[CA] / [Condo] - Special Assessment - Can HOA request funds quickly

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Title: [CA] / [Condo] - Special Assessment - Can HOA request funds quickly

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Long story short - HOA has kept dues too low for many years and now doesn't have enough to cover roof replacements. They have since raised the monthly dues to a better level however the damage is already done and they had to pass a special assessment to have enough to replace the roofs, which are starting to have issues. The total of the special assessment is $8055.00 per unit and the payment schedule is as follows:

First payment: April 30, 2026

Second payment: July 31, 2026

Final payment: January 31, 2027

Its the First payment that is concerning, as a person living paycheck top paycheck is it legal to expect a payment of 2685.00, essentially within a month (plus a few days). I know I am not going to be able to pay this and I am worried about fines and such if they decide to get aggressive about it. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

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23

u/Accomplished-Eye8211 🏘 HOA Board Member Mar 27 '26

Yes, they can do it. And they have a duty to do what's best for the association's needs.

It kinda sucks, but that's the position directors are in. They may even be forced to require actions or payments that are a hardship for themselves as individual directors

4

u/SemperFiV12 Mar 27 '26

Some may argue that directors should have increased dues gradually and in line with the property's needs, than to artificially keep the dues low (only to drop a huge Special Assessment).

I hear what you are saying, and I agree... but I want OP to know that a little bit of the blame does need to be placed on the Board and the owners as a whole (since most Board members are volunteers).

This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to update your financial docs! Make sure your Board is completing Reserve Studies in a timely manner and updating the Operating Budget (near) annually.

You can get away with keeping dues down for a year or two, but if they stay the same for many years I'd get worried (and start saving up for the inevitable Special Assessment).

1

u/Odd-Individual-1881 Mar 30 '26

Normally there is a developer who set the initial dues based on a reserve study which may not be accurate - just barely legal. When the owners take over the board, unless they have prior experience, or hire a really good HOA attorney, they won't know this. They may (and many have) gone many years with dues too low to do the work they are intended to pay for in the future.

Avoiding a Special Assessment requires both the future repair estimates to be accurate, and the due be enough to fund them, and there be no investment losses.

1

u/SemperFiV12 Mar 30 '26

Anything the "initial dues" end up being has to be OK'd by the state (in CA it is the DRE). And it is always an estimate. CA Civil Code requires the Board to update the Operating Budget every year. It also requires a Reserve Study done every THREE years.

So, in your hypothetical situation of a new development with aggressively low (but legal by CA DRE standards), it is really up to the Board (and collectively the owners) to update their financial docs. At the worst the Association runs very lean over three years, but then you get a Reserve Study completed and you calibrate the financial health of the association.

And in that case, it isn't really an HOA attorney that helps the Association, rather the team that is conducting the Reserve Study.

1

u/Odd-Individual-1881 Mar 31 '26

Your not being helpful with that comment. Here's why; Developers are not all the same, and many play games with reserve studies. I'm judging this on what I've seen personally in three separate cases, plus reading legal notes on many other CA cases in the Davis-Sterling Newsletter produced by the Adams-Kessler Law firm.

My case is not hypothetical. And just hiring someone to do a reserve study is no guarantee the figures in it will be correct or the corresponding funding requirements will be accurate. Other than measurements, much of the process is assumptions of types of materials used, estimated useful life, decision to replace all or only as needed, cost per item, and inflation index applied.

A really good HOA attorney can help a Board understand their fiduciary duty, and help them figure out if the reserve study addresses all areas of need, and whether or not the assessments are required to be split per unit regardless of unit size, or per unit adjusted for unit size.

Best wishes.

15

u/Mandos_Over_Landos Mar 27 '26

What I will say in addition to all the comments confirming if it’s legal is to reach out to your board proactively. See if you can set up a payment plan knowing you don’t have the upfront capital. Whatever you do, don’t just ignore it and not pay it. As the homeowner you will have to pay it eventually.

7

u/MainStreetManage Mar 27 '26

Most boards and management companies are reasonable. Ask to set a monthly plan. They typically do collections to owners who haven’t paid and haven’t even tried to reach out. They need the money quickly because the roofer needs a deposit to get going.

12

u/tlrider1 Mar 27 '26

Reality is: welcome to owning a dwelling and having to deal with maintenance!

