"If I fail to pay common expense assessments, I may be subject to collection activity by the association up to and including foreclosure action, without the equity protection of the Homestead Act."
Buyers of Arizona condos and HOA homes covered by the resale disclosure law now sign that sentence at the close of escrow. It comes from HB 2397, which rewrote the state's HOA resale disclosure rules and took effect on September 12, 2026. The acknowledgment is the last page. The rest of the law changes what lands in your inbox much earlier, and the timing matters a lot for Phoenix condo buyers this fall.
According to the Arizona Republic, the metro Phoenix median condo price has fallen to $315,000, its lowest level since 2021. Over the same stretch, the median monthly HOA fee has climbed about 40% since 2020, and the average 30-year mortgage rate was 7.4% according to Freddie Mac. A lower price on a condo can still mean a higher monthly bill, because more of the cost now sits in the association. The new resale packet is the first document in an Arizona transaction that has to show that cost in detail.
The packet arrives after you've agreed on a price
For a condominium with 50 or more units, the seller notifies the association once they accept your offer and gives it your name, email and mailing address. The association then has ten days to send the disclosure package to you or your designated agent, on paper or electronically. In smaller condos with fewer than 50 units, the seller delivers the information within ten days after the offer is accepted.
So you agree on a price first and read the association's finances second. Before September 12, that second step was thinner. Arizona's package already included the bylaws, rules, declaration, operating budget, annual financial report, most recent reserve study and a summary of pending lawsuits. What it didn't reliably show was the forward-looking cost: money the board has already approved but hasn't billed yet, the deductible you could share after a claim, and repairs that will be charged directly to your unit.
The market gives buyers a little room to use that information. In ARMLS's September 2026 report, which covers the broader Phoenix-area market and not condos alone, months of supply reached 4.45, up 11.94% from a year earlier. Median days on market were 63, and the median sale price of $450,000 was unchanged from September 2025. More listings and flat prices mean buyers usually have time to read what the HOA sends instead of rushing past it.
Where the monthly cost now shows up
The new items group neatly by what they tell you about your future payment. Here's what the condominium statute, A.R.S. 33-1260 as amended, now requires in the dated statement and the package around it:
- Your regular payment. The amount of the annual common expense assessment and its payment schedule.
- Bills already in motion. The remaining installments and payment schedules on any special assessment that has been approved and assessed.
- Bills that are coming. The amount and purpose of any special assessment the board has approved but not yet billed, or has submitted to owners for approval within the previous four months.
- Repairs with your name on them. Any known material deficiency in the common elements, or in the limited common elements tied to your unit, that would leave the buyer liable for directly assessed repair costs within six months of the purchase.
- One-time transfer charges. The amount and purpose of any title transfer fee or similar fee the declaration authorizes.
- How the money is actually being spent. The association's most recent income and expense statement for its operating and reserve accounts.
Two more additions often explain the numbers above. One is a copy of the board-approved minutes from the previous three open board meetings. Minutes are where a roof bid, a reserve discussion or a debate over an insurance renewal usually shows up first, often before any of it turns into an assessment. The other is any outstanding, unresolved violation cited against the unit, which tells you whether you'd be buying someone else's open dispute with the board.
Three lines only condo buyers will see
The Republic's report points to insurance as one of the pressures on Valley condo owners. The condo package now covers that and two more items that single-family HOA buyers won't see in the same form.
| New condo disclosure | What it tells you about cost |
|---|---|
| All association insurance certificates, with coverage limits and deductibles | How much of a building claim the association pays before the policy does, and what part of your unit the master policy covers |
| Whether the declarant still controls the association, and roughly what share of units it owns | Whether the original developer still holds the board and the vote on budgets and assessments |
| Whether a corporation or LLC owns and leases 35% or more of the units | How concentrated ownership is in a single landlord entity |
The deductible line is the one most likely to change your budget, because a high association deductible can turn into a special assessment after a claim. The ownership line matters because one entity holding a large block of units also holds a large block of votes. The statute requires both disclosures. What they mean for any particular building depends on that building's documents.
Planned communities, the HOAs common in Phoenix single-family subdivisions, have to disclose declarant control and the approximate share of platted lots the declarant still owns.
The ten-page rule and how to get the full report
If the annual audit, review or compilation report, or the reserve study, runs longer than ten pages, the association may send a summary instead of the whole document. The package has to tell you that you can request the full report, and the association must give you access within ten days after a written request.
If the reserve study is the document you most want to see in full, the ten days start with your written request. How that lines up with the dates in your purchase agreement is a question for your agent as soon as the package arrives.
If a property belongs to more than one association, such as a master community plus a sub-association, the package must say so and list each association's resale disclosure fee.
What HB 2397 did not add
Some of what circulated about this bill earlier in the year doesn't match the law that passed.
No new cancellation window. The bill as introduced included a five-day review period after disclosure that would have let buyers cancel without penalty. According to the Community Associations Institute's end-of-session report, that provision was removed completely before the bill passed.
The buyer doesn't pay the disclosure fee. An earlier committee fact sheet described fees that could be charged to the purchaser. The enacted text says the association may charge the unit owner, and the fee may be charged only once for the transaction.
A narrower liability standard. A buyer or seller harmed by a disclosure failure can now pursue remedies when the owner or association knowingly or recklessly failed to disclose required information or provided materially false or misleading statements. The information is based on good-faith reliance on association records, with no independent investigation required. In practice, the package reflects what the association's own records show. A condition the board has never documented won't show up in it.
A companion law, SB 1246, took effect the same day. It raised the condominium foreclosure threshold for unpaid assessments from $1,200 or one year to $10,000 or eighteen months, whichever comes first, which matches the standard planned communities already used. For a special assessment with an initial value of $10,000 or more, only the eighteen-month threshold applies.
If you're the one selling
The same rules work in reverse for Phoenix owners getting ready to list. The aggregate fee cap for resale disclosure, lien estoppel and related transfer services stays at $400, with a rush fee of up to $100 for work that has to be done within 72 hours. HB 2397 adds an optional update of up to $50 if 30 or more days have passed since the original report. These fees are collected no earlier than the close of escrow, and an association that charges an unauthorized fee faces a civil penalty of up to $1,200.
Sellers should also know that their board's last three sets of approved minutes and any open violation on their unit will now go to every buyer who gets under contract. Reading those minutes before you list tells you what a buyer will read ten days after accepting your offer, and how you price can account for it from the start.
A few questions I hear often
Does this apply to single-family homes in an HOA? Yes. HB 2397 amended both the condominium statute and the planned community statute, A.R.S. 33-1806, so HOA homes get the expanded package too. A few items, like the insurance certificates and the 35% ownership statement, appear in the condo provisions.
When does the package show up? Within ten days of the triggering notice. In a larger association, the trigger is the seller notifying the HOA of the accepted offer.
Can the package be emailed? Yes. The law now allows electronic transmission, and the documents can be paper or electronic.
This post is general information about what Arizona law requires. It isn't legal or financial advice, so please confirm how these rules apply to your purchase or sale with an Arizona real estate attorney or the right professional.
If you're weighing a Phoenix condo or getting one ready to sell, I'm happy to go through the HOA package with you line by line, from the special assessment schedule to the insurance deductibles, so you know the full monthly cost before your deadlines pass. Kelleigh Evans is a text or call away. Schedule a consultation whenever you're ready.
