Which Vermont Laws Govern Your HOA or Condo?

Vermont has one main statute for condominiums and planned communities, but how much of it reaches a given community depends on when the community was created and how big it is. The first step is matching your community to the right parts of the law. For your specific situation, a licensed Vermont attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

The main statute: the Vermont Common Interest Ownership Act (27A V.S.A.)

Title 27A "shall be known and may be cited as the Vermont Common Interest Ownership Act" (27A V.S.A. § 1-101), often shortened to VCIOA. It is Vermont's version of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, and it covers both forms of community in one code: condominiums, where owners hold undivided interests in the common elements, and planned communities, which the statute defines as "a common interest community that is not a condominium or cooperative" (§ 1-103(23)). That second category is where most lot-based HOAs fall.

Article 3 of the Act is where most day-to-day owner questions land. It addresses:

• Association powers and fines — the association may impose late charges and, "after notice and a hearing, may impose reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules of the association" (§ 3-102(a)(11))
• The executive board — board members not appointed by the declarant (the developer) owe the care and loyalty required of a corporate director "under Title 11B" (§ 3-103(a))
• Meetings — board meetings "shall be open to the unit owners except during executive sessions," with notice generally at least 10 days ahead (§ 3-108(b)(5))
• Assessments and budgets — assessments "shall be made at least annually, based on a budget adopted at least annually" (§ 3-115(a)), and a proposed budget is ratified unless a majority of all unit owners, or any larger number the declaration specifies, rejects it (§ 3-123(a))
• The assessment lien — which "may be foreclosed pursuant to 12 V.S.A. chapter 172," Vermont's mortgage-foreclosure chapter (§ 3-116(j))
• Records — available to owners "upon five days' notice in a record reasonably identifying the specific records" requested (§ 3-118(b))
• Rules — adopted after notice to owners, and "Every rule must be reasonable" (§ 3-120(h))

Which communities VCIOA covers (§ 1-201)

The Act took effect January 1, 1999 (1997, No. 104 (Adj. Sess.), § 3). Under § 1-201(a), it "applies to all condominiums in this State after January 1, 1999 that may be used for residential purposes and to all other common interest communities that contain 12 or more units that may be used for residential purposes and are created within this State after January 1, 1999." Two points stand out: § 1-201 sets no unit-count threshold for residential condominiums, while other communities need 12 or more residential units.

The same subsection adds a timing wrinkle. "Amendments to this title apply to all common interest communities that contain 12 or more units that may be used for residential purposes and are created after January 1, 2011, or are subject to this title by amendment of their declaration". For a community created between 1999 and 2011, which version of a given section applies can therefore be a question worth putting to an attorney.

Small planned communities (§ 1-203)

Many smaller HOAs sit largely outside the Act. Under § 1-203(a), a planned community that "contains no more than 24 units and is not subject to any development rights," or whose declaration caps the annual average common expense liability of residential units at $300 (adjusted for inflation under § 1-115, and subject to the conditions in § 1-203(b)), "is subject only to sections 1-105, 1-106, and 1-107 of this title unless the declaration provides that this entire title is applicable." Those three sections deal with separate titles and taxation, local ordinances and building codes, and eminent domain — not with fines, meetings, or records. This exception covers planned communities, not condominiums.

Communities created before January 1, 1999 (§ 1-204)

An older community is not entirely outside VCIOA. Unless it falls within the § 1-203 exception, § 1-204(a) extends specific parts of the Act to it in stages:

• For events after December 31, 1998 (§ 1-204(a)(1)) — including the definitions in § 1-103, § 2-103 on the declaration and bylaws, the association powers in § 3-102(a)(1)–(6) and (11)–(16) (which include the fine provision), the lien section (§ 3-116), and the records section (§ 3-118).
• For events after December 31, 2011 (§ 1-204(a)(2)) — including § 1-206 (amending older documents), § 3-103 (the executive board), § 3-108 (meetings), and § 3-110 (voting, proxies, and ballots).
• For events after June 30, 2026 (§ 1-204(a)(3), added by Act No. 168 of 2026) — the electric-vehicle charger section, § 3-125, for communities with 12 or more residential units created on or before January 1, 2011 (a group that includes pre-1999 communities).

