Pennsylvania HOA Laws: Fines, Foreclosure & Your Rights (2026)

Pennsylvania has three frameworks. Planned communities created after December 21, 1996 (with more than 12 units) fall under the Uniform Planned Community Act; condominiums fall under the Uniform Condominium Act; older HOAs are governed almost entirely by their own documents plus contract and nonprofit law — and there, if the documents don’t expressly grant fining power, the board may have very limited tools. There is no statewide fine cap: the UPCA supplies the framework, and your declaration and bylaws set the amounts and procedures. Written notice identifying the violation, the provision violated, and the fine amount or schedule is required before a fine is enforceable. Act 93 of 2006 protects display of the American, Commonwealth, and military flags (max 5×3 feet; wall brackets can’t be banned).

Pennsylvania associations have powerful lien rights. A lien attaches automatically the moment an assessment or FINE becomes due — and because recording the declaration counts as notice, the HOA never has to record a claim of lien. The lien can include past-due assessments, late charges, collection costs, fines, interest (capped at 15% per year), and certain administrative charges. Six months’ worth of delinquent assessments coming due before the foreclosure sale carry super-lien priority over even a first mortgage (paid from sale proceeds). Foreclosure is judicial, like a mortgage. Two protections: the association must sue (or seek a money judgment) within four years after the assessments become payable or the lien is extinguished, and on written request it must give you a statement of unpaid assessments within ten business days.

Pennsylvania has no statute broadly voiding HOA solar restrictions. Associations may set guidelines for solar installations, especially where the exterior appearance or shared structures are affected, but restrictions that effectively prevent a code-compliant solar energy system are on weak ground. Approval remains largely a governing-document question.

Under § 5316 (planned communities) and § 3316 (condominiums), all financial and other records must be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner after a written request. And Pennsylvania gives you a state escalation route: if the association fails to provide annual financial statements (and any independent accountant’s report) within 30 days of your written request, or won’t make financial records reasonably available, you may file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Attorney General’s Office — which under Act 17 of 2018 also handles complaints about meetings, quorums, voting, proxies, and records.

No. Everything here is general legal information for education. How a statute applies to you depends on your governing documents and facts we can’t see. For a dispute involving your money or your home, talk to a licensed Pennsylvania attorney. Read the full disclaimer.