Ohio HOA & condo compliance, with the statute behind every deadline
Ohio regulates condos and non-condo HOAs (Ohio's own term is "planned community") under two separate laws — the Condominium Property Act (R.C. Chapter 5311) and the Planned Community Law (R.C. Chapter 5312) — and the two aren't twins. A planned community's owners association must incorporate as an Ohio nonprofit corporation; a condominium's unit owners association may incorporate, but it's optional. A planned community must fund reserves in every annual budget unless owners vote to waive it; Ohio's condominium act carries no reserve mandate at all. GnomeOwner's compliance calendar tracks duties from both acts, and shows the exact statute sentence behind each one, not just a due date.
This page covers both, each item labeled by which law it comes from.
Ohio planned-community board meetings are closed by default — the opposite of most states
Most states that regulate HOA board meetings at all give owners some right to attend. Ohio's Planned Community Law does the reverse: unless the board itself opens a meeting, owners who aren't directors have no right to attend or take part in it at all. The annual owners' meeting is a separate, required, at-least-once-a-year meeting the board must call once declarant control ends — but that's a members'-meeting duty, not a board-meeting right. Don't assume your Ohio planned-community board meetings are open just because your annual meeting is.
“No owner other than a director may attend or participate in any discussion or deliberation of a meeting of the board of directors unless the board expressly authorizes that owner to attend or participate.”
A few of the duties GnomeOwner tracks for Ohio condominium associations under the Condominium Property Act (R.C. Chapter 5311) and non-condominium planned communities under the Planned Community Law (R.C. Chapter 5312)
Every deadline here shows you the exact sentence of the statute it comes from, so you — or your attorney — can check it in seconds.
Maintain liability, property, and fidelity insurance
Keep in force at all times, unless your declaration or bylaws provide otherwise: liability insurance for unit owners and others lawfully on the property; fire and extended-coverage property insurance on all buildings and structures for at least 90% of replacement cost; and blanket fidelity, crime, or dishonesty coverage for anyone who controls or disburses association funds (covering the maximum funds ever in custody plus three months of operating expenses).
“Unless otherwise provided by the declaration or bylaws, the board of directors shall maintain, with the cost to be a common expense, all of the following:”
Keep required association records
Keep current at all times: correct and complete books and records of account for the common elements and other common receipts/expenses; records of common-profit, loss, and expense allocation among unit owners; minutes of association and board meetings; and a roster of unit owners' names, addresses, and undivided common-element interests.
“The unit owners association shall keep all of the following:”
Elect at least one-third of the board once developer sales reach 25%
Not later than 60 days after the developer has sold and conveyed condominium ownership interests appertaining to 25% of the undivided common-element interests, the unit owners association must meet, and unit owners other than the developer must elect at least one-third of the board of directors.
Your condominium's developer has sold and conveyed condominium ownership interests appertaining to 25% or more of the undivided common-element interests, and unit owners other than the developer haven't yet elected at least one-third of the board of directors.
“Not later than sixty days after the developer has sold and conveyed condominium ownership interests appertaining to twenty-five per cent of the undivided interests in the common elements in a condominium development, the unit owners association shall meet, and the unit owners other than the developer shall elect not less than one-third of the members of the board of directors.”
Incorporate your owners association as an Ohio nonprofit corporation
The declarant must establish the owners association no later than the date the first lot in the planned community is conveyed to a bona fide purchaser; the owners association itself must be organized as a nonprofit corporation under R.C. Chapter 1702.
“A declarant shall establish an owners association not later than the date upon which the first lot in the planned community is conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value. The owners association shall be organized as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code.”
Call an annual owners' meeting
At least once each year, the board must call a meeting of the owners association.
Your community is no longer under a period of declarant control (check your declaration for how long that control period runs).
“Except during a period of declarant control, the board shall call a meeting of the owners association at least once each year.”
Fund reserves in every annual budget, unless owners vote to waive it
Every annual budget must include reserves adequate to repair and replace major capital items in the normal course of operations, without needing a special assessment — unless owners holding a majority of the association's voting power waive the reserve requirement in writing, annually.
“Any budget shall include reserves in an amount adequate to repair and replace major capital items in the normal course of operations without the necessity of special assessments, unless the owners, exercising not less than a majority of the voting power of the owners association, waive the reserve requirement in writing annually.”
