Amends and adds to existing law to revise provisions regarding homeowner's associations and to provide for joint ownership associations.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 963 BY WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATIONS; AMENDING SECTION 55-3204, IDAHO CODE,2 TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING THE ADMINISTRATION OF AN INCORPORATED OR3 UNINCORPORATED HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION; AMENDING CHAPTER 32, TITLE 55,4 IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 55-3204C, IDAHO CODE, TO5 ESTABLISH PROVISIONS REGARDING AUTOMATIC CONVERSION OF HOMEOWNER'S AS-6 SOCIATIONS TO JOINT OWNERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS; AMENDING CHAPTER 32, TITLE7 55, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 55-3214, IDAHO CODE,8 TO PROVIDE FOR JOINT OWNERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE9 DATE.10

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:11

SECTION 1. That Section 55-3204, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby12 amended to read as follows:13 55-3204. ADMINISTRATION OF AN INCORPORATED OR UNINCORPORATED HOME-14 OWNER'S ASSOCIATION. (1) Board meetings must be open to the members of the15 homeowner's association and any representative or agent designated in a16 signed writing by a member to represent the member.17 (2) An executive session at which members of the homeowner's associa-18 tion are excluded may be held upon a majority vote of the board for the fol-19 lowing purposes:20 (a) To consider matters of personnel, hiring, bid review, or contract21 negotiation;22 (b) To consider records that are not subject to disclosure under part23 11, chapter 30, title 30, Idaho Code;24 (c) To consult with an attorney for the purpose of obtaining legal ad-25 vice. The mere presence of legal counsel at a board meeting shall not26 justify entering into executive session;27 (d) To discuss ongoing or potential litigation, mediation, arbitra-28 tion, or administrative proceedings; or29 (e) To discuss sensitive matters related to an individual member's30 property or assessments, such as violations or delinquent assessments.31 (3) All homeowner's associations, whether incorporated or unincorpo-32 rated, shall:33 (a) Hold a meeting of the membership each calendar year. Such meeting34 may be conducted in person or, with the approval of a simple majority of35 the members, through an electronic or hybrid meeting model;36 (b) Be governed by the provisions of sections 30-30-501 and 30-30-505,37 Idaho Code, as those provisions relate to notice of meetings of the38 homeowner's association. The board may adopt a process for members to39 choose to receive notice of any meeting of the homeowner's association40 by electronic means rather than by mail. All dates and information of41 the notice must remain the same as a mail notice;42

2 (c) Take minutes from all meetings of the homeowner's association, in-1 cluding membership meetings and board meetings, and preserve such min-2 utes for a minimum of ten (10) years; and3 (d) Determine and establish the amount of assessments in accordance4 with the governing documents or, in the event the governing documents5 do not include such language, with the approval of a majority of the6 members of the homeowner's association.7 (4) At a meeting of the membership, to constitute a quorum on a matter,8 ten percent (10%) of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter shall be rep-9 resented in person, by proxy, by mailed written ballot, by absentee ballot,10 or by means of remote communication to the extent authorized by the board of11 directors.12 (4) (5) At an annual meeting of the homeowner's association, board mem-13 bers shall declare any conflict of interest or familial relationship that14 exists with respect to such board member and any person or entity who has pre-15 viously entered into or seeks to enter into a service contract with the home-16 owner's association.17 (5) (6) A board of a homeowner's association may not use its power to18 adopt rules governing the common property to expand the provisions of the re-19 strictive covenants as they relate to a member's property.20 (6) (7) All homeowner's associations, whether incorporated or unincor-21 porated, shall be governed by sections 30-30-502 and 30-30-608, Idaho Code,22 as those sections relate to the removal of a board member and the process of23 calling a special meeting for such removal.24 (7) (8) Unincorporated homeowner's associations shall be governed by25 bylaws that provide for at least the following:26 (a) A requirement that the homeowner's association holds at least one27 (1) meeting each calendar year;28 (b) A requirement that notice of any meeting of the homeowner's associ-29 ation be published and distributed to all members of the homeowner's as-30 sociation;31 (c) A requirement that the minutes of all homeowner's association meet-32 ings be taken and preserved;33 (d) A method of adopting and amending fees; and34 (e) A provision that no fees or assessments of the homeowner's asso-35 ciation may be increased unless a majority of all members of the home-36 owner's association vote in favor of the increase.37 (8) (9) If a homeowner's association violates any of the provisions of38 this chapter and a member prevails in a legal action to protect his rights,39 the member shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's fees.40

