Arizona HOA Law/Fine abolishment

Hello,

Recently I had heard of a law that was enacted in Arizona that prevents
an HOA from fining homeowners.
Has anyone heard of this? Also if you have a link because I have not
seen anything about it.

Mary is our resident expert on Arizona law. She will have the definitive answer for you. But as far as I can determine the information you were provided is inaccurate.

If you violate a rule of the HOA, your HOA may threaten to fine you. Unlike assessments, fines may no longer form the basis of a foreclosure action. The only way the HOA can collect fines from you is if you voluntarily pay them, or if the HOA files a lawsuit against you to collect them.

Under Arizona law, an HOA may not issue a fine until it first offers you a hearing before the board of directors. If the HOA fails to provide you an opportunity for a hearing before the fine is imposed, the fine is illegal and not enforceable.

Joe,

I know of no such AZ statute. In fact, the planned community statute, ARS 33-1803, states that "reasonable monetary penalties on members for violations of the declaration, bylaws and rules of the assn" may only be imposed AFTER NOTICE AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD. Not knowing whether you live in a condo or a planned community, I'm not sure if this statute applies to you. However, even if you live in a condo, I know of no condo statute that prohibits fines. ARS33-1242 applies to condos. Both statutes outline the procedure to follow if you wish to respond to a violation notice.

The procedure that is normally followed when a home is being sold is that the assn informs the title agent of any outstanding debts (assessments and/or CCR fines, penalties) which are then collected at closing. Some HOA advocates are saying HOAs have no authority to fine because it is a violation of contract law and that HOA members are not obligated to pay any fines imposed, UNLESS the assn has a judgement against the member for those fines. They advise people not to pay these fines at closing. I'm not an attorney so I don't know that this is true and I'm certainly not advising you to not pay any fines you might owe. Depending upon the amount of outstanding fines you might owe may determine if you feel it's worth the expense of contacting an attorney.