Arizona HOA Parking Laws Archives - Halk, Oetinger, and Brown PLLC

Arizona’s planned communities are facing a significant shift in governance with the enactment of House Bill 2298. Effective from October 30, 2023, HB 2298 alters the control that community associations have over public roadways within their jurisdictions. This article aims to provide an overview of the bill and outline actionable steps for compliance, helping to ensure Arizona HOAs and planned communities are well-prepared to navigate these changes.

Key Provisions of House Bill 2298: Understanding the Details

The essence of Arizona House Bill 2298 lies in its specific provisions, which bring about a substantial change in how planned communities in Arizona manage parking rules and public roadways. This part of the legislation focuses for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 2015. Understanding these key provisions is the first step towards ensuring that your community is not only aware of the changes but is also taking proactive measures to align with the new legal requirements.

Authority Restriction for Post-2014 Declarations: Planned communities in which the declaration was recorded after December 31, 2014, may not regulate the public roadways within their communities.
Ongoing Regulations for Pre-2015 Declarations: For planned communities with declarations recorded before January 1, 2015, the situation is slightly different. These communities are currently allowed to maintain their existing public roadway regulations. However, this is not an indefinite grant of authority. By June 30, 2025, communities that wish to continue to regulate the public roadways are mandated to hold a vote among their members to decide whether they wish to continue exerting control over public roadways. At the meeting, a quorum must be present in-person or by absentee ballot. A majority of the votes cast must vote in favor of continuing to enforce on the public roadways in the community. If the vote fails, the community does not get a second chance. If the quorum is not met, then the association can attempt to call another meeting to hold the vote. If the vote passes, then a notice must be recorded with a county recorder stating that the association will continue to enforce on the public roadways.

Having a clear understanding of these key provisions is crucial, but it’s just the first part of the equation. Each planned community must now consider the practical steps they need to take to ensure compliance with HB 2298.

Steps for Ensuring Compliance with House Bill 2298

As HOA and planned community boards and members across the state address this new law, here are some of the key steps to ensure that your community adheres to the legal requirements and continues to foster a supportive and well-managed environment for all residents:

Initial Assessment: Start with identifying the date when your community’s declaration was recorded. This critical first step will determine your immediate priorities and legal needs in the context of HB 2298.
Organizing the Vote (For Pre-2015 Communities): Communities with pre-2015 declarations must prepare for a crucial vote by June 30, 2025. This process includes scheduling a meeting, educating members about the importance of this vote, and encouraging active participation to meet quorum requirements. Boards may wish to survey the members prior to scheduling the vote.
Documenting Outcomes: If your community votes to continue regulating public roadways, it’s imperative to officially document and record this decision. Our legal team is ready to assist in ensuring this documentation meets all legal standards.
Amending Guidelines: Depending on the outcome of your assessment or vote, it may be necessary to update your community guidelines. Our experienced HOA attorneys are equipped to guide you in revising these documents to ensure they are in full compliance with HB 2298.
Community Education: Transparency and clear communication are key in navigating these changes. Regular updates, informational meetings, and the dissemination of revised guidelines are essential to keep all community members informed and engaged.
Get Expert HOA Legal Guidance: As your community works through these steps to stay in compliance, our law firm is here to offer expert legal advice and support. We are committed to helping your community make any necessary updates to your governing docs and guidelines. We only represent HOAs and planned communities in Arizona.

These steps are designed to prepare your community for a seamless transition into compliance with HB 2298. By taking these actions, you ensure that your community is legally compliant and help avoid potential issues in the future.

Attorneys for HOAs Guiding You Through HB 2298 Compliance

Adapting to the changes brought about by House Bill 2298 is a significant undertaking for any planned community. However, with careful planning, clear communication, and expert legal support, this transition can be managed effectively, ensuring that your community continues to operate efficiently and in the best interests of its residents. Halk, Oetinger, and Brown is dedicated to guiding your community through every step of this process, providing the legal expertise necessary to navigate these changes efficiently and effectively. Schedule an initial consultation with our attorneys for HOAs today using our contact us page here.

Halk, Oetinger, and Brown shares this article for informational purposes only, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

As an HOA you need to ensure that you have provided means by which the cars in your communities are adequately regulated in order to achieve cohesion between homeowners. While many HOAs already have these parking rules in effect, some may not realize that their rules do not comply state and federal law or may not be specific enough to properly oversee the conduct of vehicle owners in the community. This article will outline how to properly establish and enforce parking rules in an Arizona HOA.

Establishing HOA Parking Laws in Arizona

HOAs will find it useful to educate themselves on the HOA parking rules in Arizona. They will be adequately equipped with understanding the kinds of rules they can establish in their communities. Restricting parking conduct will more than likely create a defensive homeowner or two so understanding what you as an HOA Board are allowed to do to handle parking incidents can be the decision that saves you from a lawsuit from disgruntled homeowners.

The first step is for your HOA board understands the local administrative control on public roads as well as the commercial and residential HOA parking rules as the boundaries within which you can establish parking laws. Then your HOA board will need to ensure that the HOA parking policies are conveyed to the community with specific details and clear, concise language.

Using vague language or sentences that can be interpreted in several ways will pose an issue when confronting parking violators. The specific jargon to use when creating policies is usually best handled by a seasoned Arizona HOA law firm to ensure that your policies are airtight and difficult to be misunderstood.

Arizona Residential Parking Laws

There are three main categories of residential parking laws an Arizona HOA board should focus on:

Parking Locations
Abandoned Vehicles
Prohibited Vehicles

Arizona HOA Rules on Parking Locations

The rules governing parking locations will vary depending on the layout of each HOA community. Some communities may have rules which mandate that each homeowner should park in their driveways while others may establish that each homeowner, sometimes their visitors as well, are assigned parking spots. It is important to adopt rules that do not conflict with the CC&Rs.

In addition to establishing where homeowners should park, it needs to specify the areas in the community that they are not allowed to park which may be: a) in front of another homeowner’s house b) in front of communal areas and b) on the streets in the community.

If your HOA community consists of both private and public roads, your authority to establish where HOA homeowners park may be limited to only the private roads in the community according to A.R.S. §33-1818, prohibiting Arizona HOAs in which the CC&Rs were recorded after 2014 from regulating how public roads in the community are used for parking. With the guidance of an HOA law firm, you will be able to understand whether the use of public roads can be legally regulated by the HOA board.

Arizona HOA Rules on Abandoned Vehicles

To ensure that homeowners don’t end up leaving abandoned vehicles parked in the community, HOAs may devise regulations for cars to be parked on the streets at a specified amount of time. extend to any vehicle including motorboats, trailers, or RVs. An HOA may also adopt rules that prevent unregistered or inoperable vehicles from being parked in the streets.

Arizona HOA Rules on Prohibited Vehicles

Your parking policy can also specify the types of cars that are allowed to park in the community. Vehicle attributes that they can specify include, but are not limited to, trailers, boats, un-drivable, junk vehicles, and RVs. Associations have the right to protect their community’s appearance.

All of these restrictions will need to be placed in the CC&R so that the homeowners would have had a chance to look at these rules before agreeing to purchase property in the community.

Enforcing HOA Parking Rules in Arizona

In the same manner that the scope in which HOAs can regulate the use of roads depending on whether these roads are private or public, HOAs’ authority to enforce these parking rules is also contingent on this variable.

On private streets, HOAs are authorized to enforce parking rules by means of fining violators, or in some cases, towing vehicles.

Towing of Vehicles in Arizona

Most states, including Arizona, permit HOAs to tow vehicles that violate the community’s parking policy. For instance, if a homeowner should park in a location that was established in the policy as prohibited, then HOAs will have authority to tow the vehicle out of the community which will also be reported to the local traffic law enforcement.

It is best to speak with an HOA attorney before enforcing parking rules in this way as there may have been steps, including appropriate signage and warnings, that could be taken before ultimately having to tow a homeowner’s property, potentially saving you the hassle of having to deal with disgruntled drivers filing lawsuits against the HOA board.

Work With An Arizona Law Firm That Specializes in Representing HOAs

As you may have noticed, establishing and enforcing parking policies in an HOA may be a bit tricky as there are many factors and federal laws to consider when organizing these rules. In order to ensure that your rules are established within the confines of state and federal laws and that these rules are overall reasonable, you will need the assistance of an experienced Arizona law firm that can guide you through the process. Halk, Oetinger, and Brown is a leader in HOA representation in Arizona because it’s our sole area of practice. Schedule an initial consultation to review your HOA representation needs on our contact us page.