SECTION 2. That Chapter 32, Title 55, Idaho Code, be, and the same is41 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-42 ignated as Section 55-3204C, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:43 55-3204C. JOINT OWNERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS -- CONVERSION. (1) Any home-44 owner's association that has been in existence for ten (10) years or more,45 pursuant to the date of the filing of articles of incorporation or the date of46 establishing bylaws for unincorporated homeowner's associations, as of Jan-47 uary 1, 2027, shall automatically convert to a joint ownership association48 (JOA), as provided in section 55-3214, Idaho Code, on January 1, 2030, unless49

3 its members vote against such conversion pursuant to the provisions of this1 section. Any homeowner's association that has been in existence for less2 than ten (10) years as of January 1, 2027, or that is created after January 1,3 2027, shall automatically convert to a JOA after ten (10) years from the date4 of the filing of articles of incorporation or the date of establishing bylaws5 for unincorporated homeowner's associations unless its members vote against6 such conversion pursuant to the provisions of this section.7 (2) A homeowner's association shall hold a meeting of its membership8 before the automatic conversion dates provided for in subsection (1) of this9 section to provide an opportunity for its members to vote against the auto-10 matic conversion of the homeowner's association to a JOA. A homeowner's as-11 sociation shall give notice to its members of the proposed meeting in accor-12 dance with the provisions of section 30-30-505, Idaho Code. The notice shall13 state that the purpose, or one (1) of the purposes, of the meeting is to con-14 sider the automatic conversion of the homeowner's association to a JOA and15 shall contain or be accompanied by a copy or summary of a plan of conversion,16 including a summary of the proposed JOA governing documents and the impacts17 of conversion. The plan of conversion shall provide for the transfer of as-18 sets and liabilities from the homeowner's association to the JOA, including19 transfer of title to all common property and transfer of all financial as-20 sets to the JOA. No automatic conversion of a homeowner's association to a21 JOA shall occur if a quorum is present and a majority of the votes represented22 and voting vote against such conversion.23 (3) If a majority of the members of a homeowner's association do not24 vote against the automatic conversion of the homeowner's association to a25 JOA, the homeowner's association shall convert to a JOA. Such vote shall con-26 stitute authorization to amend or terminate existing governing documents,27 to establish a JOA by filing articles of incorporation or by establishing28 bylaws for unincorporated JOAs, and to transfer common property and assets29 to the JOA. Upon incorporation or establishment of bylaws for unincorporated30 JOAs, all covenants, conditions, and restrictions granting the association31 authority to regulate anything other than preserving, maintaining, repair-32 ing, and managing common property shall be terminated. All terms necessary33 to preserving common easements, maintenance obligations, or other related34 items shall remain in effect unless expressly amended. All common property,35 including common areas, limited common areas, other property or improve-36 ments owned or maintained by a homeowner's association, or property owned in37 common by the members of a homeowner's association shall remain dedicated to38 the common use of the members of the JOA.39 (4) If a majority of the members of a homeowner's association vote40 against the automatic conversion of the homeowner's association to a JOA,41 the homeowner's association shall continue under the same terms. Home-42 owner's associations shall automatically convert to JOAs ten (10) years43 after the date of the first successful vote against automatic conversion.44 Automatic conversion shall occur every ten (10) years thereafter while a45 homeowner's association is in existence unless and until the members fail to46 vote against such conversion and the homeowner's association is automati-47 cally converted as provided in this section.48

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SECTION 3. That Chapter 32, Title 55, Idaho Code, be, and the same is1 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-2 ignated as Section 55-3214, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:3 55-3214. JOINT OWNERSHIP ASSOCIATIONS -- CREATION. (1) A joint owner-4 ship association may be created as provided in this section in lieu of a home-5 owner's association. For purposes of this section, a "joint ownership asso-6 ciation" or "JOA" means any incorporated or unincorporated residential as-7 sociation in which membership is based on owning or possessing an interest in8 real property and that has ownership of common property with the authority to9 preserve, maintain, repair, and manage such property. Common property means10 any property owned by the JOA that is available to all members of the commu-11 nity, including but not limited to private roads, parks, open spaces, recre-12 ational facilities, and water rights.13 (2) A JOA shall have the authority to:14 (a) Levy assessments against lots for the actual and reasonable costs15 incurred in the maintenance and management of common property;16 (b) Obtain insurance for common property; and17 (c) Enter into contracts necessary for the maintenance and management18 of common property.19 (3) A JOA shall not have the authority to adopt or enforce any rules reg-20 ulating conduct that is not directly related to common property. A JOA shall21 not have the authority to regulate aesthetic standards, land use restric-22 tions beyond those imposed by law, or private covenants unrelated to common23 property.24

SECTION 4. This act shall be in full force and effect on and after Jan-25 uary 1, 2027.26