Arizona HOA reserve disclosure rules, explained

Who this page applies to

This page explains the Arizona planned community rule under A.R.S. § 33-1806 and the Arizona condominium rule under A.R.S. § 33-1260, specifically how each statute treats reserves and reserve studies as part of resale disclosure.

It does not cover:

• HOA governance sections outside the resale disclosure statutes — other Arizona provisions or the association’s own governing documents may matter for a specific community.
• Timeshare plans governed separately under Arizona law.
• Cooperative housing arrangements that do not fall under the condominium or planned community acts.

If your community is an Arizona planned community (§ 33-1806) or condominium (§ 33-1260), the reserve items below are the statute-level disclosure checks to start with.

The rule in ordinary language

Arizona HOA reserves are disclosure-driven at resale. The official text requires reserve information to be handed to a purchaser as part of the resale package, but the two cited sections do not set a statewide reserve-funding percentage or a fixed reserve-study cycle.

Three things follow from that:

1. The disclosure package must include the total held as reserves. Both § 33-1806 (planned communities) and § 33-1260 (condominiums) require disclosure of the total amount held as reserves to prospective purchasers as part of the resale documentation.
2. The reserve study is disclosed “if any.” Both sections require a copy of the most recent reserve study, if any. That phrase matters: the cited text contemplates that an association may have no reserve study to attach.
3. Size changes who delivers. The two statutes distinguish associations with fewer than 50 units from those with 50 or more units for who must furnish the disclosure within 10 days. In smaller communities the seller is named; in larger communities the association is named.

There is no reserve-study cycle or funding formula in these two sections. The statutory lever is the buyer’s right to see what the association actually has, not a promise that the balance is adequate.

What is actually different about Arizona

Three things readers routinely get wrong, specifically in Arizona:

1. Arizona’s reserve statute hook is a buyer-disclosure hook. If you are looking in A.R.S. § 33-1806 or § 33-1260 for a statewide funding mandate, it is not in the cited text. The posture is transparency at resale, not adequacy of reserves.
2. “Most recent reserve study, if any” means the absence matters. A missing study is not the same fact pattern as a current study showing weak reserves. Buyers and boards should treat those as different risks.
3. Under or over 50 units changes the actor. Arizona is one of the states where a size threshold genuinely changes procedural responsibility. A unit owner in a 40-unit association may be the party legally required to deliver the disclosure on a 10-day clock — something sellers sometimes delegate to the association without realizing the statute names them.

Operational questions to ask

If you are a buyer:

• Did you receive the total reserves held and a copy of the most recent reserve study, if any, with the resale disclosure package? These are the two reserve-specific items the statute names by content.
• If the response is “we have no reserve study,” ask how the reserve balance was calculated and what major components are expected over the next five years.
• Was the disclosure delivered within the statutory window from your request? The 10-day clock runs against either the unit owner or the association depending on association size.

If you are on a board:

• For each resale request, is the association or unit owner (depending on size under § 33-1806 or § 33-1260) actually delivering the required items, including the total reserves and any current reserve study?
• Is the “total reserves held” number an account balance, a funded-component number, or a projection? The statute asks for disclosure — make sure the disclosure is not ambiguous about what kind of number it is.
• If the association has no reserve study, is that fact being disclosed plainly, or is the package using generic wording that implies one exists?

If you are an owner:

• Do the association’s records match the reserve totals being disclosed to buyers? Material inconsistency between internal reporting and resale disclosures is the kind of anomaly that surfaces in litigation later.
• If the association has never commissioned a reserve study, ask the board to separate three facts in owner records: current reserve balance, expected capital projects, and whether a reserve study exists.

What to model next

The Arizona disclosure package gives you the inputs, not the conclusion. Once you have the reserve balance, the annual budget, and any reserve study, the practical question is whether the next five years can be funded without a surprise assessment or a dues shock.

For a specific community, use those figures in the five-year reserve calculator or start a buyer, owner, or board request. The useful comparison is not “does Arizona mandate a reserve study?” but “does this community’s disclosed reserve posture survive the work it already knows is coming?”

What to do next

If you are trying to decide what a specific Arizona community’s reserve posture means for a closing or a dues discussion, the next useful step is usually obtaining the actual resale disclosure package, reading the reserve total and any attached study against the current year’s budget, and confirming who was responsible for delivering it under the 50-unit split.

This page is an explainer, not legal advice. For the underlying statute text, follow the source link in the callout above and the condominium link in the first section.