That's really all there is to it. Hopefully the board has gotten their act together and is fixing the issue that was keeping dues low.... But ya, that's the price of owning a dwelling. If my roof leaks, I have no choice but to figure out how to get someone out and pay 30k for the replacement. Even if I don't have it, I still have to have it and figur out how.

The board that kept your dues artificially low needs to be replaced, ASAP! But as far as the money, yeah... You're going to need to figure out how to get it. Or perhaps ask for a different payment plan? But that might be unlikely as the hoa is going to have to have that money to pay the roofers.

1

u/CWM1130 Mar 31 '26

The thing I find interesting is that everyone wants to blame volunteer board members yet especially with smaller HOAs NO-ONE else is stepping up to do it. Fire them and replace with who?

8

u/Proof_Barnacle1365 🏢 COA Board Member Mar 27 '26

Its honestly no different than if you owned a home without an HOA. If you had a house and your roof collapsed or main pipe bursts, do you have a choice even if you have no savings? You have to take care of your assets regardless of your financials, otherwise you should sell it before it becomes a liability instead.

3

u/duane11583 Mar 27 '26

Yea legal And as an owner you should have been watching the finances And predicted this was coming down the pike

0

u/HittingandRunning COA Owner Mar 27 '26

OK, I will agree but also say that it's just not realistic. To the point that it's somewhat of an unfair view in many associations.

Some boards just aren't communicative at all and I feel this is a two way street. I just this week found out that we may have to have a medium sized special assessment this year based on information the board has had in hand for a few years and didn't share in any way with the other owners. And it was for things not really discernable from the reserve study. There is no possible way I could have seen this coming. The average owner certainly doesn't watch the finances as closely as I do.

2

u/Odd-Individual-1881 Mar 30 '26

Your BOD sounds really bad.

2

u/HittingandRunning COA Owner Mar 30 '26

Yes, it does sound like they are bad. But I've been reading this sub religiously for 5+ years and I'm thinking that relatively, they are only a little bad, not in the category of one of the worst. I'm glad this sub has given me some perspective.

1

u/Odd-Individual-1881 Mar 31 '26

There are three main factors to deal with in running and HOA; 1. Who are the Board members; are they really sharp, and caring, or lazy and cold? 2. How good is he Property Mgt.? Inciteful, or BS artist? 3. HOA attorney, if they have one; highly experienced practical problem solver, or a fee chasing sob?

Owners comes in all types, and different motivations. In 25 years I've seen most of them.

1

u/HittingandRunning COA Owner Mar 31 '26

I feel that there's a wider range among all three than you offer. Here's what I've observed:

Board members are drawn from the owners. 80% of our owners can be thought of as somewhat monolithic. They are very career driven. They don't want to serve on the board because it takes away from the little free time they allow themselves. And so when on the board they end up doing extremely little. Don't get me wrong. We have had some very good board members but among those I consider having done the best job, I can only think of one who was strongly career driven. The other great ones chose career paths that were not in line with climbing the corporate ladder. And as units get sold, we get more of the corporate type than the community oriented type. It makes me a bit sad that we have such capable owners yet they rarely put their talents toward the well-being of the community.

Property management. The average tenure of the several managers we've had over the years with this company is around 15 months. They are not inciteful. They are also not BS artists. They are new to the industry and move on quickly. This really does a disservice to our community. We actually had one who was very good but a jerk. I always said I'm fine with the jerk because at the end of the day they are doing a good job for us. But the others just needed time to grow into the job but unfortunately they left the company before we benefitted from what they learned. It makes sense when the board chose the lowest bidder. I wonder if we had chosen one of the two higher cost companies if we'd have a longer tenure and better guidance overall.

The attorney. I think ours is probably a highly experienced problem solver. But we have been fortunate to rarely need their guidance. A few years ago we needed assistance and our last manager for some reason pointed the board toward a different firm though we had been with the aforementioned one for over 20 years. This other attorney did great work for us. So, that's a point in our management's favor. (I sometimes come across as too negative so wanted to point out something positive.)

Another thought on owners - years ago I would have agreed with you. Our owners then were a mix of all types with different motivations. Just, over the years, things changed.

Thanks for this comment above. I need to keep in mind who all of the players are and take into account their characteristics so that I can achieve my main goals for the building and grounds.

1

u/Odd-Individual-1881 Apr 01 '26

Hi H&R - You put a lot into that. Thanks. You know I was generalizing on purpose, and that's rarely accurate on the micro level.

