Arizona Planned Communities Act: Rights, Assessments, and Meetings

The Arizona Planned Communities Act, codified at Title 33, Chapter 16 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, sets the mandatory ground rules for how homeowners’ associations operate across the state. It governs meetings, records, assessments, liens, board conduct, and enforcement, and it locks in several homeowner rights that CC&Rs cannot override. Where a community document conflicts with the Act, the statute controls.

Which Communities the Act Covers

A “planned community” under Arizona law is a residential development where a nonprofit corporation or owners’ association manages, maintains, or improves common property, and where the recorded declaration requires owners to be mandatory members who pay assessments.¹ Condominiums governed by Chapter 9 of Title 33, timeshare plans, and developments without an association are not covered.

The Act reaches communities regardless of when they were formed, with one narrow carve-out: associations formed before January 1, 1974, that have no authority to enforce use, occupancy, or appearance covenants are exempt unless they opt in.²

Homeowner Rights the HOA Cannot Override

Several provisions of the Act operate “notwithstanding any provision in the community documents.” In these areas, the CC&Rs don’t get the last word.

Flags

An association cannot prohibit the outdoor display of the American flag, a POW/MIA flag, the Arizona state flag, an Arizona Indian nations flag, the Gadsden flag, a first responder flag, a blue star or gold star service flag, or any historic version of the American flag, including the Betsy Ross flag.³ The board can adopt reasonable rules about flagpole location and size, cap flagpole height at rooftop level, and limit members to two wall-mounted flagpole holders and two flags at once. It cannot ban a front- or back-yard flagpole outright.

Political Signs

Political signs on a member’s property are protected too. The association cannot prohibit them indoors or outdoors, subject to three timing exceptions: signs can be barred more than 71 days before a primary election, more than 15 days after the general election, or more than 15 days after the primary for a candidate who doesn’t advance.³ Size and number can be regulated, but no more strictly than the local city, town, or county ordinance. If the local government does not regulate political signs, the association cannot cap the number, though total aggregate dimensions cannot exceed nine square feet.

Solar Energy Devices

An Arizona HOA cannot ban solar energy devices. It may adopt reasonable placement rules, but those rules cannot prevent installation, impair how the device works, restrict its use, or hurt its cost-efficiency. If the association violates this rule, the court must award reasonable attorney fees and costs to the homeowner who prevails.

Satellite Dishes and Antennas

Federal law adds another layer. The FCC’s Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) rule bars restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance, or use of certain antennas within a homeowner’s exclusive-use area. Covered devices include satellite dishes one meter or smaller in diameter, antennas designed to receive local broadcast signals, and certain wireless antennas. A restriction “impairs” if it unreasonably delays or prevents installation, unreasonably raises the cost, or degrades signal quality. The association cannot require pre-approval, cannot charge installation fees or deposits, and cannot enforce rules adopted after a device was already installed. OTARD does not reach common areas such as rooftops or shared grounds. Safety and historic-preservation restrictions are permitted only if no more burdensome than necessary.⁴

Open Meetings, Notice, and Member Speech

All meetings of the association, the board, and regularly scheduled committees must be open to every member or their written designee. Members have the right to attend and to speak. The board must let a member or representative speak at least once on each agenda item after the board’s discussion but before the vote, and must allow a reasonable number of speakers on each side.⁵ Reasonable time limits are allowed; blanket exclusion of public comment is not.

A portion of a meeting may be closed only for narrow purposes:

Consultation with the association’s attorney.
Discussion of pending or anticipated litigation.
Individual members’ health, financial, or personal records.
Employee job performance, compensation, or complaints about a specific employee.
A member’s appeal of a cited violation, unless the member requests an open session.⁵

Once a legal or litigation matter is fully resolved, the board may disclose information about it in an open meeting, except for anything a settlement or judgment keeps confidential.

Notice of a board meeting, including the agenda, must reach members at least 48 hours in advance through a newsletter, conspicuous posting, or any other reasonable method the board picks.⁵ The requirement kicks in after the developer’s control of the association ends.

Proxy Voting Is Allowed by Default

Many homeowners assume proxies must be affirmatively authorized. The opposite is true. Under the nonprofit corporation statutes that govern HOAs, a member may appoint a proxy unless the articles of incorporation or bylaws specifically prohibit or limit proxy voting.⁶ If your community’s bylaws are silent, you can designate someone to vote for you. Read your bylaws before assuming either way.

Assessments, Liens, and When Foreclosure Is Possible

An association’s lien for unpaid assessments attaches automatically the moment the assessment becomes due. It sits behind the first mortgage, any pre-existing recorded liens, and government tax liens, but ahead of almost everything else.⁷

Foreclosure is possible only under strict conditions. The association can foreclose an assessment lien only if the owner has been delinquent for at least 18 months or owes $10,000 or more, whichever comes first. Before filing, the board must make reasonable efforts to communicate with the owner and offer a payment plan.⁷ The lien itself expires if the association fails to file an enforcement action within six years of the assessment becoming due.

An important line runs through the middle of this statute. Fines, late fees, monetary penalties, and interest are classified as “member expenses,” not common expense liens.¹ Member expenses cannot be foreclosed at all. The association can sue for a money judgment on unpaid fines and record that judgment as a lien, but the judgment lien only becomes effective when the property is conveyed.⁷ No Arizona HOA can foreclose on your home over unpaid fines alone.

