What Should I Prepare Before Listing a Home with an HOA in Scottsdale?

If your Scottsdale home sits in an HOA-governed planned community or a condominium, Arizona law requires a resale disclosure package at sale, and the work you do before listing is assembling that package and clearing anything inside it that a buyer or a lender will question. Planned communities fall under A.R.S. § 33-1806 and condominium units under A.R.S. § 33-1260, and HB 2397, Laws 2026, Chapter 249, signed June 22, 2026 with an effective date of September 12, 2026, expanded what the packet must contain. In a Scottsdale market where homes sold at a 96.2% sale-to-list ratio with 77 median days on market and 30.3% of listings taking price drops in August 2026, an HOA problem discovered mid-escrow is an expensive discovery.

What an HOA resale disclosure package is

The resale disclosure package is the set of association documents and a dated disclosure statement that must go to the buyer when a home in an HOA-governed planned community or a condominium is sold. Arizona requires it by statute: A.R.S. § 33-1806 for planned communities and A.R.S. § 33-1260 for condominiums. The association prepares and delivers it in most cases, and in communities with fewer than fifty units the selling member does. For associations with 50 or more units, delivery follows written notice of a pending sale that identifies the purchaser.

HB 2397 changed the trigger. The disclosure obligation now attaches to acceptance of the purchaser's offer rather than a pending sale, electronic transmission of the required items is allowed, and delivery to the purchaser's designated agent is permitted.

The documents a buyer will read during due diligence

The statutory package contains the governing documents and the association's financial picture. The governing documents are the declaration, which most owners know as the CC&Rs, the bylaws, and the association rules. HB 2397 specifies that the included bylaws and rules must be current and that the included declaration must be the current recorded declaration.

The financial materials are the current operating budget, the most recent annual financial report, and the most recent reserve study if one exists. HB 2397 added income and expense statements for both the operating account and the reserve account, plus the minutes of the three most recent open board meetings. Where the most recent reserve study runs longer than 10 pages, a summary may be included in its place.

The dated disclosure statement itself has to carry specific content, and it must be accurate as of the date it is issued:

• Association contact information
• The amount of regular and unpaid assessments owed by the seller
• Whether insurance covers the unit
• Total reserves held by the association
• Any known alterations that violate the declaration
• Case names and case numbers for pending litigation regarding the unit, filed by the association against the member or by the member against the association, excluding anything that would violate attorney-client privilege

The package also includes a buyer acknowledgment the buyer signs, confirming the buyer has read and understands the governing documents and that unpaid assessments can lead to foreclosure.

Two practical points for a seller. If the statement is furnished by the member rather than the association, it must state whether the member knows of any alterations or improvements to the unit that violate the declaration. And nothing in the statute relieves a seller of the obligation to disclose alterations or improvements that violate the declaration, nor does it prevent the association from acting against the purchaser for violations that were apparent at the time of purchase and not reflected in the association's records.

Order the package early. The buyer's review window runs only once all required documents are received, and partial delivery, CC&Rs without the reserve study for example, does not start the clock. Buyers generally have five days to review the documents after receipt.

How to confirm paint, landscaping, and modifications comply

Start with the Architectural Guidelines or Design Standards inside your own community's documents. Those guidelines set the process for exterior changes including paint, fencing, roofing, windows, solar, and landscaping, and many Scottsdale communities require written approval before any visible modification. Most exterior changes in Scottsdale HOAs require written approval from the Architectural Review Committee, and applications often include photos, plans, and sometimes neighbor notification.

Many Scottsdale neighborhoods are master-planned or gated communities with stricter architectural and lifestyle standards than smaller condo associations, and an HOA can be more restrictive than the city. Gated and master-planned areas including DC Ranch, Gainey Ranch, and Troon have architectural review boards.

HOA approval and city approval are separate steps. Scottsdale Development Services issues permits for regulated structural work, and architectural committee approval remains separate from city permitting where the CC&Rs require architectural review before construction. Municipal compliance alone does not satisfy HOA design or notice requirements. A city permit does not guarantee HOA approval, and HOA approval does not replace a city permit, so both are often needed.

Before you list, pull the approval letter for every change made during your ownership: paint color, roof replacement, pool, casita, patio cover, driveway, wall height, landscaping conversion, solar. If you have the letter, put it in the file. If you do not, treat it as an open item.

What to do when approval for past work is missing

Building without HOA approval is usually a violation of the governing documents even when the city issued a permit. The association may demand that work stop, impose fines, deny after-the-fact approval, or ask a court to order removal and restoration. An architectural committee may have authority to approve a project before construction but not to waive a violation after construction, and the board may determine that a structure cannot be approved at all.

The sequence for resolving it before you market the property:

1. Request the applicable CC&Rs, architectural guidelines, application form, enforcement policy, and fine schedule.
2. Ask the association to identify the exact provision violated.
3. Submit an accurate after-the-fact application if the association allows one, with plans, dimensions, materials, surveys, permits, photos, drainage details, and utility information.
4. Ask whether redesign, conditional approval, a variance, or a removal schedule is available.

Arizona homeowners have the right to written notice before fines are levied and an opportunity to cure violations, and the right to request a formal hearing before the board to contest a fine or a violation.

The permit side needs the same attention. In Scottsdale, if a site plan reveals an existing structure that was never permitted, reviewers may flag it and require retroactive permitting, and a retroactive permit often involves more extensive inspections and documentation than a standard permit. Unpermitted structures can complicate a sale because title companies and buyers' lenders may require proof of permits. As-built floor plans are required when original permit drawings are unavailable or the home was modified without permits, and Scottsdale's building department requires accurate as-builts for renovation or addition permits on older homes.

