Can my HOA still block a casita after HB 2720?

1. The question, as people ask it

"Does Arizona's new ADU law override my HOA?" — also asked as "My city allows casitas now, so can my HOA say no?", "Do CC&Rs beat HB 2720?", and "Can the city make me sign a deed restriction to get an ADU permit?"

2. The short answer

Yes, your HOA's recorded covenants can still block or limit an ADU. HB 2720 restrains cities, not private agreements.

The statute says so directly: "This section does not prohibit restrictive covenants concerning accessory dwelling units entered into between private parties" (A.R.S. § 9-461.18(C)).

What the law does change is what your city may do:

A city may not "Require a restrictive covenant concerning an accessory dwelling unit on a lot or parcel zoned for residential use by a single-family dwelling" (§ 9-461.18(B)(8)).
A city "may not condition a permit, license or use of an accessory dwelling unit on adopting or implementing a restrictive covenant between private parties" (§ 9-461.18(C)).

So the city cannot make you sign a covenant to get your permit, and the city cannot use your HOA's rules as its own reason to deny you. Your HOA can still enforce the covenants you agreed to when you bought the lot.

3. Why you may have heard otherwise

"Cities can't ban casitas anymore, so nobody can." The first half is right for cities over 75,000 people (§ 9-461.18(H)). The second half skips subsection (C). The Legislature restrained municipal zoning and left private covenants alone.

"The county law is different." It is not. The 2025 county ADU statute repeats the same rule for unincorporated land: "This section does not prohibit restrictive covenants or shared well agreements as provided by state law concerning accessory dwelling units entered into between private parties" (A.R.S. § 11-810.01(D)).

"The middle-housing law is the same as the ADU law." The middle-housing statute, A.R.S. § 9-462.13, contains no private-covenant clause at all. Scottsdale's planning staff read that silence the same way: "HB2721 does not prohibit restrictive covenants concerning middle housing entered between private property owners or homeowners' associations." Scottsdale's ordinance excludes CC&R-restricted lots from middle housing. Phoenix's overlay text we read does not address covenants. For ADUs, though, the answer is in the statute itself.

4. What this means in practice

Read your CC&Rs before you design. Look for clauses on "guest house," "casita," "accessory structure," "second dwelling," "rental," and architectural review. Those clauses still bind you.
The permit and the HOA approval are two separate gates. Getting one does not get you the other. A city permit does not waive a covenant, and an HOA approval does not replace a permit.
HOA design rules and city design rules are different things. The city may no longer require an ADU to "match the exterior design, roof pitch or finishing materials" of the main house (§ 9-461.18(B)(4)). An HOA architectural committee may still require it under the covenants.
Renting the unit. A city may not "Prohibit the use or advertisement of either the single-family dwelling or any accessory dwelling unit … as separately leased long-term rental housing" (§ 9-461.18(B)(1)). That restrains the city. Whether your covenants restrict rentals is a separate question governed by the covenants and by Arizona's planned-community statutes, which this page does not cover.

5. What's still unsettled

Arizona's planned-community statutes. A.R.S. Title 33, chapter 16 governs what HOAs may and may not enforce. We did not read those statutes for this page. If your HOA's ADU or rental rule conflicts with them, that is a different analysis.
Covenants adopted after the law. § 9-461.18(C) speaks of covenants "entered into between private parties" without a date. Whether an HOA may amend its CC&Rs after September 14, 2024 to add a new ADU ban is not answered in the text we read.
Litigation. We did not verify any court decision on § 9-461.18(C) one way or the other.

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