Fines, Due Process, and the Late-Fee Cap

Before imposing a fine or other penalty for a rule violation, the association must give the homeowner written notice and an opportunity to be heard. This is a statutory requirement, not a courtesy; skipping it can invalidate the penalty.

Fines must be proportionate to the violation. Late-payment charges on assessments are capped at the greater of $15 or 10 percent of the unpaid assessment amount, and CC&Rs cannot exceed that ceiling.

When an association hires a collection agency or law firm to pursue unpaid assessments or fines, that third party becomes subject to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. FDCPA violations by the collector can create liability for the collection firm and, in some situations, for the association and individual board members.

Removing a Board Member

The Act gives homeowners a real path to remove board members, without needing to prove cause. In associations with 1,000 or fewer members, a petition signed by at least 25 percent of eligible voters, or 100 voters, whichever is less, forces the board to call a special meeting. In larger associations, the threshold is 10 percent of voters or 1,000 signatures, whichever is less.⁸

The board must call, notice, and hold the special meeting within 30 days of receiving the petition. At the meeting, a majority of those voting can remove any board member not appointed by the developer. And here is the part that makes the process self-enforcing: if the board fails to hold the meeting within 30 days, all board members are automatically deemed removed from office at midnight on the 31st day.⁸ Ignoring a valid petition is not an option.

Conflicts of Interest

If a contract, decision, or paid action would benefit a board member or that member’s parent, grandparent, spouse, child, or sibling, the board member must declare the conflict in an open meeting before the board discusses or votes on the matter. After declaring, the conflicted member is still allowed to vote. The real consequence is on the back end: any contract entered into without the required disclosure is void and unenforceable.⁹ Homeowners who suspect an undisclosed conflict have strong grounds to challenge the resulting contract.

The board also has a separate financial-oversight duty: it must arrange for an annual financial audit, review, or compilation of the association’s finances.¹⁰

Records Access

All financial and other records of the association must be reasonably available for examination by any member or their written designee, at no charge for in-person review. The association has 10 business days to fulfill an examination request and 10 business days to provide copies, at no more than 15 cents per page.¹¹

What the association can withhold is a short list: attorney-client communications, pending litigation materials, closed-session meeting minutes, individual members’ personal or financial information, and employee personnel records.¹¹ The association also cannot disclose records where doing so would violate state or federal law. Everything else is open to member inspection.

Resale Disclosures

When a home in a planned community is sold, the buyer must receive a package of disclosures within 10 days of the association or member receiving written notice of the pending sale. For communities with fewer than 50 units, the selling member handles it. For communities with 50 or more units, the association does.¹²

The disclosures must include:

Copies of the bylaws, rules, and declaration.
The regular assessment amount, any unpaid or special assessments currently due from the seller, the total held in reserves, and whether the association’s insurance covers any portion of the unit.
A phone number and address for the association’s principal contact, whether that is a manager, management company, or board officer.
A statement about whether the association’s records show any alterations or improvements to the property that violate the declaration, going back six years.
Case names and numbers for any lawsuits between the association and the selling member.¹²

One consequence carries real dollars. If the association fails to provide the unpaid assessment information within the 10-day window, the lien for any unpaid assessments then due against that property is extinguished.¹²

Fair Housing and Assistance Animals

The federal Fair Housing Act applies to planned communities. HOAs cannot discriminate in rules, enforcement, or services based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.¹³

The disability provisions come up most often. The Act requires associations to allow reasonable modifications at the disabled resident’s expense and to make reasonable accommodations in rules and policies where needed to give a disabled person equal opportunity to use and enjoy their home.¹³

The most common request involves assistance animals. Under HUD guidance, an assistance animal is not a pet, and housing providers cannot refuse to waive a no-pets policy when a person with a disability needs one. This category covers emotional support animals as well as trained service animals. The association may deny a request only if granting it would impose an undue financial burden, fundamentally alter the association’s operations, or if the specific animal poses a direct threat to health or safety that no other accommodation can address.¹⁴

When Talks Break Down

If a dispute with the HOA cannot be resolved informally, Arizona offers a formal process through the Arizona Department of Real Estate. Homeowners file a petition to start the process.¹⁵ The department publishes a petition form.¹⁶

Court remains available too. Homeowners can bring claims challenging unreasonable fines, improper lien enforcement, or violations of the open meeting and record access requirements. Because Arizona courts treat CC&Rs as contracts, standard breach-of-contract remedies are open to both sides when the other party fails to follow the governing documents.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1802 – Definitions
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1801 – Applicability, Exemptions, Voluntary Election to Be Subjected to Chapter
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1808 – Flag Display, Political Signs, Caution Signs
4
Federal Communications Commission. Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1804 – Open Meetings, Exceptions, Notice, Agenda, Policy Statement
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 10-3724 – Proxies
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1807 – Common Expense Liens, Priority
8
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1813 – Removal of Board Member, Special Meeting
9
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1811 – Board of Directors, Contracts, Conflict
10
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1810 – Board of Directors, Annual Audit
11
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1805 – Association Records
12
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-1806 – Resale of Units, Information Required, Fees, Civil Penalty
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 42 Section 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
14
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistance Animals
15
Arizona Department of Real Estate. Homeowners Association Dispute Information
16
Arizona Department of Real Estate. HOA Petition Request Form