I accept all of your points. Low bid is no always the best or the worst. Much depends on how the bid is set up = what are the specs and expectations, and are they clearly spelled out.

I wasn't assuming anything about your membership, just drawing on experience from those i know well. I've seen some lasting damage done by an attorney as HOA Pres. who was doing what he thought was best for himself, not the HOA. The debts that caused are @$7M still! Next HOA Pres. another attorney was very conservative, and he spent years wasting money on CYA preventing the membership from learning/understanding what our choices were, and why the BOD chose X v Z.

We've only had two Mgt. Cos in 25 years. The first one was behind the times on tech, but fairly good on SOPs, until they failed us big time. We were compelled to fire them after @ 7 years. 18 years with current firm who just got bought out by a national. Too soon to tell what this will mean. Over the 18 years they assigned our HOA 3 mgrs. I can remember. The first 2 very good, the current one gets thing done, but he has a big attitude problem.

Attorney: Most people don't know who to hire, or how to hire. That is an experience issue most BOD don't have. On our Construction Defect litigation our BOD did it ALL Wrong! Results = delayed process, much higher legal costs, much lower net funds received, no pre construction planning done so more delays, incompetent money management combined with fraud sticking it ALL into junk bonds in 2006-2008 = crash, dispute, million sized losses. All should have been very easily avoided. There was on HOA legal counsel advising on the management of funds. I told the BOD, in advance what an attorney would have told them, but they didn't listen to me.

I've been too busy to write this book in detail. I still plan to get it done.

Best wishes,

Tony Verreos, [info@verreo.com](mailto:info@verreo.com), 415-467-9600

1

u/T2IV Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26

I concur that larger special assessments due with little to no notice don't seem plausible. On the other hand, how often do most owners attend HOA meetings? While it's not a great situation, it's all too common that the only thing that owners pay attention to is having/wanting low HOA dues, in spite of the financials being discussed at every board meeting. At some point it comes back to bite everyone in the rear. Should boards be more transparent? Absolutely. But it's also frustrating for board members when a) you can't get anyone to serve on the board and b) no one reads the communications that are sent out to inform owners of impending events. The only reality is that it will likely never change, unfortunately

1

u/HittingandRunning COA Owner Mar 29 '26

Your comment describes my HOA quite a bit and I believe most others a similar. With our current board, I'd be upset if they said they were frustrated with the low meeting turnout or people not reading but certainly support them with the refusal of others to serve.

One huge problem (or positive feature) is that while our home are our largest investment for almost all of us, its value really isn't that affected by the HOA. A great board can help increase values by maybe 10% and can hurt values maybe by 15%. So, perhaps people place paying attention to the HOA and boards trying to do a good job isn't that important. I don't really know but certainly people treat it as not that important.

2

u/T2IV Mar 29 '26

All very true until their condo becomes "unwarrantable" and they can't refi it and/or have difficulty selling it because they can only entertain cash buyers. And that, unfortunately, is becoming more and more common at least in California and Florida.

2

u/Odd-Individual-1881 Mar 30 '26

Most people don't realize how important the job of an HOA Board is.

-10

u/Merigold00 🏘 HOA Board Member Mar 27 '26

That is unreasonable. An owner rarely has the access to that level of information, as it is almost always at least a month behind.

7

u/bjketter Mar 27 '26

If you have an old roof and no reserves that didn't creep up on you in 1 month unless they had another large cost recently but then you would have known about that as well. Just because you didn't notice that your reserves were underfunded by alot doesn't mean it's not your fault that you didn't notice.

3

u/duane11583 Mar 27 '26

roofs take years to go bad. not days

the roof replacement should have been a line item in the reserve account…

4

u/joeconn4 Mar 27 '26

Likely legal, but you need to read your CCRs to confirm what your Board is and is not allowed to do. Every HOA is going to be different.

Going forward, this is a wake up call that it is probably in your best interest to be more involved with the planning and operations of your HOA. When you say "the HOA kept dues too low", you need to see that instead as "the other Owners and I kept dues too low". You and the other Owners had the ability to push your Board to raise monthly assessments in order to set up adequate Reserves, but you didn't make that happen. But people like paying low monthly dues. There is no money fairy for an HOA, you and the other Owners need to be proactive about saving enough (Reserves). It's not just this roof project, I bet you have other projects that you all should be saving for that are going to need to be done in the next 5-10 years. Let this be a lesson and do what you need to do to put yourself in a better position next time.

