What do the 2025 and 2026 Connecticut common interest community law changes mean for HOA boards?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 1, 2026

Connecticut HOA law changes for boards: the 2026 rooftop solar rule and its 2028 opt-out vote, owner-petitioned audits, manager disclosures and budget votes.

Part of the HOA board handbook: new state laws for boards.

The short answer

Connecticut's Common Interest Ownership Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-200 and following (Chapter 828), governs condominiums, cooperatives and planned communities created after January 1, 1984. Section 47-216 extends a list of its sections, including the budget, assessment, records and rules sections, to older communities for events after that date, without voiding their existing documents. Three enacted laws change a board's work: - Public Act 25-73 (HB 6957, signed June 23, 2025) added section 47-261h on rooftop solar for single-family detached units, effective January 1, 2026. An association formed on or before that date can opt out by a 75 percent board vote taken by January 1, 2028. - Public Act 25-111 (SB 1357) narrowed who may manage an association without registering as a community association manager, and added two written disclosures managers owe the board from October 1, 2025. - Public Act 26-31 (HB 5265) lets owners holding 20 percent of the votes ask the Superior Court to order an independent audit of the association's financial records, starting October 1, 2026. Bills to limit gifts to board members (HB 5433) and to require a majority of all owners to approve budgets and special assessments (HB 5437) died in 2026. So did a 2025 annual reserve study bill (SB 816). None of them is law. Rules also depend on your declaration and bylaws, so treat this as education, not legal advice.

Rooftop solar: the new application clock

Section 47-261h covers a "single-family detached unit": a home that shares no walls with another unit. It does not cover cooperatives or attached townhomes and condos. Any provision in the declaration or bylaws that prohibits or unreasonably restricts solar on that roof is unenforceable, unless the association opts out (next section). The old planned community solar rule in 47-261b(g) was repealed on October 1, 2025. The process the board must run: 1. Day 0: the owner submits an application in the form the board prescribes. Adopt that form now so applications arrive complete. 2. By day 30: acknowledge receipt in writing. 3. By day 60: approve, deny or ask for more information, in writing. Silence past day 60 means the application is deemed approved. 4. If you asked for more information, you have 30 days after it arrives to deny in writing, or the application is deemed approved. Review it the same way you review any addition or alteration under your documents, and do not withhold approval unreasonably. Put every deadline on the secretary's calendar the day the application lands. A missed date approves the project for you.

The agreement every approved owner signs

After approval, the owner signs a written agreement with the association, which you may record on the town land records. Recording it means a buyer finds it in the title search. Under 47-261h(d) the owner must: - follow the declaration's alteration rules for the installation - hire a contractor licensed under Chapter 393 who, within 14 days of signing, gives the association a certificate of liability insurance of at least $1 million naming the association, any manager and the owner, proof of workers' compensation coverage where required, and a mechanic's lien waiver in the association's favor - pay all installation costs, including any increase in the master policy premium and the association's attorney, engineering, permit and zoning fees - indemnify the association, the owners, the board, officers and the manager for damage or debts tied to the system - take over maintenance, repair and replacement of the roof over that unit, at the owner's sole expense The association may also require the owner to remove the system before a sale unless the buyer takes on these duties in writing, and may assess the owner for any uninsured loss from the system, deductible included, whether or not the association files a claim. In an enforcement suit the winner recovers reasonable attorney fees. Have counsel turn this list into a standard agreement now, before the first application, rather than drafting one on a 60-day clock.

Deciding whether to opt out by 2028

Section 47-261h(e) gives associations formed on or before January 1, 2026 one exit. By an affirmative vote of at least 75 percent of the board, taken no later than January 1, 2028, the association can opt out of the application and approval rules. It must record a notice of that vote on the land records of every town where the community sits within 30 days after the vote. On a five-member board, 75 percent means four yes votes. A three-member board needs all three. Before voting, put the question on an open meeting agenda and hear from owners. Ask your insurance agent what panels on detached roofs would do to the master policy, and ask counsel whether your documents already ban or restrict roof equipment, since opting out leaves those provisions in force. Section 47-261h is not on the 47-216 list of sections that reach pre-1984 communities, so an older association should ask counsel whether it applies at all. Sample motion: "Move that the association opt out of subsections (a) through (d) of Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-261h under subsection (e), and that the secretary record notice of this vote on the land records of [town] within 30 days."

Owner-petitioned audits starting October 2026

Public Act 26-31 lets a group of owners holding at least 20 percent of the association's votes petition the Superior Court for an order that the association retain an independent third party to audit its financial records. The group must: 1. certify in writing a good faith belief that grounds for an audit exist 2. attach a signed opinion from an independent CPA who specializes in fraud or forensic accounting, stating that there appears to be evidence of fraud or misuse of association funds, and the basis for that opinion 3. certify its 20 percent and attach a certified copy of the vote allocation from the recorded declaration 4. show that no such audit was completed in the prior 12 months The petitioners pay the audit. The association or its manager may charge them a reasonable fee for producing the records, and the association may be entitled to reasonable attorney fees. The audit reaches only the records the association must keep under 47-260(a). Personnel and medical files, unredacted ballots and proxies, and anything another law makes confidential stay out. The practical defense is clean books. Reconcile every account monthly, keep invoices behind every payment, and answer records requests on time. Under 47-260(b), owners give 30 days' notice and the association must offer two inspection dates within 5 business days. Our guides on how an HOA board should respond to a records request and on a demand for a forensic audit cover the reply letters.

Managers, assessments and budget votes

Community association managers. Under the amended Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-450, only Connecticut-licensed attorneys, CPAs and insurance producers serving the association for a fee are exempt from registering as a manager. Other licensees who manage for pay now need a registration. Since October 1, 2025, section 20-457 requires a manager under contract to disclose in clear, conspicuous writing any ownership or managerial interest in a company that solicits business from the association or the manager, and the price of construction oversight or project coordination not covered by the contract. A violation is an unfair trade practice. Ask your manager for both disclosures in writing and file them with the contract. Assessments. Since October 1, 2025, section 47-257(h) says that when an owner's addition, alteration or improvement raises common expenses, including maintenance, repair or insurance, the increase is assessed only against that owner's unit. Track those costs separately when you approve a project. Interest on past due assessments stays capped at 18 percent a year under 47-257(b). Budgets, unchanged. Under 47-261e, the board sends owners a budget summary, including reserves and how they are calculated and funded, within 30 days of adopting it, and sets a meeting or ballot 10 to 60 days after the summary goes out. The budget passes unless a majority of all owners, or a larger number in the declaration, votes to reject it. A special assessment takes effect without an owner vote if it and the other special assessments that calendar year stay within 15 percent of the last adopted budget, unless your documents say otherwise.

A checklist for the next board meeting

1. Adopt a solar application form and a standard owner agreement under 47-261h, and calendar the 30- and 60-day deadlines. 2. Decide whether to put the opt-out on an agenda. The vote must happen by January 1, 2028, and the notice must be recorded within 30 days of it. 3. Request your manager's 20-457 disclosures in writing. 4. Confirm your manager is registered, or is a licensed attorney, CPA or insurance producer. 5. Add a cost line for owner improvements that raise common expenses, so 47-257(h) charges land on the right ledger. 6. Review your records request procedure against 47-260 before October 1, 2026. If a buyer's agent asks about the community after October 1, 2026, expect more requests for resale certificates and reserve reports: the same act adds a statement to the seller's property condition report urging buyers in communities of more than 12 units to ask for both.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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