Georgia SB 406 registration readiness checklist

Georgia SB 406, the Georgia Property Owners’ Bill of Rights Act (2026 Ga. Laws Act 715, signed May 12, 2026), creates a new O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 17A and a Secretary of State registration for property owners’ associations. Registration opens January 1, 2027, costs $100 a year, and expires every December 31 no matter when you filed. Name, address, or officer changes require an amended filing within 30 days.

An association that has not registered - or its agent - may not collect fines or fees, file or record a lien, or initiate foreclosure. That restriction is self-executing.

This is a practical checklist, not legal advice. HomeHerald does not file your registration for you, and the Secretary of State’s rules are expected to go out for public comment around October 2026, so the exact form fields are not known yet. Confirm your obligations with your association attorney.

What the registration asks for

• Association name and address, matching your articles
• Current officers
• A copy of the governing documents - declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, amendments
• A financial statement dated within the last year

Note what is not on that list: three years of financials. That is a separate owner-inspection right under § 43-17A-7, where an owner may demand three years of finalized financial statements and bank statements in writing. The two get confused constantly.

Decide your status on the record

SB 406 leaves an association in one of three states, not two.

• Registered - keeps regular, special, and specific assessments plus fines, fees, liens, and foreclosure
• Nonregistered by written notice to the Secretary of State - keeps regular, special, and specific assessments; gives up fines, fees, liens, and foreclosure
• Neither - the same lost enforcement tools, with none of the clarity

A dues-only community that has never fined anyone can legitimately elect not to register. Put whichever choice your board makes in the minutes.

Where each record lives in HomeHerald

What SB 406 touches	Where to keep it
Governing documents	Documents - upload declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, amendments
Current officers and titles	Board roster in member records, so a change carries a date
Financial statement under a year old	Reports - run P&L or AR Aging and export
Three years of financials on owner demand	Same reports, plus what the board shares to the resident portal
Assessment, fine, and lien history (10-year retention, § 43-17A-2(g))	The per-property ledger - every charge and payment is its own dated line
Dues, special and specific assessments	Financials - Community and Property Assessments
Notices to owners about amounts owed	Communications - email, text, and physical or certified mail
Insurance and vendor contracts	Insurance and Contracts, with renewal reminders
Meeting and vote records behind board decisions	Events & Voting - Official Meetings and Voting

Step-by-step, before January

1. Upload the complete governing documents. See The Documents hub. Complete means every amendment, not the scan with pages missing.
2. Make the board roster accurate today. Names, seats, and titles. This is the record that starts the 30-day amended-filing clock when a seat turns over.
3. Get the books current enough to run one report. The filing wants a single financial statement under twelve months old, not a project.
4. Check the legal name. The name on your articles, your bank account, and your letterhead should match. Fix it now, not while filling out a form.
5. Name the person who will file. The statute contemplates an authorized officer or representative. Whether a managing agent may file for an association is one of the questions the October rules should answer.
6. Confirm your corporate annual registration is separate. The nonprofit annual registration you already file with the Corporations Division does not satisfy SB 406. From 2027 there are two filings, two fees, and two systems.

What is already in effect

Only Section 7, since July 1, 2026: before collecting attorney’s fees, send notice of the amounts owed by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, allow a 30-day cure window, and provide an itemized list of the fees. A court must find the fees reasonable by order.

Per Section 9 of the Act, everything else takes effect January 1, 2027 - registration, the § 43-17A-8 payment waterfall (regular, then special, then specific, then fees and fines), the ban on refusing a partial payment, the acceleration ban, ten-year retention, Secretary of State complaints with an automatic collection stay, and the § 44-3-232 foreclosure changes. Summaries that put the voting or foreclosure amendments at July 1, 2026 are wrong; follow the Act.

For the full public explainer, see the Georgia SB 406 registration guide, or take the SB 406 Readiness Check. For the wider legal picture, see Georgia HOA laws in 2027.