Quick Answer
Arizona changed the resale disclosure requirements for homes in planned communities and condominiums through House Bill 2397. The law took effect September 12, 2026. Depending on the size and type of association, the seller or association must deliver a more detailed disclosure report within 10 days after the event specified by the statute.
Buyers should treat the report as a financial, governance, and property-risk review—not routine closing paperwork. Sellers should identify every association, start the disclosure process promptly after accepting an offer, and make sure the correct buyer or designated-agent information reaches the association.
This article provides general educational information, not legal advice. Contract rights, disclosure obligations, and available remedies depend on the facts and governing documents. Consult a qualified Arizona attorney about a specific transaction or dispute.
Key Takeaways
- Arizona House Bill 2397 amended the condominium and planned-community resale disclosure statutes effective September 12, 2026.
- For associations with fewer than 50 units or properties, the seller is responsible for delivering the required information within 10 days after acceptance of the buyer’s offer.
- For associations with 50 or more units or properties, the seller must give the association written notice of the accepted offer and specified contact information; the association then has 10 days after receiving that notice to deliver the report.
- The required material now provides a broader view of assessments, financial records, meeting minutes, litigation, violations, declarant control, and other association risks.
- Condominium reports include additional items such as association insurance information and certain known common-element deficiencies.
- The statute allows specified resale disclosure, rush, and update fees, but controls the amount, timing, and frequency of those charges.
- A report may rely in good faith on association records without an independent investigation, so buyers should still investigate material concerns.
- The statute does not create a universal automatic cancellation right for every late, incomplete, or concerning report; buyers and sellers must review their contract and obtain legal advice when needed.
What Changed in Arizona?
Arizona House Bill 2397, enacted as Chapter 249 of the 2026 session laws, amended A.R.S. § 33-1260 for condominiums and A.R.S. § 33-1806 for planned communities. The changes became effective on September 12, 2026.
The revised statutes clarify when the disclosure process begins, divide responsibility based on whether the association has fewer than 50 or at least 50 units or properties, and expand or reorganize the information a purchaser should receive. They also address summary reports, multiple associations, buyer acknowledgments, good-faith reliance on records, remedies, and document-update fees.
The practical message is simple: an HOA resale report is not merely a stack of rules. It may contain information that changes a buyer’s view of monthly cost, near-term assessments, property condition, insurance exposure, association governance, or resale risk. For a seller, the process is a deadline-sensitive part of moving the transaction toward closing.
Who Must Deliver the Disclosure Report?
| Association size | Seller’s responsibility | 10-day delivery period |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 50 units or properties | The selling unit owner or member delivers the required information to the purchaser or the purchaser’s designated agent. | Runs after acceptance of the purchaser’s offer to purchase. |
| 50 or more units or properties | The seller gives the association written notice of the accepted offer, including the purchaser’s or designated agent’s name, email address, and mailing address. | The association delivers the report within 10 days after receiving the written notice of the pending purchase offer. |
That difference matters. In a smaller association, the seller should not assume a management company will automatically complete the statutory delivery. In a larger association, the seller should not assume the 10-day association period began before the association received a compliant written notice. If the property belongs to a master association and a sub-association, identify both at the beginning of the transaction because each may have a separate report and authorized fee.
The statutes also list exempt transactions, including certain sales involving a public report and specified deed transfers. Buyers and sellers should confirm that the resale disclosure statute applies to their transaction rather than relying on a general description.
What Should Buyers Expect to Receive?
The exact statutory list differs between a planned community and a condominium. In general, buyers should expect documents and statements addressing the following categories:
- Governing documents: current bylaws, rules, declaration, and the final plat or an electronic plat if available.
- Recent governance activity: approved minutes from the previous three open board meetings.
- Regular and special assessments: the amount and payment schedule for regular assessments, remaining installments on approved and assessed special assessments, and specified information about certain approved or recently submitted special assessments.
- Property account status: specified association liens, judgment liens, lis pendens, transfer fees, and unresolved violations cited against the property or unit.
- Association financials: the most recent income-and-expense financial statement for operating and reserve accounts, the current operating budget, and the most recent required annual audit, review, or compilation report.
- Reserve planning: the most recent reserve study, if any. The phrase “if any” is important; buyers should not assume every association has completed a reserve study.
- Litigation: a summary of pending lawsuits in which the association is a named party, subject to the statutory exclusions, including the amount of money claimed.