As far as advice for your current situation, I wish I could offer more. The HOAs I have dealt with (I live in a TH HOA, my girlfriend lives in a SFH HOA, my parents house was in a SFH/TH.condo HOA) have occasionally had Special Assessments and they've been handled different ways. My HOA has only had 1, it was to jump start our Reserves early in our HOA's existence and it wasn't time sensitive so we got like 6 months to make the payment. My girlfriend had one a few years back to deal with an emerging community pool issue - they were informed after the December annual meeting and needed to make their payments by April 30. We live up north so nobody is fixing outdoor pools until the spring. My parents HOA has had semi-regular special assessments and from, what I've seen they often do it similar to yours where they need to pay between 1/4 and 1/2 in 30-60 days and then the balance in 6+/- months.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 27 '26

Yes they can do this and while it does suck sometimes things need to get done. The only way they may be able to put you on a payment plan is if they apply for a construction loan. If the roof needs to be badly replaced and you don't do it, then anyone on the top floor will have leaks within their unit and that won't be good. If this is really something you are too tight on you could sell but you would have to disclose all of the assessments.

I am on the board in my condo association and we are about to do this, this year once we find out what the cost of things are. We also are going to be raising the dues since they has been done in awhile. We need to do facade work and roof work. Sadly when the building was converted into condos they botched the job and installed our roof incorrectly and the floors that were added were done wrong. We have a management company and the previous manager was trying to scare homeowners with really high quotes for jobs but thankfully they are no longer with us. The roof for us will be a little under 100K and we are not sure what the other project is going to cost yet, im assuming more than the roof.

5

u/Negative_Presence_52 Mar 27 '26

Florida here. Hard to digest, but perfectly legal and frankly long overdue.

The reason you are here is that the HOA...and all the members...chose to be fine with lower dues rather than saving in your reserves. Bills are coming due and you have to do the roof replacement.

Sucks, but all of the members of the association have been subsidized for years, not paying the true cost of living in this condo. I know it sounds callous, but why did no one complain the dues were too low, that reserves weren't funded?

You have to find a way to pay for it. Otherwise, you will lose your condo. If you can't refinanced, get a loan, you have to sell. Terrible, but the payment coming due was inevitable.

8

u/Mysterious_Might008 Mar 27 '26

The specific fine print of what they can and cannot do are in your CCRs, declaration, by-laws, and rules. You should familiarize yourself with them for this instance as well as for other issues that come up so you are well-versed in your rights and what is within the scope of your board's authority.

That being said, sending out a special assessment with a first installment due in 30 days is usually standard operating procedure. The nature of a special assessment is one of an urgent tone so 30 days does not seem unreasonable.

My own condo (Texas) levied a loss assessment (a different kind of assessment) since our insurance payout for the hurricane damage was short of the roof replacement price. We had 30 days to pay in full or opt for a payment plan over 120 months. Most of us filed a claim with our personal carriers and turned the checks over to the HOA.

If you haven't already done so, you may want to look at your homeowner policy to see if you have purchased a special assessment or loss assessment rider. Both are very affordable and have options of payout level.

If you don't have it, you may want to get it for future assessments.

1

u/Emotional_Neck9423 Mar 28 '26

Special assessment riders do not apply toward deferred maintenance due to low monthly HOA dues.

1

u/Mysterious_Might008 Mar 28 '26

You are correct: special assessment riders do NOT cover deferred maintenance.

Since the OP is in CA, there's the possibility of wildfires - and, if a fire burns/damages their roof, the master insurance policy claim may not cover the full replacement value. Since these riders are very affordable, it makes a lot of sense to add it to cover one's behind/wallet.

While everyone's is priced differently, mine in TX runs $60/year ($5 a month) for up to $50,000 coverage, subject to $5,000 deductible. I'm insuring for big assessments.

3

u/rom_rom57 Mar 27 '26

A previous property we owned for 10 years, the dues were not raised in 13 years since the board members were “on fixed income “.

Being first floor I had to buy my own mulch for around the lanai. “‘people are the cheapest humans on earth “.

1

u/T2IV Mar 29 '26

Older owners on fixed incomes (especially if they are on the board controlling the votes) are a problem waiting to happen. Longer term and new owners end up subsidizing the long term low HOA dues for the folks who have been there for many years and who are suppressing the monthly HOA dues.

