What Changed in 2026: An Arizona HOA Laws Roundup for Boards and Property Managers

Tracking Arizona HOA law is its own part-time job. The Legislature passes something every year. Some of those changes are small. Some quietly rewrite how a board is supposed to handle the most common parts of its job, and the cost of running a community on last year's rules tends to show up later, usually in a member complaint or a foreclosure that should not have been filed.

This is a plain-English roundup of where things stand in 2026. It covers the 2025-session laws that took effect last fall and are now binding, the carryover items from 2023 and 2024 that are still tripping up boards, the one bill the Governor just signed in the 2026 session, and the bills still moving through the Legislature that community associations, HOA boards, and property managers should be watching.

None of this is legal advice. It is general information. When a specific issue lands on your board's desk, that is the moment to call your association's counsel.

What Is New and Binding Right Now

Three laws from the 2025 session took effect on September 26, 2025. By 2026, they are simply the rules.

SB 1494: The Foreclosure Threshold Is Now Much Higher

This is the biggest operational change of the 2025 session. Under the amended A.R.S. § 33-1807, a planned community association cannot initiate a lien foreclosure action until one of two thresholds is met:

• The owner has been delinquent on assessments for 18 months, or

• The unpaid balance reaches $10,000, whichever happens first.

The prior thresholds were 12 months or $1,200, so this is a meaningful shift. In most communities, the 18-month delinquency line will be crossed long before the $10,000 line, which means foreclosure has effectively moved from an early-stage collections lever to a last-resort remedy.

The change applies to planned communities only. The condominium foreclosure threshold under A.R.S. § 33-1256 was not amended in 2025.

What this means practically: boards that historically relied on foreclosure to pressure delinquent owners into payment need to revise the front end of their collections playbook. Proactive contact at 90 days. A genuine payment plan offered at six months. Clean, certified-mail notice in the file before the case is referred. The board's leverage now lives in the early stages of delinquency, not at the foreclosure threshold.

SB 1039: Recorded Open Meetings Have a Six-Month Retention Rule

If your board records a meeting that is open to members, you now have to keep that recording for at least six months. Any member who requests a copy is entitled to the unedited version.

The law does not require boards to record meetings. It governs only what happens when you choose to record. Two practical points. First, update your records-retention policy to include the six-month floor. Second, do not edit or excerpt a recording before sharing it. If you cut it, you create a worse problem than whatever was on the tape.

SB 1378: Political Flags Are Now Treated Like Political Signs

The 2025 amendment expanded the statutory definition of "political sign" to include a sign or flag. During the protected display period, an HOA cannot prohibit either one. Boards that have separate architectural rules for political flags should review and update those rules before the next election cycle.

Still Catching Boards: Carryover from 2023 and 2024

Three changes from prior sessions still create exposure for boards that have not fully adjusted.

HB 2298 (2023): The Public-Roads Parking Deadline

This one keeps causing problems. If your community's declaration was recorded before January 1, 2015 and your plat includes roadways owned by a city or county, the association was required to hold a member vote before June 30, 2025 on whether to keep enforcing parking restrictions on those public roads. Communities that did not hold the vote, or whose vote did not pass, permanently lost the authority to enforce parking on those roads. Enforcement reverted to the municipal or county government.

By 2026, the landscape is split. Some communities still have authority. Others do not, regardless of what their CC&Rs say. Boards that have continued to issue parking notices on the affected public roads after losing the authority are creating personal-liability exposure for individual directors. If your board is unsure where it landed, that is a question worth taking to counsel before another parking notice goes out.

The rule does not affect private HOA-owned roads, one-way streets, or condominium communities.

HB 2648 (2024): Updated Lien Definitions and Hearing Protections

The 2024 amendment added or refined statutory definitions for the Common Expense Lien, Unit Owner, and Member Expense. It also strengthened hearing protections, including expanded appeal rights for owners contesting violations and fines. Boards and property managers should make sure that their collections letters, fee schedules, hearing notices, and pre-foreclosure notices reflect the current statutory language. Old templates are the most common point of failure.