- Developer control: whether the community remains under declarant control and the approximate percentage of plotted lots or units still owned by the declarant.
- Buyer acknowledgment: a prescribed statement for the purchaser to sign at closing acknowledging that valid covenants, conditions, and restrictions are binding and that unpaid assessments may lead to collection activity, including foreclosure.
- Multiple associations: a statement identifying that the property is subject to each association’s report and corresponding authorized resale disclosure fee.
Long annual financial or reserve-study reports may be summarized when permitted by statute. If a summary is provided, the disclosure must explain that the purchaser may request access to the complete report, and the association must provide access within 10 days after a written request. A buyer concerned about reserves, planned work, or long-term maintenance should consider requesting the full report promptly.
Additional Condominium Disclosures
Condominiums can create risk questions that differ from those in many planned communities. The revised condominium statute includes additional required information, including:
- Known material deficiencies or conditions involving limited common elements associated with the unit or common elements when the association knows the purchaser will be directly assessed repair costs within six months after purchase.
- Whether a portion of the unit is covered by insurance maintained by the association, along with insurance certificates identifying association coverage limits and deductibles.
- Whether a corporation or limited liability company owns and leases 35% or more of the units.
These disclosures are starting points, not complete risk conclusions. Buyers should compare the master insurance information with the coverage proposed by their own insurance professional. Lenders and insurers may also have eligibility requirements involving deductibles, project condition, investor concentration, litigation, or other project characteristics.
How Buyers Should Review the HOA Resale Report
1. Calculate the Complete Ownership Cost
Add regular assessments to the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance budget. Then identify approved special assessments, remaining installments, proposed assessments disclosed under the statute, transfer-related fees, and any large project discussed in the minutes or reserve material. A home can fit the purchase-price budget while still straining the monthly or near-term cash budget.
Use The Real Cost of Homeownership Beyond Your Mortgage and Hidden Costs of Buying a Home to organize the broader expense review.
2. Read the Financial Documents Together
A reserve study, operating budget, financial statement, and annual audit, review, or compilation do not answer the same question. Review them together. Compare recommended projects with available funds, recent spending, assessment income, delinquency concerns reflected in the records, and any special assessments. A large reserve balance is not automatically adequate, and a small balance is not automatically inadequate without considering the association’s obligations and funding plan.
3. Read All Three Board-Meeting Minutes
Minutes may reveal issues that a balance sheet alone cannot explain: vendor disputes, roof or pavement projects, water intrusion, insurance changes, rule enforcement, security concerns, owner complaints, litigation updates, or discussion of future assessments. Minutes are usually summaries, so follow up on unclear references rather than treating silence as proof that no issue exists.
4. Compare Violations and Property Condition
An unresolved violation can affect closing, future use, repair cost, or an owner’s plans for the property. Compare the association’s statement with the home’s current condition, seller disclosures, inspection findings, and any architectural approvals. Do not assume that an improvement is approved merely because it has existed for years.
5. Review Rules Against Your Actual Plans
Look for restrictions affecting rentals, pets, parking, vehicles, signs, exterior changes, solar installations, home businesses, amenities, age qualifications, and approval procedures. A rule that seems minor during the purchase can materially affect how the buyer expects to use the home.
6. Escalate Questions Before Contract Deadlines Expire
Send financial questions to an appropriate financial or accounting professional, coverage questions to an insurance professional, loan eligibility questions to the lender, and legal questions to an Arizona attorney. A real estate agent can help organize documents, identify follow-up questions, coordinate the transaction, and track deadlines, but should not replace those licensed professionals.
What Sellers Should Do After Accepting an Offer
- Identify every association. Confirm whether the property belongs to a sub-association, master association, condominium association, or another mandatory association.
- Determine the association size. The fewer-than-50 and 50-or-more procedures assign different delivery responsibilities.
- Send a complete written notice when required. For a qualifying larger association, include the accepted-offer notice and the purchaser’s or designated agent’s name, email address, and mailing address.
- Calendar the correct 10-day period. Keep proof showing when the offer was accepted and, when applicable, when the association received the written notice.
- Check for property-specific problems. Resolve or disclose cited violations, liens, lis pendens, unpaid amounts, transfer fees, and other issues reflected in the association material.
- Do not edit or selectively omit unfavorable material. If a record raises a concern, provide the required material and seek qualified advice about the correct response.
- Coordinate updates if the transaction is delayed. The owner may request an updated report when at least 30 days have passed since the original report date.
