Georgia HOA records requests: an opt-in HOA law that's silent on records

What the law says

Georgia is a genuine outlier among the states in this guide. Its HOA-specific statute, the Property Owners' Association Act (O.C.G.A. § 44-3-220 et seq.), is not automatically binding on every homeowners' association in the state the way Florida's, Texas's, or California's HOA statutes are. It only applies to a development whose declaration affirmatively elects into it:

And even for the HOAs that do make that election, the Act itself doesn't create a records-inspection right. It requires the association to keep certain records - "detailed minutes of all meetings," "detailed and accurate financial records," and "any books and records as may be required by law" (O.C.G.A. § 44-3-231(d)) - but it never says a lot owner is entitled to inspect or copy them. The only inspection-adjacent right anywhere in the Act is narrower still: a lot owner can get a copy of the articles of incorporation and bylaws on request, for a reasonable fee (O.C.G.A. § 44-3-227(c)).

So where does a Georgia homeowner's actual right to inspect HOA records come from? From general corporation law. Georgia HOAs are required to incorporate either as a business corporation (Title 14, Chapter 2) or, far more commonly, as a nonprofit membership corporation (Title 14, Chapter 3) (O.C.G.A. § 44-3-227(a)). For the typical nonprofit-corporation HOA, the operative records-access statute is the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code's member-inspection section:

Notice the direction of the clock: unlike Florida's or Arizona's "the board has X days to respond," Georgia's version runs the other way - the owner gives the association 5 business days' notice before showing up to inspect. There's no separate statutory deadline forcing the board to hand records over faster. Copy costs are capped at "a reasonable charge, covering the costs of labor and material," not to exceed "the estimated cost of production or reproduction of the records" (O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1603(c)) - no fixed per-page rate the way Florida sets one. (If your association was instead incorporated as a business corporation under Title 14, Chapter 2, the identical inspection framework appears at O.C.G.A. §§ 14-2-1602 through 14-2-1604.)

What counts as a record

Some records are available to any member on request, with just the 5-business-day notice above and no need to explain why. Under O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1602(a), the corporation must keep copies of:

• Articles of incorporation and bylaws, and all amendments currently in effect
• Board or member resolutions changing the number or classification of directors, or affecting member characteristics, qualifications, rights, limitations, or obligations
• Minutes of member meetings, and written consents evidencing member action without a meeting, for the past three years
• Written communications to members generally for the past three years, including financial statements furnished under O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1620
• A list of current directors' and officers' names and addresses
• The corporation's most recent annual registration filed with the Secretary of State

A second category requires more than notice - the member also has to show the request is made "in good faith and for a proper purpose that is reasonably relevant to the member's legitimate interest as a member," describe the purpose and records with reasonable particularity, and confine use of the records to that purpose (O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1602(c)-(d)):

• Excerpts of board-meeting minutes (as opposed to member-meeting minutes, which need no purpose)
• The association's accounting records
• The membership list, which also can't be resold or used for solicitation or commercial purposes without board consent (O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1605)

Separately, every member is entitled - automatically, on written request, no purpose required - to the association's latest annual financial statement, including a balance sheet and statement of operations, under O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1620.

What happens if the association refuses

Georgia's remedy for a denied request runs through the courts rather than a per-day statutory-damages figure like Florida's. Under O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1604, if the corporation won't allow inspection of the always-available records, a member can go straight to superior court for a summary order compelling it. For the "proper purpose" records (accounting records, board-minutes excerpts, the membership list), the member can likewise petition the court once the good-faith/purpose requirements are met, and the statute directs the court to handle it on an expedited basis.

The fee-shifting default favors the member. If the court orders inspection, it must also order the corporation to pay the member's costs, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred to get the order - unless the corporation proves it refused in good faith because it had a reasonable basis to doubt the member's right to inspect. Courts may also impose reasonable restrictions on how the member uses or distributes what they obtain.

Changing January 1, 2027: the Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act

Governor Kemp signed Senate Bill 406, the "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act," into law on May 12, 2026. It adds a new chapter to Title 43 (O.C.G.A. §§ 43-17A-1 through 43-17A-9) and, for the first time, writes an explicit records-inspection right directly into a Georgia HOA statute - one that applies to "owners' associations" broadly (a term the Act defines to sweep in neighborhood associations, condos, co-ops, and common-interest communities generally, "including but not limited to" associations formed under the Property Owners' Association Act), not just to HOAs that elected into the older Act:

The new Act also requires every owners' association to register annually with the Secretary of State (an unregistered association loses the ability to collect fines/fees or file liens or foreclosures), to keep dues/assessment/lien/foreclosure records for at least 10 years, and it creates a brand-new enforcement channel separate from the courts: an owner who believes an association's action or inaction harmed them can file a complaint with the Secretary of State within 180 days, triggering an investigation and hearing-officer decision, with 15 days to comply and a right of appeal to magistrate or superior court (O.C.G.A. § 43-17A-5).

Timing matters here: the Act takes effect January 1, 2027, except for its attorney's-fee itemization and judicial-review provisions (amending O.C.G.A. § 44-3-232), which took effect July 1, 2026 and apply to actions filed on or after that date. Until January 1, 2027, the Nonprofit Corporation Code mechanism described above remains the operative path for a Georgia records request.

A simple template for the request itself

Because Georgia's notice runs from the owner to the association (not the other way around), the letter below states a proposed inspection date at least 5 business days out, as O.C.G.A. § 14-3-1602(b) requires. Copy, fill in the brackets, and send it: