Is Your HOA Actually Following the Rules? A Homeowner’s Governance Self-Audit

An HOA is bound by a stack of rules it didn’t get to write for itself: Arizona statutes, the recorded declaration, the articles and bylaws, and — only at the bottom — the board’s own rules. The question this guide answers is a practical one: how do you actually check whether your board is following all of that? Almost everything you need is a public record or something the law already entitles you to see.

1. Get your governing documents — and learn which rule wins

You can’t tell whether the board is following the rules until you know what the rules are, and in what order they control. From highest authority to lowest:

1. Federal and Arizona law (e.g., Title 33 and Title 10) — overrides everything below it;
2. The recorded Declaration / CC&Rs;
3. The Articles of Incorporation;
4. The Bylaws; and
5. The board’s rules and regulations.

A lower document can never override a higher one. A board rule that conflicts with the bylaws, the CC&Rs, or a statute is invalid to the extent of the conflict. Where to find each:

• CC&Rs are recorded — pull them from your county recorder (in Maricopa County, recorder.maricopa.gov) by subdivision name or your parcel.
• Bylaws and rules come from the association or its manager; you have a right to examine them under A.R.S. § 33-1805.
• Buying or selling? The resale disclosure package (§ 33-1806) bundles the declaration, bylaws, rules, budget, and financials in one delivery.

2. Confirm the HOA legally exists — and is in good standing

Most Arizona HOAs are nonprofit corporations, which means they have to keep up their corporate filings with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). Search your association at the ACC’s entity database (ecorp.azcc.gov). The key filing is the annual report:

“Each domestic corporation … shall deliver to the commission for filing an annual report that sets forth … the name and address of its agent … the names and business addresses of its directors and principal officers … A planned community association … shall attach … a separate statement containing the name of the designated agent or management company for the association …” — A.R.S. § 10-11622

3. Check that the board is properly elected and seated

Once the developer’s control period ends, the board is supposed to be elected by the members and serve the terms set in your bylaws — Arizona’s nonprofit law covers director election and terms at A.R.S. § 10-3804 and § 10-3805. Verify:

• Elections are actually being held, with proper member notice;
• Each sitting director’s term lines up — nobody is quietly serving years past their term or self-appointing without an election;
• The declarant-control period has genuinely ended if the community is built out.

If a director needs to go, members have a direct recall right under § 33-1813.

4. Audit open-meeting compliance

A.R.S. § 33-1804 requires that board and member meetings be open, that members get 48 hours’ notice and an agenda (after declarant control), and that members can speak before a vote. Closed (executive) sessions are limited to five specific topics, and the board must state which one applies. Audit checklist:

• Are meetings noticed in advance with a real agenda?
• Are substantive decisions made in the open — not by email, “workshop,” or a quiet quorum?
• When the board closes a session, does it identify the authorizing paragraph?
• If the board records its meetings, you’re entitled to the unedited recording (2025’s SB1039).

5. Test records access

A board that follows the rules can show you it does. Under § 33-1805, request the minutes, financials, contracts, and reserve study: the association has 10 business days, can’t charge you to review records, and can charge no more than 15¢ per page to copy. Corporate law adds a second lever — on written demand, § 10-11620 requires the association to furnish its latest annual financial statements (a balance sheet and statement of operations), and § 10-11602 gives members inspection rights over core corporate records. A board that stonewalls a proper records request is, itself, failing a governance test.

6. Follow the money

Two statutes make the finances checkable:

“… the board of directors shall provide for an annual financial audit, review or compilation of the association. The audit, review or compilation shall be completed no later than one hundred eighty days after the end of the association’s fiscal year and shall be made available upon request to the members within thirty days after its completion.” — A.R.S. § 33-1810

• Was the annual audit/review/compilation done within 180 days of fiscal year-end, and made available within 30 days of your request?
• Did a regular assessment jump more than 20% over the prior year without a member vote? § 33-1803 caps that.
• Do reserves look funded, and does actual spending match the budget?
• Are collections and late fees being handled within the limits of § 33-1807?

7. Look for conflicts of interest

Cross-reference the association’s vendors, attorneys, and collection agencies against the directors’ names and addresses. Under § 33-1811, a paid contract that benefits a director or a close relative must be disclosed in an open meeting before the board acts — and a contract entered in violation of that rule is void and unenforceable. An insider deal that never shows up in the minutes is exactly what this check is for.

8. Check elections and your voting rights

After declarant control, § 33-1812 bans proxy voting — votes must be cast in person or by absentee ballot. The statute also builds in an audit trail you can use:

“Ballots, envelopes and related materials, including sign-in sheets if used, shall be retained … and made available for member inspection for at least one year after completion of the election.” — § 33-1812(A)(7)

So if an election looked off, you can inspect the ballots and sign-in sheets for a year afterward. Also confirm the ballot met the basics: it listed each action, gave a for/against choice, allowed at least seven days to return, and carried the voter’s name, address, and signature.

9. Check fines and due process

If the association is issuing violations and fines, hold them to § 33-1803: penalties only after notice and an opportunity to be heard, the required written disclosures (including who reported the violation), and the 21-day / 10-business-day information exchange. Watch also for selective enforcement — the same rule enforced against some homeowners but not others is a governance failure even where it’s hard to litigate.

10. Document what you find — and escalate

Keep a clean paper trail: put requests in writing, send the important ones by certified mail, and save every response. If your audit turns up violations of the statutes or the governing documents, the homeowner’s primary remedy is a petition to the state:

• Statute or governing-document violations → the ADRE HOA Dispute Process, heard by an administrative law judge.
• Corporate-status problems (lapsed annual report, dissolution, wrong agent) → raise them with the Arizona Corporation Commission.

None of this is about catching a volunteer board in a “gotcha.” It’s about holding the association to the documents and the law that already bind it — the same standard it holds you to. A board that’s doing things right can answer every one of these ten questions. A board that can’t is telling you where to look.

Grounded in the text of A.R.S. §§ 33-1803, 33-1804, 33-1805, 33-1810, 33-1811, 33-1812, 33-1813 (Title 33, Ch. 16) and §§ 10-11620, 10-11622, 10-11602, 10-3804, 10-3805 (Title 10 nonprofit corporations). General homeowner education — not legal advice.