Early preparation can reduce last-minute surprises, but sellers should use current documents for the actual statutory disclosure. A package collected before listing can help identify issues; it does not necessarily replace the report required after an offer is accepted.
How Much Can the Association Charge?
Under both revised statutes, an association may charge the seller—called the unit owner or member in the statutes—an aggregate fee of up to $400 for the preparation and delivery of the resale disclosure report, lien-estoppel information, and other services related to the transfer or use of the property. The association may also charge:
- Up to $100 for rush services required within 72 hours after the rush request.
- Up to $50 for a requested document update after at least 30 days have passed since the original disclosure report.
The prescribed fees may not be collected before the close of escrow and may be charged only once to the owner for the transaction between the identified parties. The statutes also prohibit transfer-related charges that are not specifically authorized and provide for a civil penalty of up to $1,200 when an association violates the fee restrictions.
If the property belongs to multiple associations, more than one report and fee may apply. Buyers and sellers should ask escrow to itemize each charge and identify the association connected to it.
What the Report Does Not Guarantee
The revised statutes say the required information may be based on good-faith reliance on association records or information without independent investigation or validation. That standard helps explain what the report is—and what it is not.
The report does not guarantee that every physical problem has been discovered, every future assessment has been decided, every insurance issue has been resolved, or every association record is complete. Buyers should continue ordinary inspections, insurance review, lender due diligence, title and escrow review, and any additional investigation warranted by the property.
The law also allows a purchaser or seller who is damaged by a knowing or reckless failure to provide required information, or by materially false or misleading statements made knowingly or recklessly, to pursue available legal or equitable remedies against the party that failed to comply. A court may award reasonable attorney fees. Whether a particular omission meets that standard is a legal question.
Do Not Assume the Statute Automatically Extends a Deadline
The revised resale disclosure statutes do not create one universal rule allowing every buyer to cancel automatically whenever a report is late, incomplete, or concerning. The purchase contract, addenda, facts, timing, and applicable law control the parties’ rights. Buyers and sellers should review the actual contract and obtain Arizona legal advice before waiving, extending, terminating, or asserting a remedy.
Questions to Ask an Arizona Real Estate Agent
Association-document review is a useful way to compare an agent’s process before choosing representation. Ask:
- How do you confirm whether a property belongs to one association or multiple associations?
- How do you determine who must request and deliver the resale disclosure report?
- How will you track the statutory timeline and my contract deadlines?
- How do you help clients organize assessments, budgets, reserve material, meeting minutes, litigation, violations, and fees?
- What warning signs would cause you to recommend follow-up with an attorney, lender, accountant, inspector, or insurance professional?
- How do you compare the complete ownership cost when two homes have different association dues and financial risks?
- How do you document delivery, questions, responses, and unresolved issues?
A capable agent should have a repeatable review and coordination process while remaining clear about the limits of the agent’s role. Review Comparing Buyer Agents and Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Real Estate Agent before interviewing candidates.
Jim Gruler’s Perspective
After approximately 18 years as an Arizona licensed real estate broker, I have seen buyers focus on the home while giving the association documents only a quick glance. That is risky. A strong review connects the documents to the buyer’s real plans: total monthly cost, upcoming cash demands, property use, insurance, financing, maintenance, and resale.
The agent’s job is not to declare an association financially healthy or provide a legal opinion. It is to get the process moving promptly, protect the timeline, organize the information, recognize questions that deserve attention, and help the client reach the right professional before a deadline removes options. Sellers need the same discipline: identify every association early, follow the correct procedure, and avoid allowing a preventable document delay to threaten closing.
Bottom Line
Arizona’s revised HOA resale disclosure rules give buyers a more structured opportunity to examine association finances, governance, property-specific issues, and transfer costs. The value comes from review, not receipt. Buyers should connect the report to affordability and risk; sellers should treat delivery as a documented transaction responsibility.
When choosing representation, compare how agents handle association documents, deadlines, total ownership costs, follow-up questions, and professional referrals—not just how quickly they can schedule a showing or list a home. Compare Arizona real estate agents and evaluate the complete service, strategy, experience, and compensation each agent offers.
Related Resources
- Choosing Your First Home: What to Review Before You Buy
- The Real Cost of Homeownership Beyond Your Mortgage
- Hidden Costs of Buying a Home for First-Time Buyers
- Inspections, Appraisals and Escrow
- Comparing Buyer Agents