What do the 2023-2026 Virginia HOA law changes require of volunteer boards?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 23, 2026

Virginia HOA law changes for boards: the Resale Disclosure Act, the $5,000 foreclosure floor, management contract exits, special assessments, and lien records.

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

What changed and when

Virginia laws generally take effect July 1 after the session. For associations under the Property Owners' Association Act, Va. Code 55.1-1800 and following, the recent changes a board has to act on are these. In 2023, HB2235 and SB1222 (Acts chapters 387 and 388) created the Resale Disclosure Act, Va. Code 55.1-2307 and following, and repealed the old POA disclosure packet. HB1519 (chapter 109) created section 55.1-1837, letting an association end an auto-renewing management contract. In 2024, HB880 and SB341 (chapters 55 and 349) set a $5,000 floor for lien foreclosure and added lien record duties. HB1209 (chapter 324) removed the owners' statutory right to rescind or reduce a special assessment and expanded borrowing powers. HB723 (chapter 82) made the board meeting rules apply whether or not the association is incorporated. In 2025, HB2750 (chapter 105) strengthened the management contract exit, and HB1704, SB808, and HB2110 adjusted the resale certificate. All of these took effect July 1 of their session year. The 2026 session did not amend the POA Act itself.

Resale certificates

Since July 1, 2023, a seller in a common interest community must obtain a resale certificate and give it to the buyer, and the association must deliver the certificate within 14 days of the request. The Common Interest Community Board publishes a standard form, and the certificate covers a long list of items, including restrictions on flags, solar, signs, parking, home businesses, and rentals, the current reserve study, and board minutes from the previous six months. The 2024 amendments in SB526 and HB876 made a certificate that is not delivered within 14 days "unavailable," which gives the buyer a three-day cancellation right, and allowed delivery to the buyer's authorized agent. In 2025, HB1704 and SB808 required the certificate to state that the governing documents may make an owner pay all or part of an insurance deductible, and HB2110 barred the association from requiring the buyer's name to prepare the certificate or putting it on the finished document.

Collections and foreclosure

HB880 and SB341 amended sections 55.1-1815 and 55.1-1833. The association may foreclose its lien only when the perfected liens total more than $5,000, not counting attorney fees and costs. A lien can be enforced for 120 months after it is recorded. The association must keep individual assessment account records for each owner, and keep records of each recorded lien for as long as the lien is in effect. HB1209 amended sections 55.1-1825 and 55.1-1826. Owners no longer have a statutory right to rescind or reduce an additional or special assessment. The board may borrow money for capital components and recommended reserve contributions and may pledge association revenues as security. The existing duty to have a reserve study at least every five years and review it each year still applies, and "reserve study" is now a defined term. SB672 (2024, chapter 685) clarified in section 55.1-1805 that assessments may cover the association's contractual and other legal obligations, and that charges against some but not all owners are allowed only where the Act authorizes them.

Management contracts

Self-managed boards often inherit a contract from a previous manager, or hire one for a few years and then take the work back. Section 55.1-1837, added in 2023, lets the association or the manager end a management contract that renews automatically, without cause, on at least 60 days' written notice. HB2750 (2025) added that termination under this section is without penalty, and that within a reasonable time after termination the manager must transfer all association funds and close the accounts it held for the association, at no extra cost. That gives a board leaving a manager a clear route out of an auto-renewal clause and a statutory basis for demanding the money back promptly.

The board's to-do list

Make sure whoever answers resale requests uses the current CICB form, delivers within 14 days, includes the insurance deductible statement, and does not ask for the buyer's name. Keep the last six months of minutes and the current reserve study ready to attach. Set up an individual assessment ledger for every lot, if your records are only a spreadsheet of balances, and keep a file for each recorded lien until it is released. Before any foreclosure vote, confirm the perfected liens exceed $5,000 without fees and costs, and check that the lien is within its 120-month enforcement period. Remove any language in your notices or budgets that tells owners they can petition to rescind a special assessment under the old statute. If you plan to borrow for reserves or a capital project, have counsel review the loan and any pledge of revenues. If you are leaving a manager, send the 60-day written notice under section 55.1-1837, cite the section, and ask for the funds transfer and account closure in the same letter. Confirm your board meetings follow section 55.1-1816 even if the association was never incorporated.

What did not change

Several rules that owners and boards often assume changed recently did not. The fine limits in section 55.1-1819, $50 per violation or $10 a day for a continuing violation up to 90 days, after 14 days' notice of a hearing by hand delivery or certified mail, have not changed. The records access timeline in section 55.1-1815, five business days for professionally managed associations and 10 for self-managed ones, is also older. The 2024 bills added only the record-keeping duties described above. The electronic meeting and voting rules in section 55.1-1832 were last amended in 2021. The EV charging section, the $50 cap on rental-related fees in section 55.1-1806, late fees in section 55.1-1824, and the annual report to the CICB in section 55.1-1835 have not changed recently either.

Common misreadings

The 60-day right to end an auto-renewing management contract dates from 2023, not 2025. The 2025 bill added the no-penalty language and the funds transfer. The official bill summary for HB880 as passed by the House framed the $5,000 floor around a primary residence, but the enacted text of section 55.1-1833 reads more broadly, so quote the statute. Several 2026 laws will reach associations indirectly starting in 2027. The overhaul of the Nonstock Corporation Act in SB246 and HB439 takes effect January 1, 2027, and the portable solar law in HB395 and SB250 says it does not override recorded declarations. Neither amends the POA Act. The 2024 short-term rental bills regulate localities, not associations.

Where to read the law

The Legislative Information System at lis.virginia.gov shows each bill's history, including the date the governor approved it and its Acts of Assembly chapter number. The current Code of Virginia is at law.lis.virginia.gov, and each section ends with a history line listing the Acts that amended it. Read Chapter 18 of Title 55.1 for the POA Act and Chapter 23.1 for the Resale Disclosure Act. Your declaration may impose stricter procedures that you also have to follow. Check with an attorney licensed in Virginia before relying on this for a lien, foreclosure, or contract termination.

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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