Each stage carries the same limit: the listed sections apply only to later events and circumstances and "do not invalidate existing provisions of the declarations, bylaws, plats, or plans of those common interest communities" (§ 1-204(a)). Some sections are not on these lists — the rulemaking procedure in § 3-120, for example. The budget-ratification procedure in § 3-123 is less clear-cut: it is not listed, but § 3-102(a)(2), which is, refers to budgets adopted "under section 3-123 of this title," so how far § 3-123 reaches an older community can be a question worth putting to an attorney. On topics the lists leave out, an older community's own documents and the law it was formed under matter more. Small pre-1999 planned communities (no more than 24 units and no development rights) are subject only to §§ 1-105, 1-106, and 1-107 unless the declaration is amended to take advantage of § 1-206 (§ 1-204(b)).

Opting in to the modern Act (§ 1-206)

An older community can move closer to VCIOA through its own documents. The declaration, bylaws, or plats and plans of a community created before January 1, 1999 "may be amended to achieve any result permitted by this title, regardless of what applicable law provided before this title was enacted" (§ 1-206(a)). The amendment has to follow the amendment procedures in the community's own instruments, or the Act's procedures if the instruments have none (§ 1-206(b)).

Older condominiums: the Condominium Ownership Act (27 V.S.A. chapter 15)

Before VCIOA, Vermont condominiums were generally formed under the Condominium Ownership Act, 27 V.S.A. chapter 15, subchapter 1, which applies "only to property, the sole owner or all of the owners of which make the property subject to this chapter by duly executing and recording a declaration" (27 V.S.A. § 1303). VCIOA did not repeal it; instead, § 1-201(a) provides that subchapter 1 "shall not apply to common interest communities created after December 31, 1998." That older law has its own provisions on records (books of receipts and expenditures open to owners "at convenient hours of week days," § 1320) and on the common-expense lien (foreclosable "in like manner as a mortgage on real property," § 1323). For a pre-1999 condominium, those provisions sit alongside the VCIOA sections that § 1-204 extends to older communities. Separately, communities created under VCIOA are subject to chapter 15, subchapter 2, which protects tenants when rental property is converted (§ 1-201(c)).

The Vermont Nonprofit Corporation Act (Title 11B)

VCIOA lets an association organize as "a profit or nonprofit corporation, trust, limited liability company, partnership, unincorporated association, or any other form of organization authorized by the law of this State" (§ 3-101). An association organized as a nonprofit corporation is also governed by the Vermont Nonprofit Corporation Act, Title 11B (11B V.S.A. § 1.01). VCIOA borrows from that law regardless of the association's form: under § 3-103(a), the Title 11B standards of care and loyalty for board members apply "regardless of the form in which the association is organized." More generally, § 1-108 provides that principles of law and equity, "including the law of corporations," supplement the Act except where they are inconsistent with it.

Other Vermont law that reaches covenants

A few Vermont statutes outside Title 27A override particular covenant terms. The best known is 27 V.S.A. § 544, which provides that covenants may not prohibit "solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy devices based on renewable resources" on covered buildings — covered in more detail in When Is a Vermont HOA Rule Unenforceable?. Separately, since July 1, 2026, 3 V.S.A. § 119 (Act No. 179 of 2026) directs the Secretary of State to provide public information about Vermont's common interest communities, which "shall include the governing statutes."

Federal law

Federal law applies on top of everything above. The Fair Housing Act, for example, treats as discrimination "a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling" (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B)). VCIOA itself acknowledges the federal layer: an association rule regulating display of the U.S. flag "must be consistent with federal law" (§ 3-120(d)).