Let owners examine and copy association records
Standing duty — let any owner examine and copy the association's books, records, and minutes, subject to reasonable standards your board sets (timing, location, a copying fee). You may withhold records older than 5 years, and specific sensitive categories (personnel matters, attorney-client communications, active contract negotiations, enforcement records about another owner, or anything else legally protected), unless the board approves that access anyway.
“any owner may examine and copy the books, records, and minutes of the owners association that division (C) of section 5312.06 of the Revised Code describes, pursuant to reasonable standards set forth in the declaration, bylaws, or rules the board promulgates”
Every item above is drafted from Ohio’s statute text and shown beside the exact sentence it comes from — check any claim against the law’s own words. This page hasn’t had a full attorney review. Confirm anything you plan to act on with your own attorney or CPA; law as reflected here is current as of 2026-08-08.
This calendar is built from captured statute text whose newest visible amendment to either chapter dates to September 13, 2022 — this hasn't been independently checked against a live Ohio legislative index for anything more recent. Confirm current law with your attorney before relying on any figure here as fully current.
Ohio questions we hear a lot
Does Ohio require open board meetings for an HOA?
For a planned community (a non-condo HOA), no — the opposite of most states that address it. Ohio's Planned Community Law states plainly: “No owner other than a director may attend or participate in any discussion or deliberation of a meeting of the board of directors unless the board expressly authorizes that owner to attend or participate” (R.C. 5312.04(F)). The board must still call a separate annual owners' meeting once declarant control ends — but that's a members'-meeting duty, not a right to attend board meetings.
Does Ohio require HOA incorporation as a nonprofit?
Yes, for a planned community — and it's mandatory, not optional: “A declarant shall establish an owners association not later than the date upon which the first lot in the planned community is conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value. The owners association shall be organized as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to Chapter 1702” (R.C. 5312.03(B)). Ohio's condominium act is genuinely different on this point — a condominium's unit owners association “may take any measures necessary to incorporate” (R.C. 5311.08(E)), but it's never required to.
Does Ohio require HOA reserve funds?
For a planned community, yes, in every annual budget: “Any budget shall include reserves in an amount adequate to repair and replace major capital items in the normal course of operations without the necessity of special assessments, unless the owners, exercising not less than a majority of the voting power of the owners association, waive the reserve requirement in writing annually” (R.C. 5312.06(A)(1)). Ohio's Condominium Property Act carries no equivalent reserve mandate at all — it only requires a developer to disclose to a buyer whether a reserve fund exists, a real, confirmed difference between Ohio's two association laws.
When must an Ohio condo elect owner-controlled board members?
In stages, tied to how much the developer has sold. Not later than 60 days after the developer has conveyed 25% of the undivided common-element interests, unit owners other than the developer must elect at least one-third of the board (R.C. 5311.08(C)(2)(a)). Developer control ends — and owners elect the full board — no later than 5 years after an expandable condominium's association was established, or 3 years for a non-expandable one, whichever comes first.
Can an older Ohio HOA's own documents override the Planned Community Law?
Sometimes, if those documents predate September 10, 2010. The Planned Community Law reaches every Ohio planned community regardless of age, but it doesn't simply override an older community's existing governing documents: “Nothing in this chapter invalidates any provision of a document that governs a planned community if that provision was in the document at the time the document was recorded and the document was recorded prior to” September 10, 2010 (R.C. 5312.02(C)). The chapter fills gaps rather than replacing what's already there — it controls where an older document is silent, and yields where that document already speaks directly to the same subject. If your community's governing documents predate September 10, 2010 and directly conflict with a rule this page tracks, ask your attorney which one actually controls before assuming this page's version wins.
Is GnomeOwner's Ohio compliance calendar reviewed by a lawyer?
Every deadline on this page is shown beside the exact sentence of the statute it comes from — so you can check each claim against the law's own words, right here on the page. What this page hasn't had yet is a full attorney review. It's legal information, not legal advice: confirm anything you plan to act on with your own attorney.
Also covered: North Carolina, Nevada, Virginia, Arizona, Washington, South Carolina, Illinois, Oregon, Utah, California, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Florida, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wyoming, Connecticut, Alaska, West Virginia, Vermont, Delaware, Alabama, Montana, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Dakota, Maine, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Tennessee. More states are added as their compliance calendars are built — see the full list.
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