In Spite of Its Ban on Prohibitions on Artificial Grass, Homeowners Need to Be Wary of How HOAs Can Take Advantage of HB2131’s Nuances

HOA Law

On March 30, 2022, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed HB 2131 into law. Sponsored by Representative Kavanaugh of Fountain Hills, the bill essentially limits an associations’ ability to enforce provisions of its Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&R) that include a prohibition on artificial grass. HB 2131 will become effective 91 days after the 2022 regular legislative session ends and will be established as A.R.S. § 33-1819.

As it made its way into the legislative process, HB 2131 was branded as a grassroots effort to conserve water and natural resources precipitated by a lawsuit involving a homeowner being forced by her HOA to remove her artificial grass and replace it with natural grass, which would require much more water to maintain. Proponents of the bill argued that HB 2131 could be used to overcome the strict application of the CC&R’s in favor of water conservation.

Under Arizona Law, homeowners’ associations, commonly known as HOAs, can be planned communities or condominiums. HOAs are often formed as nonprofit corporations. Sometimes HOAs can also be unincorporated associations of owners created pursuant to Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (aka “CC&Rs”), or recorded deed restrictions.  For planned communities, the CC&Rs create an entity that owns and operate portions of the association, such as common area. Through its CC&R’s, the homeowners association may have the authority to assess fines on homeowners when the homeowner deviates from it, which could include a prohibition on the installation of artificial grass.

HB 2131 states that, in essence, an HOA may not prohibit the installation of artificial grass on any member’s property.  That being said, the bill has its own nuances in its application. First, the bill only applies to HOAs that allow natural grass on a member’s property. Second, it provides HOA’s with a crucial workaround. HOAs are expressly permitted to adopt reasonable rules for the installation and maintenance of artificial grass and require its removal for health or safety issues. Third, the bill also states that “the prohibition on artificial turf does not affect the responsibility of an HOA to carry out both the express and reasonably implied intent of a declaration that states that the design standards of the planned community must be followed to protect the natural environment where the planned community is developed.”

In other words, an HOA may still prohibit the installation of artificial grass as long as certain parts of the statute and common law allow its prohibition. Homeowners should read the statutes carefully, in consideration of their association’s governing documents and seek clarity before installing new artificial grass on their property.