Boards rarely lose a compliance dispute because they misread the statute. They lose because something with a date on it didn't get done by the date — a rule adopted in March that was never recorded, a registration that lapsed on December 31, a budget report that went out sixty days before fiscal year end instead of ninety.
This is a calendar, not a statute summary. It sorts the recurring obligations across our nine state guides into the three shapes these deadlines take — each of which needs a different place in your board's year.
Shape one: fixed dates you can write on a wall calendar
These are the same for every association in the state, every year.
January 1, 2027 — three states' new laws land at once.
- Georgia. The bulk of SB 406 (the Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act, signed May 12, 2026) takes effect: Secretary of State registration, ten-year records retention, a payment-application order that puts fines last, and a new POAA foreclosure threshold. An unregistered association may not assess or collect fines or fees. Our SB 406 filing checklist has the mechanics.
- Minnesota. The HOA Bill of Rights' enforcement provisions take effect: a $100 fine cap with carve-outs, a written collection policy as a precondition to sending any file to counsel, a published fine schedule, and narrowed foreclosure. Rental violations sit in the uncapped exception tier — see the Minnesota checklist.
- Tennessee. Public Chapter 731 (SB 2326, signed April 23, 2026) requires every association collecting assessments for common expenses to carry a blanket fidelity bond against theft or dishonesty by officers, directors, employees, and managing agents, equal to reserve balances plus one-quarter of annual assessment income, with a $10,000 minimum. It must exist on January 1 — which means binding it in December.
January 10, every year — South Carolina's recording deadline. Under S.C. Code § 27-30-130(B)(2), rules, regulations, and amendments to them must be recorded in the county records "by January tenth of each year following their adoption or amendment" in order to remain enforceable. A rental rule adopted in March 2026 was enforceable that March and must be recorded by January 10, 2027 to stay that way.* Nothing happens on the day it passes, which is why good boards miss it — the South Carolina checklist walks the whole trap.
November 2, 2026 — Georgia's rulemaking comment window closes. The Secretary of State's proposed Chapter 590-13 rules — 27 sections on registration mechanics, records-request deadlines, meeting notice, and the complaint stay — take written comment through close of business November 2, with hearings in Atlanta November 4–5.
December 31, every year — Georgia registration renewal. Registration expires every December 31, and renewal takes a $100 fee, a registration statement, complete governing documents, and a financial statement not more than one year old. There is no grace period: an association whose registration lapses on December 31 has no fine authority on January 1.
Shape two: deadlines anchored to your fiscal year, not to January
This is where a June or September fiscal year catches boards importing a calendar-year assumption.
California runs two annual distributions off fiscal year end: the annual budget report (Civ. Code § 5300) and the annual policy statement (§ 5310) both go out 30 to 90 days before the end of the fiscal year — and if the association fines at all, its schedule of penalties belongs in that policy statement. A December fiscal year puts both in October and November; a June fiscal year, April and May.
Florida HOAs under Chapter 720 must prepare or contract for the prior year's financial report within 90 days after fiscal year end, or on the date the bylaws provide, then get each member a copy or notice that one is available within 21 days of completion and no later than 120 days after fiscal year end (§ 720.303(7)). Any meeting considering special assessments takes 14 days' written notice (§ 720.303(2)(c)2.). Condominiums run on parallel but distinct Chapter 718 deadlines.
North Carolina ties its budget clock to adoption, not the calendar: within 30 days of adopting a proposed budget the board must send every owner a summary and notice of a ratification meeting, and that meeting must fall not less than 10 nor more than 60 days after the summary is mailed (§ 47F-3-103(c)). No quorum is required, and the budget is ratified unless a majority of all owners rejects it. The association must also meet at least once a year, on 10-to-60 days' notice (§ 47F-3-108).
Arizona has no HOA-specific registration, but an association incorporated as an Arizona nonprofit corporation files an annual report with the Arizona Corporation Commission in its anniversary month, on the date the Commission assigns (A.R.S. § 10-11622) — a per-entity date, so look yours up.* Texas has neither registration nor annual report — just a posted enforcement policy, required since January 1, 2024, and a set of clocks.
Shape three: clocks that start when something happens
These never appear on a calendar, and they are what actually voids fines.
- Texas, Chapter 209: certified-mail notice with a cure period, 30 days for the owner to request a hearing, 30 days to hold it, 10 days' advance notice, and the evidence packet delivered 10 days before — late, and the owner gets an automatic 15-day postponement. The full checklist.
- California, Civ. Code § 5855: notice at least 10 days before the disciplinary meeting, with a real chance to cure first, and the decision notice within 14 days. What else changed, and what didn't.
- North Carolina, § 47F-3-107.1: up to $100 for the violation plus up to $100 per day beyond five days after the decision, and 15 days to appeal a panel decision to the full board — all only after notice and a hearing.
- Minnesota, from January 1: 21 days of owner notice and comment before adopting or amending a rule, 30 days for an owner to request a hearing, and a written resolution within 30 days.
- Georgia, from January 1: an amended registration within 30 days of a change in the association's name, address, officers, or control — a board that turns over in March has until April. Any resident may complain to the Secretary of State within 180 days, and filing automatically stays collection of the fines or fees at issue.
- Resale windows, which arrive without warning: Texas owes subdivision information and a resale certificate by the 10th business day after a written request, an update by the 7th (Prop. Code § 207.003); California gives the association 10 days from the request (Civ. Code § 4530); Minnesota's 10-day resale package must carry the new fine schedule and collection policy from January 1.
Building your own version
- Write your fiscal year end at the top. Everything in shape two counts from that date, not from January 1.
- Put the January 1, 2027 effective dates on the December agenda before them — registration, collection policy and fine schedule, fidelity bond. None can be done on the day.
- Calendar South Carolina's January 10 the day a rule is adopted. Keep a rules table: adoption date next to recording date.
- Set the Georgia renewal for early December, plus a 30-day trigger on every board turnover.
- Template the clocks with the statutory day counts baked in — the clock starts when the violation is found, not when the board meets.
- Diary the legislative return. Most of these legislatures convene in January 2027; California's 2027–28 session convened December 7, 2026. The watch list in each guide — Georgia, California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, South Carolina, North Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee — tracks what's pending there.
- Verify the rental picture first. Every registration statement, financial report, fine schedule, and enforcement file above assumes the association knows which homes are rented, by whom, and since when — and the ones that decide disputes are the ones nobody registered.
We refresh this page each January as effective dates pass and new ones are set.
The bottom line
Most of what a board owes the state in a year is procedural, mechanical, and knowable in advance. The associations that get caught out are rarely the ones that misread a statute — they're the ones where nobody owned the date. Pick the dates that apply to your state and fiscal year, assign each to a person, and compliance becomes a recurring task instead of a scramble.
Keeping the rental records those filings rest on current and verified is where we come in. That's what we do.
* Our reading of the statute, not a settled rule — validate with your association's HOA attorney before relying on it.
This article is general information for community associations, not legal advice. Deadlines under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 17A; Cal. Civ. Code §§ 4530, 5300, 5310, 5855; Fla. Stat. § 720.303; Tex. Prop. Code Chapters 207 and 209; A.R.S. § 10-11622; S.C. Code § 27-30-130; N.C.G.S. §§ 47F-3-103, 47F-3-107.1, 47F-3-108; Minn. Stat. Chapter 515B and the HOA Bill of Rights; and Tennessee Public Chapter 731 (2026) should be reviewed with your association's attorney.