How we verify every statute we cite

AI is good at sounding sure, and sometimes wrong

Ask a general AI tool for your state's HOA law and it will give you a confident section number. Sometimes that number is right. Sometimes it points to a different rule, a repealed one, or nothing at all. A homeowner who sends a board a letter built on that citation hands them an easy reason to dismiss it.

Our rule is simple: if we cannot confirm a citation against the statute itself, it does not go in. An empty field is better than a fabricated one.

Six rules every citation has to pass

1. We read the actual statute text.Not a search snippet, a summary, a law-firm blog or a chapter heading. Those can point us to a section, but they never count as the check.
2. From an official or published code.We use state legislature and agency websites first. Where an official site has no readable text, we accept a current published version of the code, and we record which one.
3. We keep a record for each citation.The exact section, a quoted excerpt, the source, the date we read it, and the effective date where one exists. Without these, the citation is not used.
4. Conflicts leave a fact out.If two sources disagree, we do not quietly pick one. The fact stays out until we can read both and tell which is current.
5. Recent reforms get extra checks.For laws passed in recent years we confirm the bill, the signing date, the effective date, and that the current statute text actually contains the change.
6. Stale means blocked.If we learn of a relevant change, the affected citation is pulled from use until we re-read it. The rest of the state stays in service.

What one verified citation looks like

This is the stored record for the rule behind Texas's notice-before-a-fine requirement, copied from the same database the analyzer reads.

What happens when you run an analysis

1. The AI only gets verified law.For your state it is given the verified citations and told to cite nothing else.
2. We check its answer.Every statute citation it writes is compared with the list your state is allowed to cite.
3. A citation off the list is sent back.The AI is told which one was not allowed and tries again once. If the second try still cites something we have not verified, we do not show you the analysis.

That last step means you may occasionally see an error instead of a report. We would rather do that than hand you a citation we cannot stand behind.

What is in the database today

An entry is one checked item, such as a notice rule, a deadline, a dollar amount, or a finding like "this state sets no cap on HOA fines". It is a count of items in our database, not a count of separate laws. These numbers are read from the live database each time the site is built. The check dates run from October 14, 2026 to November 5, 2026. Each state's page shows its own date.

Leaving items out is deliberate. A state may end up with fewer citations than a tool that fills every gap, and where the statute is silent we say so, for example when a state has no cap on HOA fines.

What this does not mean

• We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. A verified citation means the statute says what we say it says. It does not tell you how a court or your board will rule.
• We check statutes. Your own CC&Rs and bylaws matter just as much, and the analysis can only use what you tell us about them.
• We have not verified court decisions for most states.
• Laws change. Use the date on your state's page, and see an attorney for anything large.

Check your state

Every state page lists the protections we have verified and the date the statute text was last checked. Browse HOA rights by state, or see how this compares with a generic AI letter tool.

Common questions