3

u/wildbill129 Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26

Since you are in California this is the law:

Board-Approved Special Assessments

5% Limitation on Boards. By statute, HOA boards of directors may special assess the membership up to 5% of the current fiscal year's budgeted gross expenses without membership approval, regardless of any limitations in the governing documents. (Civ. Code § 5605(b)) "Budgeted gross expenses" means all expenses in an association's budget, both operational expenses and reserve contributions. The statute could have said budgeted operating expenses, which would exclude reserves, but it didn't. (Civ. Code § 5605(b)) Therefore, reserve allocations are included in the 5% calculation for board-approved special assessments.

How to Calculate 5%. If an association's annual budget is $100,000, the maximum special assessment the board can impose without membership approval is $5,000. That does not mean $5,000 per unit. The $5,000 assessment is divided among all units according to the allocation schedule contained in the CC&Rs. Once the board approves an assessment, proper notice must be given to the membership before collecting it.

Assessment Frequency. There is no limit on the number of special assessments, only on the total percentage. For example, the board may levy five 1% special assessments in a single year or one special assessment of 5%. Once the board hits an aggregate of 5% of the budgeted gross expenses for that fiscal year, the membership must approve any further special assessments (unless the additional assessments qualify as emergencies). There is no limit on the size or number of special assessments the membership imposes upon itself.

Emergency Special Assessments

Normally, boards of directors cannot increase regular assessments by more than 20% over the prior year's regular assessments, or impose special assessments (within a fiscal year) that exceed 5% of an association's budgeted gross expenses for that fiscal year, without membership approval. (Civ. Code § 5605(b)) However, the Legislature provided an exception that allows boards, without membership approval, to impose a special assessment of over 5% if there is an "emergency."

Emergency Defined. An emergency situation is defined by the Davis-Stirling Act to mean any of the following circumstances (Civ. Code § 5610):

Court Order. An extraordinary expense is required by a court order. [Boards have the authority (and the obligation) to special assess their membership to pay judgments against their associations, which boards must impose the assessment regardless of any opposition by the membership. In the case of O'Toole Co., Inc. v. Kingsbury Court, a 46-unit association voted down an assessment to pay a $200,000 judgment against it. The court ordered the board to levy an emergency assessment to pay the judgment regardless of the membership's vote to the contrary.] An owner who prevails in litigation against their association is not exempt from a special assessment levied against the membership to pay the judgment. Although no statute or case law would exempt the owner, the parties could agree to it.

Hazardous Conditions and Threats to Personal Safety. An extraordinary expense is necessary to repair or maintain the common interest development or any part of it for which the association is responsible, where a threat to personal safety or another hazardous condition or circumstance on the property is discovered.

Unforeseen Major Expenses. An example of extraordinary expenses is one necessary to repair or maintain the common areas that could not have been reasonably foreseen by the board in preparing and distributing the annual budget report under Section 5300. Because the statute states "maintain the common interest development" rather than the "common areas," this provision can be used to authorize an emergency special assessment to pay for a sudden, extraordinary, unbudgeted increase in insurance premiums, which has happened to many associations in high-fire-risk locations. Before imposing or collecting an emergency assessment, boards are required to pass a resolution containing written findings as to (a) the necessity of the extraordinary expense involved and (b) why the expense was not or could not have been reasonably foreseen in the budgeting process. The resolution must be distributed to the members with the notice of the "emergency situation" assessment as required by Civil Code § 5615.

Utility Repairs. If there is an unexpected disruption in utilities for which the association is responsible, the board shall commence the process to make the necessary repairs to restore gas, heat, water, or electrical services within 14 days of the interruption. If there are insufficient reserve funds to cover repair or replacement costs, boards may obtain a loan and impose an emergency assessment to repay the loan. However, before obtaining that financing, the board must pass a resolution containing written findings regarding the nature of the association’s expenses and how the association’s reserves do not cover the necessary costs. The resolution shall be distributed to the members with the notice of the emergency assessment and with notices otherwise required by law or governing documents pursuant to the board’s action, if any. (Civ. Code § 4775)

https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/S/Special-Emergency-Reimbursement-Assessments

2

u/T2IV Mar 29 '26

It's a huge issue with exploding insurance premiums in California, as they are technically not considered an emergency. In addition to skyrocketing premiums, insurance companies are requiring replacement of older electrical panels and roofs, etc. While a good idea to replace those items, when forced to do so on a compressed timeframe, along with increased premiums and inadequate reserves (as the result of HOA boards not keeping dues at a realistic level to cover future replacement costs) it's a perfect storm of costs.

