Can You Opt Out of an HOA in Arizona?

If you buy a home in an Arizona community with a recorded declaration, HOA membership is mandatory, and you cannot cancel it, refuse the obligations, or disassociate from the association while you own the property. You become a member simply by signing the paperwork to buy the home. The only reliable way to avoid an HOA is to decide before you write the offer, which in the Prescott area means buying in a subdivision or on acreage that never had a declaration recorded against it.

What an Arizona HOA actually is and which law governs it

An HOA is an owners' association created by documents recorded against the land, not an optional club you sign up for. Arizona HOA law is governed primarily by the Arizona Planned Communities Act at A.R.S. Title 33, Chapter 16, sections 33-1801 through 33-1818. Under A.R.S. § 33-1802, a planned community is a residential development where an owners' association manages common property and the recorded declaration requires owners to be mandatory members and pay assessments. Condominiums under Chapter 9, timeshare plans, and developments without an association fall outside that Act. Condominium associations are separately governed under the Arizona Condominium Act at A.R.S. § 33-1201 et seq.

Three documents do the work. Articles of Incorporation establish the HOA as a legal entity. The Declaration, commonly called the CC&Rs, outlines the core responsibilities and restrictions that apply to properties in the community and is recorded with the county. Bylaws cover board structure, meeting protocols, and voting procedures. If a rule conflicts with a higher-level document, the CC&Rs control.

The Chapter 16 statutes apply to all planned communities formed after January 1, 1986, and to many formed before that date if they elected to be governed by the current law. The Act applies regardless of when a qualifying community was created. If your subdivision has recorded CC&Rs creating a planned community with mandatory membership and the power to levy assessments, the Act applies to it.

You cannot refuse to join an HOA that already exists

Membership is mandatory. A buyer does not have to do anything to become a member, and the status is earned by signing the paperwork to buy the home. There is no election to decline, no form to sign out, and no negotiation with the seller that changes it.

By purchasing in an HOA community, you contractually agree to abide by the CC&Rs, and courts have consistently upheld HOA enforcement powers as valid contract law. If the developer recorded certain documents, Arizona law generally imposes knowledge of the association's existence on you even if you had no actual knowledge. "I didn't know" is rarely a good defense.

Arizona's statute sets a floor. Governing documents can give homeowners more rights than the statute requires, but they cannot give homeowners fewer.

Leaving a mandatory HOA after you buy is difficult and often impossible

You may not want to be a member, but you cannot ignore the restrictions, refuse to honor the obligations, cancel your membership, or disassociate from the association. Getting out of a mandatory HOA, which is the most common type, is usually very difficult, and short of selling the home it may be impossible.

There are narrow exceptions. You may have a case for removal if your CC&Rs include a de-annexation clause, if the HOA has stopped functioning, if the governing documents contain legal errors, or if a court determines the property was never legitimately included. Most of those routes require an attorney.

A voluntary HOA is a different situation entirely. If your association is voluntary, you can leave at any time. The distinction is in the recorded declaration, which is why reading it matters more than asking a neighbor.

What happens if you stop paying assessments

Under A.R.S. § 33-1807, the association has a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit from the time the assessment becomes due. If an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount of the assessment is a common expense lien from the time the first installment becomes due.

That common expense lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage on real estate. Before filing a foreclosure action, the board must exercise reasonable efforts to communicate with the member and offer a reasonable payment plan. Short of foreclosure, an association may take away your privileges to use the common facilities or file a lawsuit for a money judgment against you.

SB 1494 amended A.R.S. § 33-1807 to bar a planned community association from initiating a judicial lien foreclosure until the owner has been delinquent for a set period or the unpaid assessment reaches a set amount, whichever occurs first, replacing the prior threshold. That raised threshold applies only to planned communities; condominiums remain under the earlier threshold. HB 2648, passed in 2024, introduced the distinction between common expense liens and fine liens, making fines non-foreclosable as assessment liens. An HOA cannot foreclose for non-payment of a violation fine or penalty and must either rely on voluntary payment or sue to recover it.

Three Arizona bills affecting HOA governance took effect September 26, 2025, after the 2025 legislative session adjourned June 27, 2025.

Arizona is one of the few states where a homeowner can file an HOA complaint with a state agency. A.R.S. § 33-1817 gives the Arizona Department of Real Estate authority in HOA complaints, and the department manages a dispute process in which homeowners file petitions heard by an Administrative Law Judge. That process resolves disputes. It does not end your membership.

How to find out what binds a property before you write the offer {#how-to-check-before-you-offer

Written by Desiree Basua, part of the Kristan Cole Network team.