association v. Jannah in February; the Common Interest Community Board and its Ombudsman, whose complaint volume rose 81 percent; and the secondary mortgage market, which reset reserve and insurance standards for condominium projects.

The conditions that change the answer

This is a statement about Title 55.1 and Title 54.1 Chapter 23.3 only. It is not a statement that no Virginia law affecting associations changed in 2026 — several did, as above.

Effective dates cut the other way too. A section carrying a 2026 chapter citation elsewhere in the Code may not be in force yet; several of this year's changes are dated to 2027.

The Code's own caution applies. Each history line is followed by a note that the chapters referenced “may not constitute a comprehensive list of such chapters and may exclude chapters whose provisions have expired.”

What to watch next

All three carried-over bills return in January 2027, which is also the month § 13.1-814.1(C) and the derivative article take effect. The 2027 session is the one where Title 55.1 itself is most likely to move.