How assessments, liens, and violations affect closing

An association's common-expense lien attaches when an assessment becomes due and is perfected automatically by the recorded declaration, with no separate recording required. An HOA may also record a Notice and Claim of Lien with the County Recorder for public notice, and some CC&Rs require it. The lien covers unpaid assessments, late charges where the CC&Rs authorize them, reasonable collection costs, and court-awarded attorney fees.

Escrow is where this gets settled. The association must furnish a payoff statement within ten days of a written request, and failure to give that statement to a licensed escrow agent extinguishes the lien then due under A.R.S. § 33-1807(J). Buyers commonly ask the agent or escrow to request an estoppel or payoff statement to confirm assessments and any amounts due at closing. Fines are member expenses under A.R.S. § 33-1802(5) and are not enforceable as a common expense lien under § 33-1807(B), though they are collected when the house sells.

Fees are capped on the disclosure side and not on the transfer side. A.R.S. § 33-1806(C) allows the association to charge the member a fee of not more than an aggregate of four hundred dollars for preparation and delivery of the resale disclosure statement, lien estoppel, and other transfer-related services. It also allows a rush fee of not more than one hundred dollars where rush services must be performed within seventy-two hours of the request, and an update fee of not more than fifty dollars where thirty days or more have passed since the original disclosure statement or delivery. A separate transfer fee is not capped, and where the CC&Rs authorize one the HOA can charge what the documents allow.

Special assessments sit outside the statutory fee cap and are governed by the CC&Rs. Declarations vary: some require a supermajority owner vote, some allow board approval up to a dollar threshold, and some set no limit. Know which applies in your community, and know whether a project is on the board's agenda, before a buyer asks.

What a lender checks in a condominium project

If you are selling a condominium, your buyer's financing depends on the project, not only on the unit. The standard condominium project questionnaire is published as Fannie Mae Form 1076 and Freddie Mac Form 476, and the lender uses it to decide whether the project is eligible for financing.

Form 1076 asks how many unit owners are 60 or more days delinquent on common expense assessments, and whether the association is in active or pending litigation, with supporting documentation required if the answer is yes. It also asks whether a reserve study was completed within the past three years, the total current reserve balance, any current or planned special assessments with amounts and purpose, and whether the association has borrowed to fund improvements or deferred maintenance.

Information about critical repairs, deferred maintenance, and special assessments may come from HOA meeting minutes, financial statements, engineer's reports, or other documents, and the real estate agent or seller may also provide the documentation, as of August 2026. That is a seller's opening. Where a special assessment is tied to safety, soundness, structural integrity, or habitability, all related repairs must be fully completed. A project with an active special assessment can still be approved where the assessment is thoroughly documented, with lenders reviewing the purpose, the amount remaining to be collected, and whether it is tied to an unresolved critical structural repair or safety hazard.

Arizona has no statutory mandate requiring a planned-community or condominium association to conduct a reserve study or to fund reserves. Funding levels are governed by the documents and the board's fiduciary duty, and state law only requires that reserve information be disclosed to a buyer at resale. If your project has no current study and the lender asks for one, that is a gap you want identified before a buyer is under contract, not after.

The questions buyers ask about fees and enforcement

Buyer due diligence in Scottsdale HOAs runs along predictable lines: obtain the full resale disclosure packet, then confirm dues, special assessments, and violations. Buyers are advised to request board meeting minutes to spot big projects and recurring issues, which is the same material HB 2397 now folds into the packet through the minutes of the three most recent open board meetings.

Enforcement history comes up too. HB 2397 added information about insurance, declarant control, ownership concentration, violations tied to the property, and other association matters to the required packet, and it raised the liability standard for disclosure errors to knowing or reckless conduct. Associations and management companies must assemble more records, including board minutes, financial statements, and violation notices, when preparing resale disclosure packages.

A seller has a member's own route to the records. A.R.S. § 33-1805 gives members the right to examine the association's financial records, generally within ten business days of a written request. Use it before you list so you are reading the same financial statements your buyer will read.

Under HB 2397, a purchaser may accept the reported information, propose a cure to address concerns identified in it, or withdraw the offer without penalty or loss of earnest money. If a contract is canceled, the completed disclosure report must be returned to the seller. That is the practical case for resolving open items in advance.

What the Scottsdale numbers say about timing this work

The sale-to-list ratio was 96.2% and 30.3% of listings took price drops in August 2026.

At 96.2% sale-to-list citywide and 77 days on market, a buyer in Scottsdale is negotiating rather than bidding up, and an unresolved HOA violation or a missing approval letter is a negotiating point you hand over for free. Assembling the package and clearing the open items before the listing goes live keeps the conversation on price and condition.

The Bottom Line

Before you market a Scottsdale home in an HOA, order the resale disclosure package, read the current recorded declaration along with the current bylaws and rules, pull the operating budget, the most recent annual financial report, the reserve study, and the minutes of the three most recent open board meetings, and verify written architectural approval for every exterior change made during your ownership. Request the payoff statement so unpaid assessments and fines are quantified rather than discovered. Where approval for past work is missing, ask the association to identify the exact provision at issue and whether an after-the-fact application, redesign, conditional approval, or variance is available. In a market at 96.2% sale-to-list with 77 days on market as of August 2026, the compliance file is part of the preparation, not paperwork you handle later.

If you own in a Scottsdale HOA and want a pre-listing review of your association documents and open items, reach out and we will work through the file together before anything goes live.

Written by Don Aldrich, part of the Kristan Cole Network team.

Sources

Pages read on October 12, 2026.

• Fannie Mae: Media