Does Georgia law require condo unit owners to carry their own insurance?

Georgia law does not require an individual condo unit owner to buy insurance. No state statute forces the purchase. The requirement, when one exists, comes from two places: the condo association's own governing documents, or a mortgage lender.

The Georgia Condominium Act, O.C.G.A. Section 44-3-70 through Section 44-3-117, sets the legal framework for how Georgia condo associations are formed and run. It does not mandate unit-owner coverage itself, but it gives associations the authority to require it through the declaration (the recorded document that creates the condominium and sets its basic rules) and the bylaws (the association's internal operating rules covering things like assessments, voting, and insurance requirements). Most Georgia condo associations use that authority. If an association's bylaws state that every unit owner must carry an HO-6 policy, the policy type built for condo interiors, personal property, and liability, that requirement is enforceable as a condition of ownership, separate from anything the state requires.

Mortgage lenders add a second layer. A lender financing a condo purchase typically requires proof of an HO-6 policy before closing and for as long as the loan is outstanding, regardless of what the association's bylaws say. An owner who pays cash and belongs to an association with no insurance clause in its bylaws may have no outside party requiring coverage at all, even though the unit and its contents remain uninsured against fire, theft, water damage, and liability claims without one.

For example, a buyer closing on a unit in an Atlanta high-rise finds that the association's bylaws require proof of an HO-6 policy before the closing attorney will release the deed, while a buyer of a smaller association with no insurance clause may only face that requirement from the bank funding the purchase. Both requirements trace back to a private contract or loan agreement, not a Georgia statute.

The association's master policy, the coverage the association itself carries on the building and common areas, does not extend to what happens inside a unit. Where the master policy stops and where personal HO-6 coverage needs to pick up depends on whether the building uses a bare-walls or all-in master policy. More on how condo coverage in Georgia is structured is on the Georgia condo insurance page and the condo insurance overview.

Related: whether a Georgia condo policy covers flood damage, what happens when a carrier will not pay a claim, and which carriers write Georgia condo coverage through Olive Cover. A licensed advisor can review an association's specific bylaws and a lender's requirements together in a coverage review.