Arizona HOA Disclosure Requirements for Sellers and Buyers

Arizona HOA disclosure requirements obligate either the seller or the homeowners association to deliver a defined package of governing documents, a dated statement of specific facts, and financial records to the buyer before a home in an HOA community changes hands. Two parallel statutes set the rules: Section 33-1806 for planned communities and Section 33-1260 for condominiums. They share the same structure, the same $400 fee cap, and the same civil penalty for charging unauthorized fees.

Who Prepares the Disclosure Package

Responsibility turns on the size of the community. In planned communities and condominiums with fewer than fifty units, the seller compiles and delivers the documents to the buyer or the buyer’s agent. In communities with fifty or more units, the association itself must furnish the package.¹

Either way, delivery must happen within ten days after the seller or association receives written notice of a pending sale. For larger communities, that written notice has to include the buyer’s name and address so the association knows where to send the documents. The condominium statute follows the same framework.²

The ten-day clock has real teeth. If the association fails to provide assessment balance information within that window when a lienholder, escrow agent, or the member themselves requests it, any existing lien for unpaid assessments against the property is extinguished.³

What Must Be Disclosed

The package has three parts, and all of it can be delivered on paper or electronically.

Governing Documents

The buyer must receive the association’s current bylaws, rules, and the recorded declaration (often called the CC&Rs). These define what owners can and cannot do with their property and how the association operates.¹

The Dated Statement

This is where most of the buyer-specific information lives. It must include:

A phone number and address for the association’s principal contact, whether that’s 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 currently owes.
Whether any portion of the unit is covered by insurance the association maintains.
The total dollar amount the association holds in reserves.
If the association is furnishing the statement, whether its records (looking back six years) reflect any alterations or improvements to the unit that violate the declaration. If the seller is furnishing it, the seller must disclose any violations they personally know about.
Case names and numbers for any pending lawsuits between the association and the seller concerning that specific unit. Information protected by attorney-client privilege doesn’t have to be disclosed.
A buyer acknowledgment, in statutory language, confirming the buyer has read and understood the governing documents and understands the association can foreclose on the property for unpaid assessments. The signed acknowledgment must be returned to the association within fourteen calendar days.

The acknowledgment is not optional for a sale to close, and the foreclosure warning is spelled out explicitly.³

Financial Records

Three 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 can substitute for the full document when the report runs longer than ten pages.¹

Pending Lawsuits Involving the Association

Separate from the unit-specific litigation listed in the dated statement, the package must also summarize any pending lawsuits involving the association itself. Routine collection actions against owners for unpaid assessments are the one exception and don’t need to be listed.¹

Fees and the $400 Cap

Arizona caps what an association can charge for the whole disclosure process. The aggregate fee for preparing and delivering all resale disclosure documents, lien estoppel information, and any other transfer-related services cannot exceed $400 per transaction. Associations cannot charge any transfer-related fees beyond what the statute specifically authorizes.³

Two additional charges can apply in specific situations:

A rush fee of up to $100 when 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 disclosure statement was issued and an updated version is needed.

Fees may be collected only at the close of escrow, not before, and only once per transaction between the parties named in the original pending-sale notice.³

Penalty for Unauthorized Fees

An association that charges or collects any fee not authorized by the statute faces a civil penalty of up to $1,200. This applies to any unauthorized charge connected to resale disclosure, lien estoppel, or other transfer services.³ If an itemized invoice from a management company includes line items that don’t fit within the $400 aggregate cap or the rush and update fees, both buyer and seller have statutory grounds to object.

Sales That Are Exempt

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

Sales already covered by a public report issued by the Arizona Department of Real Estate under the 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, which typically cover transfers between family members, transfers into trusts, and similar non-arm’s-length transactions. After the deed is recorded, the new owner must give the association their name, billing address, and phone number at no charge.

For condominiums specifically, timeshare plans governed by Arizona’s timeshare chapter are also excluded from these disclosure requirements entirely.²

Does It Matter Whether the Property Is a Condo or Planned Community

Not for practical purposes. Section 33-1806 governs planned communities and Section 33-1260 governs condominiums, and the two statutes are nearly identical in structure, fees, and penalties. The main textual differences are terminology: planned community rules refer to “members” and “common regular assessments,” while the condominium statute refers to “unit owners” and “common expense assessments.”² A buyer purchasing a condo should expect the same documents, fee caps, and timeline as someone buying a single-family home in a planned community.

What to Do as a Seller or Buyer

If you’re selling, request the disclosure package from your association as soon as you accept an offer. The ten-day clock starts when the association receives written notice, and that notice should include the buyer’s name and address so the association can begin without delay.

If you’re buying, read the reserve study and the operating budget early. Underfunded reserves and operating deficits are the problems most likely to cost you money in the first years of ownership. Verify the unpaid assessment balance on the dated statement independently through escrow so anything the seller owes is resolved at closing.

Both sides should confirm that fees match the statutory caps: no more than $400 in total, with rush and update fees only when their specific triggers are met. If the closing statement includes HOA-related charges that exceed those limits or fall outside the authorized categories, raise the issue before closing. Recovering overcharges after the fact is harder than catching them on the settlement 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