2026 Legislative Trends: What Every Community Association Must Prepare For

In 2026, 46 states have already met or will meet in legislative sessions, and community associations should take notice. While the state legislatures in Texas, Nevada, Montana, and North Dakota don’t meet in even-numbered years, homeowners’ associations (HOAs) across the country are now in the legislative spotlight.

Each year, we see a growing number of bills filed nationwide targeting community associations for various reforms. Unfortunately, much of that legislation can negatively impact community associations and management companies. Read on to learn why there’s such focus on homeowners’ associations at the legislative level and the top HOA legal updates for 2026.

Why are HOAs a Big Topic in State Legislatures?

Homeowners’ associations have now reached the national stage, and there are two distinct reasons this industry is a hot topic in state legislatures:

1.     Community associations are a popular form of housing.

Community associations are the dominant housing model for a majority of new construction. As the population grows and homeownership expands, more people are moving into this type of housing. An estimated 78.1 million people in America currently live in a community association.

2.     There’s a growing number of homeowner complaints.

More people live in HOAs now than ever before. However, the bad often overshadows the good. As in many other industries, those who have experienced a problem are more motivated to contact their legislators than those who enjoy community association life.

For state legislators, this can create a distorted view of the actual magnitude of issues in community associations. While there’s no denying that some HOAs abuse their power, these complaints often prompt legislative hyper-overreaction to problems affecting fewer than 1% of residents in those communities. This can lead to legislative proposals that negatively affect 100% of residents, including increased costs for property owners.

Associa’s legislative advocacy efforts work to strike a balance with state decision-makers by addressing significant problems in a targeted way. With housing affordability already a main concern, the goal is to avoid imposing unnecessary additional costs on all residents.

5 Top HOA Legislative Trends 2026

Proposed changes to HOA and condominium laws are happening in states across the country. Here are the top five trends community associations must keep an eye on:

1.     Efforts to terminate homeowners’ associations altogether.

The future of HOAs is called into question. Legislation in four states aims to eliminate HOAs in different ways.

• Florida: A state legislator publicly called HOAs a “failed experiment” and sought to outlaw them. Instead, he proposed HB 657, which offers a procedure for residents to terminate their HOA. The bill passed the state house but didn’t advance in the state senate.

• Missouri: Legislation was introduced that would automatically dissolve all HOAs after 10 years of existence unless 85% of owners vote to continue it.

• Arizona: The state considered HOA dissolution legislation that would abolish all HOAs on January 1, 2027, or 100 years after the declaration is filed.

• New Jersey: Like Florida, S4104 was introduced to allow homeowners to dissolve their association.

2.     Efforts to infringe on association self-governance authority.

Over the past decade, numerous states have limited community associations' ability to adopt and enforce their own rules. The issues that have been included in the most prevalent legislation include:

• Installation of solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations

• Display of flags and political signs

• Operation of home-based businesses, including daycares

• Raising chickens, fowl, or rabbits

• Construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for additional local housing options

Although these modifications are often prohibited in the governing documents, state legislators are frequently considering pre-empting or severely limiting community association restrictions. In 2026, we’ve witnessed these types of bills in numerous states, including Arizona, Tennessee, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Ohio, and South Carolina. Last year alone, seven states considered legislation on the subject of keeping farm animals. We expect to see bills like this annually.

3.     Efforts to restrict foreclosure authority.

Eleven states are considering restricting or eliminating community associations' authority to use foreclosure to collect debts owed by property owners. The most notable states include Florida, Georgia, Colorado, and North Carolina.

There’s often a misconception that filing a foreclosure action always leads to a foreclosure sale. However, this tool is usually the last resort and most effective means to incentivize an owner to pay their debt to the association.

In fact, one state’s major newspaper investigated foreclosure filings and found that fewer than 4% of foreclosure proceedings resulted in a foreclosure sale. Associa is:

• Working with legislators to improve notice and due-process protections for owners, preventing a small delinquency from snowballing into a mountain of debt.

• Supporting efforts to eliminate foreclosure for debts based solely on fines. Fines are intended to encourage compliance with the rules and deed restrictions, not to become an association tool to force an owner or family out of their home through foreclosure.

LEARN MORE: “Step-by-Step Guide to Developing an HOA Collections Policy”

4.     Efforts to eliminate or arbitrarily cap fees.

HOA fee regulation often targets fees charged during a real estate transaction. Many state laws or lender policies require prospective buyers in community associations to receive essential documents about the association, like:

• Resale certificates

• Governing documents

• Rules

• Bylaws

• Association financial statements and records

• Board meeting minutes

• The status of any amounts owed by the property for sale to the association for dues, fees, or fines.

This is to ensure that a buyer is fully informed about the property they’re considering purchasing. To prepare and deliver this information—and assume liability for its accuracy—associations or management companies charge a fee, a practice now under debate in some state legislatures.

Twelve states are considering bills this year to cap or eliminate fees for this service and others. Here’s what states are looking to do:

• Eliminate the fee for disclosure documents: Indiana, Maryland, South Carolina, and Minnesota proposed eliminating this document fee. Because this service costs associations money, all the other homeowners in an association would be required to pay if a property seller or buyer is not.

• Cap the fee for disclosure documents or other real estate transaction fees charged by associations: This cost typically amounts to less than 1% of closing costs.

• Cap fines or other professional fees: Several state legislatures have begun instituting caps on fines associations can impose for rule violations and attorney fees for enforcement or collections proceedings.

5.     Efforts to create an alternative dispute resolution process.

No association is free from some level of conflict or dispute, and eight states this year are attempting to offer an alternative to litigation for resolving disputes. Legislators across the country have been considering and, in some cases, tasking a state agency with accepting, investigating, and rendering decisions in community association disputes as an alternative to litigation. Georgia is considering a bill that would empower its Secretary of State’s office to perform this function, while Illinois is considering a bill that would empower its Attorney General.

The authority and success of these efforts vary widely across states, and none are considered models for replication. However, it does often provide owners with a less costly outlet for their complaints. Unfortunately, many association disputes are complex and benefit from careful judicial review before a decision is rendered.

Any alternative process should still allow parties to appeal administrative decisions to a court, but this means those administrative proceedings could ultimately delay and increase costs in reaching a resolution.

LEARN MORE: “6 Conflict Resolution Best Practices for HOA Board Members”

State Legislation Trends: The Bottom Line

Community association termination laws, association governance reform, HOA foreclosure laws, and statutory fee caps are just a few of the issues legislators are addressing this year. Other areas of legislative interest include:

• Property insurance reforms

• Mandated community association reserve studies

• Increased board and management company transparency

Associa is the only community association management company to invest in a full-time government affairs staff. Involved in legislative advocacy day-to-day, we’re able to help shape the laws that impact the community association industry. If the future of the community association industry is important to you, we encourage you to get involved, too. Read “How Your Board Can Take Legislative Action”  for tips on how to take legislative action and promote HOA laws that help communities thrive.