What does Louisiana's Planned Community Act require of volunteer HOA boards?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 1, 2026

Louisiana HOA law for boards: the 2024 Planned Community Act, open board meetings, budget ratification, new lien steps, and the 2027 vacant lot disclosure rule.

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

The short answer

Act 158 of 2024 replaced the old Louisiana Homeowners Association Act with the Louisiana Planned Community Act, at R.S. 9:1141.1 through 9:1141.50. It took effect January 1, 2025. The same act rewrote the association privilege law in R.S. 9:1145 through 9:1148, which covers condominium associations as well as HOAs. If your community existed before 2025, start with R.S. 9:1141.3. The act does not override community documents filed before January 1, 2025, or make an older association amend them. It applies only where the community documents are silent. An older subdivision with short bylaws may find large gaps. Where your bylaws say nothing on a topic, the act's rule fills the gap. Two smaller laws followed. Act 224 of 2025 (R.S. 9:1114) protects display of a removable U.S. flag, and Act 708 of 2026 extends the seller's HOA disclosure to vacant lots starting January 1, 2027. Condominiums stay under the Louisiana Condominium Act, except for the privilege rules. This is education, not legal advice, so have a Louisiana association attorney compare your documents with the act before you change any practice.

Meetings when the bylaws say nothing

R.S. 9:1141.26 sets default meeting rules. Members' meetings: - Notice of an annual or special meeting goes out no fewer than 30 and no more than 60 days ahead. It lists the agenda, including the text of any proposed amendment, any budget change and any proposal to remove a director or officer. - The president, a majority of the board, or owners holding 20 percent of the voting interest can demand a special meeting. The secretary must call it within 30 days of an owner demand. - Under R.S. 9:1141.27, quorum is 20 percent of the voting interest unless the bylaws set another number, or 10 percent for a properly noticed emergency meeting. Board meetings: - They are open to owners. An executive session can happen only inside a regular or special meeting, no final vote can be taken in it, and the topics are limited to legal advice, litigation, personnel, contracts under negotiation and personal privacy. - Notice to directors and owners, with the agenda, goes out at least 30 days ahead, unless the meeting appears on a schedule already sent to owners or it is an emergency. - Materials handed to directors before the meeting must be reasonably available to owners, except unapproved minutes and executive session items. - A dinner or any other social gathering cannot be used to get around the open meeting rule. The 30-day board notice trips up boards used to calling meetings a week out. At the first meeting of the year, adopt a calendar of regular board meetings and send it to every owner.

Budgets and special assessments

For communities of more than 25 lots, R.S. 9:1141.34 builds the budget around owner ratification: 1. The board adopts a proposed budget at least once a year. 2. Within 30 days, the board sends every owner a summary of the budget, including reserves and how they are calculated and funded. 3. At the same time, the board sets a members' meeting 10 to 60 days after the summary goes out. 4. A majority vote ratifies the budget unless the declaration requires more. If owners reject it, the last ratified budget stays in effect. Sample calendar: adopt the proposed budget October 13, mail the summary and meeting notice October 20, vote November 30. Members' meetings need 30 to 60 days' notice when the bylaws are silent, so leave at least 30 days, not the 10-day minimum. Special assessments follow the same ratification steps. The exception is an emergency: if two-thirds of the directors present and voting find a special assessment necessary to respond to an emergency, it takes effect at once. The board must tell owners promptly and spend the money only on the purpose stated in the vote. Under R.S. 9:1141.3(H) and the official revision comments, older communities keep their existing method of preparing budgets and voting on assessments. If your declaration lets the board set dues, that still controls.

Rules, owner complaints and fines

Before adopting, changing or repealing a rule, R.S. 9:1141.37 requires the board to send owners the text and the date it will act, then consider their comments. After the vote, the board tells owners what it did. Every rule must be reasonable, and the board must set a deadline for deciding architectural applications. R.S. 9:1141.20(A)(1)(c) adds a duty that many Louisiana boards have never had: the association must set reasonable procedures for written complaints from owners. It may cover a complaint form, a written acknowledgment, a response time and a written final decision. Adopt a one-page procedure and post it with your governing documents. An association may impose reasonable fines and suspend privileges of an owner who is delinquent or in violation, but it may never deny an owner access to their own lot, or cut off a service if doing so would endanger health, safety or property. Sample rule notice: 'The board proposes the attached rule limiting trash container storage to the side or rear of each home. Send written comments to the secretary by March 3. The board will consider comments and vote at its March 10 meeting.'

