The Alabama Homeowners’ Association Act — Code of Alabama, Title 35, Chapter 20 — condensed for reading. Section numbers match the statute, and the full legal text is linked at the bottom of this page.
35-20-2 — Definitions
Terms the Act uses throughout:
- Association — a homeowners’ association.
- Board of directors — the group managing the association, whatever name it goes by.
- Common area — property in a development that the association owns, leases, or is required by the declaration to maintain or operate for its members, designated as common area in the declaration or on a recorded plat.
- Declarant — the person or entity who submits property to a declaration.
- Declaration — any recorded instrument (including amendments) filed with the county judge of probate that gives the association responsibility for common areas, authorizes it to levy assessments for maintenance or services, and runs with the land, binding future owners.
- Development — real property under a declaration with residential lots and common areas, where owners are association members and lots are subject to assessments.
- Director — a duly elected or appointed member of the board.
- Homeowner’s association — a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 3 of Title 10A, provided for in a declaration.
- Lot — a separately owned parcel shown on a recorded plat, other than common area.
- Member — an owner or occupant of a lot with membership rights under the governing documents.
- Potential purchaser — someone with a contractual right or option to buy a lot, or who intends to take a mortgage on one.
35-20-3 — Who the Act applies to
The Act covers developments whose declarations were recorded on or after January 1, 2016, and associations formed before then that elect, by a majority of their members, to be governed by it. It does not apply to commercial or other nonresidential developments, associations regulated under Chapters 8 or 8A of Title 35, or real estate cooperatives, time-shares, and campgrounds.
35-20-4 — How the Act is read and applied
General principles of law and equity — nonprofit corporation law, real estate law, contract law, fraud, negligence, and the rest — fill in around the Act except where they conflict with it. Every duty under the Act carries an obligation of good faith. Its remedies are administered liberally, so an aggrieved party ends up as well off as if the other side had fully performed.
35-20-5 — Organization and filing requirements
From January 1, 2016 on, an HOA created by a declaration is organized and governed as a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 3 of Title 10A, with all the obligations and rights that come with that. The association files its articles of incorporation, its bylaws and other governing documents, and its original covenants with the Alabama Secretary of State, who maintains a public, searchable online database of those filings. Filing there does not count as legal notice under Chapter 4, and the Secretary of State may set rules and filing fees.
An association’s organizational documents must provide for: efficient communication with members, rules for conducting meetings, complete financial records available to any member at a reasonable time and place for reasonable cost, reasonable rules for common areas including penalties for violations, the power to grant easements and leases over common areas, dues and assessment statements for any interested person for reasonable cost, annual budgets submitted to members, and anything else a nonprofit corporation is required to do under law.
They may additionally provide for: indemnification and insurance for the association and its officers and directors, fidelity bonds for anyone handling association funds, periodic audits, the power to acquire property for the association’s benefit, and the power to hire and discharge managers, employees, and contractors.
35-20-6 — When the association is formed
An association provided for in a declaration must be formed before the declarant conveys any lot in the development.
35-20-7 — Declarant control
The declaration or governing documents may give the declarant a period of control over electing directors and officers, along with a right to reasonably alter, amend, or modify the declaration.
35-20-8 — Which document wins
If the declaration and the association’s governing documents conflict, the declaration prevails — except where the declaration itself is inconsistent with the Act.
35-20-9 — Electing the first member-controlled board
Within 120 days of members gaining the right to elect a board, the declarant must give written notice of a special meeting to hold that election. The notice must state that electing a board is the meeting’s purpose, allow candidate nominations on the written consent of at least 10 percent of the membership (unless the governing documents say otherwise), and name all existing directors and any who may continue to serve.
35-20-10 — Handing over the records
Within 90 days of the board’s selection, the declarant must deliver to it: all books, records, and governing documents in the declarant’s possession or control; all records of outstanding and unpaid assessments; any third-party contracts for the association’s operation or property upkeep; any insurance policies in force; a list of member names and addresses; and any unexpired warranties from contractors, suppliers, or manufacturers relating to the common areas.
35-20-11 — Powers of the board
To the extent the declaration and governing documents allow, the board may suspend a member’s use of association facilities or services for nonpayment of assessments — as long as access to the member’s lot is never denied — and may assess reasonable penalties for violations, but only after the member has had the opportunity to be heard, represented by counsel if they choose, before the board.
If a member’s tenant commits a violation, the board may take those same actions directly against the tenant (with notice to both tenant and member, and an opportunity to be heard), and may enforce any rights the member as landlord could have exercised under the lease. Any penalty assessed counts as an assessment for lien purposes under 35-20-12.
35-20-12 — Liens for unpaid assessments
Unless the declaration or governing documents say otherwise, the association has a lien on every lot for unpaid assessments, arising from the date the assessment is due as set by the board at an annual meeting after proper notice. The owner must be given written notice of the assessment and lien by personal delivery or first-class mail. The lien takes priority over later liens and encumbrances, except state and county property taxes, municipal improvement assessments, UCC fixture filings, mortgages, and deeds of trust.
Within 12 months of the assessment coming due, the association must record a verified statement of lien with the county judge of probate stating: the lot, the association’s name, the owner’s name, the unpaid amounts with their dates, and any other interests and costs claimed. At least 30 days before recording it, the association must notify the owner by certified mail. The association may then sue to enforce the lien, and a court may order the property sold after notice is published once a week for three successive weeks in a county newspaper (or an adjoining county’s paper if the county has none), giving the time, place, and terms of the sale and the lot’s description.
35-20-13 — Records members can request
The association must make its records available to any member or potential purchaser within 30 days of a written request, upon payment of reasonable costs — in paper or electronic form, or by pointing to the public record that holds them. That covers: current and pending assessments, dues, and charges with amounts and due dates; common areas owned by the association and any others that dues go to pay for; the current operating budget, reserve funds, and a statement of financial condition for the last fiscal year; insurance coverage documents, including any fidelity bond; any loans against the association and their collateral; the association’s official name and current officer and agent contact information; the current covenants with all amendments and the current architectural control regulations; any initiation or transfer fees due at a real estate closing; a list of all common areas; and case information for any pending lawsuits, judgments, liens, or arbitration the association is party to in the public record.
35-20-14 — Dissolution
When a declaration terminates, or when otherwise required by law, the board must take the steps necessary to immediately dissolve the association and liquidate any remaining assets.
Reference: Code of Alabama, Title 35 Chapter 20 (PDF)