HB 2662 (2024): The 48-Hour Agenda Rule

Boards must now provide an agenda for board meetings at least 48 hours in advance, delivered through the same channel used for the meeting notice itself. Posting the agenda at the start of the meeting is no longer compliant. If a board action is later challenged, repeated noncompliance with this rule weakens the board's position.

HB 2607 (2024): Automatic Board Removal on Failed Recall Meeting

When a properly noticed recall petition triggers a required special meeting, the board cannot run out the clock. If the meeting does not happen within the statutory window, the board can be removed by operation of law. Property managers receiving a recall petition should calendar the deadline the same day the petition arrives and confirm next steps with counsel.

Just Signed in 2026: HB 2342 on Backyard Shade Structures

In early June 2026, Governor Hobbs signed HB 2342, which prohibits Arizona HOAs from imposing outright bans on backyard shade structures. The bill covers umbrellas, awnings, shade sails, pergolas, and similar installations. Associations can still adopt reasonable rules on style, placement, and size, but a blanket prohibition is no longer permitted.

The line between a permitted reasonable rule (height limits, color palette, setback from neighbors) and an impermissible de facto ban is going to be tested in disputes over the next year. Boards with architectural guidelines that include broad prohibitions on backyard structures should pull those guidelines off the shelf and refer revisions to counsel before the effective date.

On the Horizon: Bills to Watch in the 2026 Session

Several bills are still moving through the 2026 legislative session as of publication. Status changes weekly. Treat the items below as a watch list, not a guide to current law.

HB 2397 is the headline reform bill of the session. It would increase HOA financial disclosures around special assessments, fee increases, and liens; modify the timeframe in which associations must provide documents after a real estate offer is accepted; prohibit mandatory assessments for third-party property and private recreational clubs the association does not own; and allow property owners to challenge the validity of any covenant provision in court. The bill is being driven in part by the Arizona Association of REALTORS to streamline real estate transactions.

Other bills tracked by the community-association industry this session include a drought-year landscaping bill, an expanded resale disclosure package, a "reasonableness duty" imposed on associations exercising discretionary powers, an authorization for virtual member and board meetings, protections for lighted home address devices, and a records-withholding window for previously requested unchanged records. Any of these can change shape in committee. The right move is a quarterly check-in with counsel rather than a one-time pass.

What Your Board Should Be Doing Now

Five practical items based on what the firm sees most often.

1. Audit your collections playbook against the SB 1494 thresholds. If your collections strategy assumed foreclosure at 12 months or $1,200, that strategy needs rewriting.

2. Update your records-retention policy to reflect the six-month recording retention rule under SB 1039.

3. Confirm whether your parking enforcement survived the HB 2298 deadline. If your community was in the affected category and missed the vote, stop issuing notices on the affected public roads.

4. Pull your architectural guidelines off the shelf. Before HB 2342's effective date, scrub any blanket prohibitions on backyard shade structures and replace them with reasonable rules on style, placement, and size.

5. Calendar a quarterly legislative check-in. Set a recurring reminder for July, October, January, and April. Most of the cost of falling behind on Arizona HOA law comes from missing a small change that compounds over a year.

When to Call Your Association's Counsel

Stratman Law Firm represents community associations, HOA boards, and property managers across Arizona. The firm does not pretend that every board question requires an attorney. Most do not. The items above are the kind of compliance work where being wrong is expensive: a foreclosure filed under the old threshold, a recall meeting that did not happen, a parking notice issued after the authority quietly disappeared, an architectural rule that no longer survives the statute.

If you would like a Stratman attorney to audit your association's collections, governance, enforcement, and architectural policies against the current Arizona HOA law landscape, schedule a consultation.

For the underlying statutes, see the Arizona Planned Communities Act, A.R.S. Title 33 Chapter 16 and the bill text and status pages at the Arizona State Legislature.

This article is general information about Arizona HOA law and not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Stratman Law Firm. For advice on a specific situation, contact a licensed Arizona attorney.

This page is reviewed and updated annually after each Arizona legislative session closes. Last updated: June 2026.