Collections under the rewritten privilege law

R.S. 9:1145 through 9:1148 cover HOAs and condominium associations alike. They sit outside the Planned Community Act, so the gap-filling rule in 9:1141.3 does not limit them. The steps: 1. Written demand. Mail, courier or email to the address the owner designated all work, as does any method reasonably calculated to give notice. Certified mail is no longer required. 2. Wait 30 days. Any payment goes first to assessments, then late charges, then collection costs and attorney fees, then fines, other fees and interest. 3. File a sworn detailed statement of privilege in the parish mortgage records, signed by an officer or agent. It lists the property, the record owner, the delinquency date, dues and fines owed, and the demand date. Send the owner a copy. 4. Watch two clocks. For fines, the privilege is lost as to third persons unless a notice of pendency of action is recorded within 1 year. For dues and reasonable assessments, the limit is 5 years. The privilege ranks ahead of mortgages recorded after it. A suit needs board approval, and the court may award fees to the prevailing party, which cuts both ways. When an owner asks in writing, the association has 10 business days to give a statement of unpaid assessments, and that statement binds the association. Under R.S. 9:1141.32(C), if an owner misses 3 or more months of assessments in any 8-month period after a delinquency notice, the association may accelerate 12 months of assessments and include them in the privilege. Our guide on the past-due dues timeline for boards covers the letters.

Records the association must keep

R.S. 9:1141.36 lists what to keep, in paper or electronic form, including accounting records, minutes other than executive sessions, an owner list with voting interests, current rules and contracts, financial statements and tax returns for 3 years, architectural decisions, and ballots and proxies for 1 year after each vote. Owners, their agents and buyers under contract can inspect and copy records during reasonable hours. The association may charge a reasonable fee for copies and for supervising the inspection, and it does not have to compile data into a new report. It may withhold personnel and medical files, litigation and attorney material, executive session records and other owners' lot files. Our guide on how an HOA board should respond to a records request covers the logging and reply letter.

Flags, removal votes and the 2027 lot disclosure

- Flags: R.S. 9:1114, from Act 224 of 2025, bars a planned community or condominium association from banning a removable, portable U.S. flag. You may still set reasonable rules on size, time, place and manner. An owner can get an injunction, plus court costs and attorney fees. Section 2 of the act limits it to covenants and declarations created after its August 1, 2025 effective date. - Removing directors: R.S. 9:1141.39 lets owners remove an elected director or officer, with or without cause, by majority vote at a meeting with a quorum, if the notice said removal would be voted on. The director must get a chance to speak first. The section overrides contrary documents by its terms, so ask counsel how that fits 9:1141.3 if your bylaws differ. - Lot sales: Act 708 of 2026 amends R.S. 9:3196 through 9:3199. Starting January 1, 2027, the seller's property disclosure document covers vacant residential lots as well as homes, including the statement telling the buyer whether membership in a homeowners association is required and whether the lot is under a common set of restrictions. Keep a one-page summary of dues and restrictions ready for lot buyers.

What to do before the next annual meeting

1. Put your bylaws next to R.S. 9:1141.26, 9:1141.34 and 9:1141.36 and list every topic where the documents are silent. 2. Adopt and send a calendar of regular board meetings. 3. Adopt a written owner complaint procedure. 4. Switch delinquency demand letters to the 9:1146 delivery methods and payment order, and calendar the 1-year and 5-year privilege deadlines. 5. Set a 10-business-day turnaround for payoff statements. Sample motion: 'Move to adopt the attached 2027 schedule of regular board meetings and send it to all owners under R.S. 9:1141.38, and to adopt the attached written complaint procedure under R.S. 9:1141.20(A)(1)(c).'

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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