Georgia Homeowners Demand Equity, Accountability, and True Reform — Pass and Strengthen SB 406
Petition Target: Georgia House Judiciary Committee, CAI Georgia Legislative Action Committee

 
To the Georgia House Judiciary Committee and CAI Georgia:

We are Georgia's 881,000 community association homeowners — and we have waited long enough.

For years, HOA boards have operated with little transparency, minimal accountability, and unchecked power over the very residents they are supposed to serve. They have pursued foreclosure actions against families for trivial unpaid amounts. They have hired attorneys, management companies, and vendors who profit from the chaos they help sustain. They have silenced dissent, selectively enforced rules, and left homeowners with no meaningful recourse.

Senate Bill 406 is a step in the right direction. But a step is not enough. We are calling on the Georgia House Judiciary Committee to pass SB 406 — and strengthen it with the amendments Georgia homeowners actually need.

 
Here is what we are demanding:

1. Pass SB 406 — Now
Registration requirements, financial transparency, and a state oversight board are long overdue. Stop blocking progress. Pass the bill.

2. Replace the Flat $4,000 Foreclosure Threshold
A flat dollar amount is not fair — it is the illusion of fairness. A homeowner paying $200 a year would need to fall 20 years behind before reaching the threshold. A homeowner paying $400 a month reaches it in just 10 months. That is not equity. That is inequality dressed up as reform.

Replace it with a time-based standard: No HOA may initiate foreclosure unless a homeowner is at least 12 consecutive months behind on regular assessments, has received three written notices, has been offered a written payment plan, and the debt consists solely of regular assessments — not inflated fines, fees, and attorney charges.

3. Stop the Industry from Writing Its Own Rules
CAI Georgia's membership is dominated by HOA attorneys, management companies, and vendors who profit directly from HOA dysfunction. Their opposition to SB 406 is not principled — it is financial. The Georgia legislature must stop allowing the industry to shape the laws that are supposed to regulate it.

4. Build an Oversight Board That Actually Represents Homeowners
Any state oversight board must be composed of homeowner advocates with a proven legislative record, independent business and real estate attorneys, and attorneys who have fought for homeowners in court — not industry insiders rotating through a regulatory role designed to hold them accountable. Strict conflict of interest prohibitions must bar industry-affiliated individuals from serving for a minimum of five years prior to appointment.

5. Fund Oversight With Homeowner Dollars — Not Industry Fees
Replace the $100 per association registration fee with a $25 per homeowner annual contribution. The math is undeniable:

Current model: $1,130,000 per year
Proposed model: $22,025,000 per year
That is 20 times more funding — generated by homeowners, for homeowners, answering to no one but homeowners. Enough to staff 293 full-time oversight personnel and make Georgia the national model for community association transparency and accountability.

6. Ask the Bigger Question
Should private organizations hold the power to levy fees, impose fines, place liens, and foreclose on American families' homes — without democratic elections, without constitutional constraints, without public accountability? Georgia legislators must begin asking whether common interest communities should hold this authority at all, and under what strict limitations.

 
Who We Are

We are the homeowner in a rural Georgia subdivision who could lose her home after 20 years of missed $200 annual dues under the current threshold. We are the condo owner blindsided by a special assessment that triggers foreclosure proceedings before the ink is dry. We are the former board members who saw the system from the inside and refused to stay silent. We are the families who fought back — and the families who didn't survive to fight.

We are 881,000 Georgia homeowners. And we are done waiting.

 
Sign this petition to demand that the Georgia House Judiciary Committee:

✅ Pass SB 406 immediately
✅ Amend the foreclosure threshold to a time-based, equitable standard
✅ Replace the $100 association fee with a $25 per homeowner contribution
✅ Establish a truly independent oversight board free from industry influence
✅ Begin a broader legislative conversation about the limits of HOA authority

Our homes are not bargaining chips. Our families are not revenue streams. Georgia must lead — and the time is now.

 
Started by: Shirley Thompson
Former HOA Board Member | Homeowner Advocate
Smyrna, Georgia 30080