How the layers fit

1. VCIOA (27A V.S.A.) — to the extent it applies to your community. Except as the Act expressly provides, "the effect of the provisions of this title may not be varied by agreement, and rights conferred by this title may not be waived" (§ 1-104).
2. The recorded declaration, which controls over the bylaws: "If a conflict exists between the declaration and the bylaws, the declaration prevails except to the extent the declaration is inconsistent with this title" (§ 2-103(c)).
3. The bylaws, then the rules, which the Act defines as policies and restrictions "not set forth in the declaration or bylaws" (§ 1-103(37)).
4. The Condominium Ownership Act (27 V.S.A. chapter 15) for condominiums created before 1999.
5. The Nonprofit Corporation Act (Title 11B) for the association as an entity.
6. Federal law — including the Fair Housing Act.

From records and open board meetings to fines, dues increases, and the assessment lien, most Vermont homeowner questions begin with whether, and how much of, VCIOA applies. For an overview of all the Vermont guides, see the Vermont HOA law hub; for how oversight works nationally, see Who Regulates HOAs?.

Frequently asked questions

What is the VCIOA?

The Vermont Common Interest Ownership Act is the name Title 27A of the Vermont Statutes gives itself (27A V.S.A. § 1-101). It is Vermont's version of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and governs condominiums and planned communities, covering association powers, the board, meetings, budgets and assessments, the assessment lien, records, and rules.

Does VCIOA apply to an HOA created before 1999?

Partly. Unless the § 1-203 small-community exception applies, § 1-204 extends a defined list of sections to communities created before January 1, 1999 — including the fine power, the lien, records, the board, and meetings — for events after specified dates, without invalidating existing provisions of the community's documents. An older community can also amend its documents to adopt more of the Act under § 1-206.

Does VCIOA apply to a small HOA?

A planned community with no more than 24 units and no development rights, or one whose declaration caps average annual assessments at $300 as adjusted, is subject only to §§ 1-105, 1-106, and 1-107 unless its declaration makes the whole Act applicable (§ 1-203). Separately, § 1-201 reaches non-condominium communities only if they have 12 or more residential units. Section 1-201 itself sets no unit threshold for residential condominiums.

Does VCIOA cover housing cooperatives?

No. The Act defines a cooperative as "a regime created pursuant to 11 V.S.A. chapter 14" and states that "a cooperative is not a common interest community for the purposes of this title" (§ 1-103(10)).

Sources

• 27A V.S.A. § 1-101 — Short title
• 27A V.S.A. § 1-103 — Definitions
• 27A V.S.A. § 1-104 — Variation by agreement
• 27A V.S.A. § 1-108 — General principles of law applicable
• 27A V.S.A. § 1-201 — New common interest communities
• 27A V.S.A. § 1-203 — Exception for small projects and limited expense liability planned communities
• 27A V.S.A. § 1-204 — Preexisting common interest communities
• 27A V.S.A. § 1-206 — Amendments to governing instruments
• 27A V.S.A. § 2-103 — Construction and validity of declaration and bylaws
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-101 — Organization of unit owners' association
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-102 — Powers of unit owners' association
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-103 — Executive board members and officers
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-108 — Meetings
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-115 — Assessments for common expenses
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-116 — Lien for sums due the association; enforcement
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-118 — Association records
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-120 — Rules
• 27A V.S.A. § 3-123 — Adoption of budgets; special assessments
• Act No. 168 (H.944) of 2026, as enacted — Secs. 31–32, § 1-204(a)(3) and § 3-125
• 27 V.S.A. chapter 15 — Condominium Ownership Act
• 27 V.S.A. § 1303 — Application of chapter
• Title 11B — Vermont Nonprofit Corporation Act
• 27 V.S.A. § 544 — Energy devices based on renewable resources
• Act No. 179 (S.328) of 2026, as enacted — Sec. 1, 3 V.S.A. § 119
• 42 U.S.C. § 3604 — Discrimination in the sale or rental of housing (GPO govinfo)