Arizona HOA Disclosure Requirements for Sellers and Buyers

Arizona’s HOA disclosure requirements force sellers or associations to give buyers a specific package of governing documents, a dated statement about the property, and financial records before a home in an HOA community changes hands. Two statutes run in parallel: Section 33-1806 for planned communities and Section 33-1260 for condominiums. They share the same timeline, the same $400 aggregate fee cap, and the same civil penalty for unauthorized charges.

Who Prepares the Package and When

Responsibility splits by community size. In planned communities and condominiums with fewer than fifty units, the seller compiles and delivers the documents. In communities with fifty or more units, the association itself does the work.¹²

The clock is ten days. Once the seller or association receives written notice of a pending sale, the disclosure package must be mailed or delivered within that window. For larger communities, the written notice must include the buyer’s name and address. Paper or electronic delivery both count.

The ten-day rule has real force behind it. If a lienholder, escrow agent, or the member themselves requests assessment balance information and the association fails to provide it on time, any existing lien for unpaid assessments against that property is extinguished.³

What Must Be Disclosed

The package has three parts.

Governing Documents

The buyer must receive the association’s current bylaws, its rules, and the recorded declaration, often called the CC&Rs.¹

The Dated Statement

This is where the property-specific information lives. It must include:

A phone number and address for the association’s principal contact, whether a manager, management company, board officer, or other designated person.
The current regular assessment amount, plus any unpaid regular assessments, special assessments, or other fees the seller owes.
Whether any portion of the unit is covered by insurance the association maintains.
The total dollar amount held in reserves.
Any alterations or improvements to the unit that violate the declaration. If the association is furnishing the statement, it looks back six years through its records. If the seller is furnishing the statement, the seller discloses what they personally know.
Case names and numbers for any lawsuits between the association and the seller concerning that specific unit. Neither party has to disclose material protected by attorney-client privilege.
A buyer acknowledgment, worded as the statute prescribes, confirming the buyer has read and understands the governing documents and that the association can foreclose on the property for unpaid assessments. The signed acknowledgment goes back to the association within fourteen calendar days.

The foreclosure warning in the acknowledgment is not boilerplate a buyer can skim past. Signing it is required for the sale to proceed.³

Financial Records

Three financial documents complete the package: the association’s current operating budget, its most recent annual financial report, and its most recent reserve study if one exists. For the financial report and the reserve study, a summary is acceptable when the full document exceeds ten pages.¹

Lawsuits Involving the Association

Separate from the unit-specific litigation in the dated statement, the package must include a summary of pending lawsuits involving the association itself. Routine collection actions against owners for unpaid assessments are excluded from that summary.¹ A construction defect suit or a boundary dispute with a neighboring property can hit every owner in the community; a single unpaid-dues case usually cannot.

What the Association Can Charge

Arizona caps the total charge for the resale disclosure process at $400. That aggregate figure covers preparing and delivering all resale disclosure documents, lien estoppel information, and any other transfer-related services in a single transaction. Associations cannot add transfer-related fees the statute does not authorize.³

Two extra charges are permitted in specific circumstances:

A rush fee of up to $100 when the documents must be prepared within seventy-two hours of the request.
An update fee of up to $50 when thirty or more days have passed since the original statement was issued and an updated version is needed.

Fees can only be collected at the close of escrow, not before, and only once per transaction between the parties named in the original pending-sale notice.

Penalty for Unauthorized Fees

An association that charges or collects a fee the statute does not authorize faces a civil penalty of up to $1,200. The penalty applies to any unauthorized charge tied to resale disclosure, lien estoppel, or other transfer services.³ If a management company’s invoice includes line items that fall outside the $400 cap and the rush and update allowances, the seller and buyer both have grounds to challenge them.

Sales That Don’t Require the Package

Not every transfer in an HOA community triggers the full disclosure process. Three categories are exempt:

Sales covered by a public report already issued by the Arizona Department of Real Estate under its subdivided lands or unsubdivided lands provisions.
Sales that qualify under the state’s exemptions from the subdivision public report requirements.
Conveyances through a recorded deed that qualifies for certain transfer tax exemptions. These typically include transfers between family members and transfers into trusts. After the deed is recorded, the new owner must give the association their name, billing address, and phone number at no charge.

Timeshare plans governed by Arizona’s timeshare chapter are excluded from the condominium disclosure requirements entirely.²

Condominiums Versus Planned Communities

Section 33-1806 covers planned communities and Section 33-1260 covers condominiums, but the requirements are effectively identical: same timeline, same documents, same fee caps, same penalty. The main differences are terminology, with the condominium statute referring to “unit owners” and “common expense assessments” where the planned community statute uses “members” and “common regular assessments.”² For a buyer or seller, the practical process is the same regardless of property type.

Practical Steps for Sellers and Buyers

Sellers should request the disclosure package from the association as soon as an offer is accepted, rather than waiting for the agent or title company to send notice. The ten-day clock starts when the association receives written notice, and any lag in that notice ripples through the closing timeline. Make sure the notice includes the buyer’s name and address so the association can act on it immediately.

Buyers should start with the reserve study and the operating budget. Underfunded reserves and operating deficits are the numbers most likely to translate into special assessments and rate hikes after closing. Then check the unpaid assessment balance on the dated statement. Any amount the seller owes should clear at closing, but verifying the figure through escrow avoids surprises.

Both parties should confirm the association’s charges against the statutory caps: no more than $400 in total, with the rush and update fees only if their specific triggers apply, and no collection until close of escrow. If the settlement statement lists HOA-related charges that exceed those limits or fall outside the authorized categories, raise the issue before closing. Recovering an overcharge after money changes hands is much harder than catching it on the statement.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 33 Section 33-1806 – Resale of Units; Information Required; Fees; Civil Penalty; Definition
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 33 Section 33-1260 – Resale of Units; Information Required; Fees; Civil Penalty; Applicability; Definition
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1806 – Resale of Units; Information Required; Fees; Civil Penalty; Definition