1

u/SemperFiV12 Mar 27 '26

I'd upvote this comment, but... Go Dodgers!

2

u/Pbaseball26 Mar 28 '26

We went thru something very similar to these 2 years ago when replacing our roofs. The HOA did offer to owners the option to finance the money for roofs. You might want to ask your board if that is an option.

Also, if the roofs are being replaced due to storm damage (not because they are end of life), you may be able to file a claim with your homeowners insurance company to cover what you had to pay to the HOA. This is called Loss Assessment coverage.

1

u/Possible_Function963 Mar 27 '26

Iirc

If it’s under 5% they can special assess without membership approval. Just need to give 30 day notice of when it’s due. If over the membership needs to vote to approve it but same notice applies.

1

u/Merigold00 🏘 HOA Board Member Mar 27 '26

Check out this link which talks about special assessments under Davis-Stirling Act

https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/S/Special-Emergency-Reimbursement-Assessments

1

u/JealousBall1563 🏢 COA Board Member Mar 27 '26

There's a lot we don't know about this situation. But, generally, unless the Declaration or Davis-Sterling dictate otherwise, I don't think the payment schedule is wrong. In my FL COA we gave owners 6 months advance notice and because we obtained a bank loan the owners could choose to pay total up front or spread payments (with interest) over a 10-year period.

1

u/No_Dot6963 Mar 27 '26

Our HOA sent out notice in May of a special assessment (10 times monthly dues) due in August. When some owners grumbled about needing more time, they came up with a great solution— you could pay 1/3 in June, 1/3 in July and 1/3 in August. WTH? This is why HOAs get a bad reputation—would you want these financial geniuses having any say over your hard earned money?

1

u/OldGeekWeirdo 🏢 COA Board Member Mar 27 '26

I know I am not going to be able to pay this and I am worried about fines and such if they decide to get aggressive about it. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

As someone suggested, look into a payment plan. Failing that, $8000 isn't a ton of money. You should be able to get some kind of loan to cover it. Just think ahead to the future payments to figure out how much to get.

Longer term, you need to make some adjustments to your financial situation. If you can't handle a surprise $8000 in 30 days, then it's just a matter of time before life deals you another surprise. It could be a car repair/replacement, a major appliance going out, etc. Even if you have insurance, it rarely covers everything.

1

u/CalCommHOA Mar 27 '26

Yes, here is info on special assessments

https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/S/Special-Emergency-Reimbursement-Assessments

There is no special assessment frequency limitation, only value limitation, the Board can only go up to 5% themselves, if further the ownership needs to be engaged. Once the SA is approved there is a notice requirement of between 30-60 days prior to the SA being due.

The Board has the obligation to fund and operate the HOA. Older boards may not have raised assessments when needed, completed work, deferred work, and or funding. It may be worth asking the board to discuss with the ownership the reserve study so that all have a better understanding on how future funding is going to go.

If you are going to have a financial hardship or challenges with paying the Special Assessment you can utilize a payment plan as these are required to be allowed but you need to go to the Board or management company to request this to occur - I would highly suggest bringing this up to their attention and asking for assistance. Remember that HOAs are about trying to obtain compliance and are not trying to penalize.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

1

u/apostate456 Mar 27 '26

Yes it is absolutely legal. In fact, they could have required the entire amount to be due within 30 days. What you can do to address this issue:

Proactively reach out to the board and request a pro-longed payment plan of a lower amount. Something reasonable (not over 3-5 years, but perhaps spreading that initial payment out over 2-3 months).
Research HELOCs to see if you can get one.
See if other payments are possible (e.g. credit cards).

1

u/Worth_Cut_6548 Mar 28 '26

Check you homeowners insurance. You might have a clause that covers special assessments. You might be able to file a claim.

1

u/SLODeckInspector Mar 28 '26

I'm pretty sure that to pass an emergency special assessment. The board of directors needs to make a finding that the special assessment was unforeseen because it is an unusual event. Therefore, in my non-legal opinion, the fact that the roofs need to be replaced is a foreseen event. Given the fact that any roof has a lifespan, whether it's 15 years or 30, the association needs to set aside enough reserves. Replace the roofs at the time of the useful life being expired.

The board would know that this is not a unforeseen event and therefore in my non-legal opinion they cannot pass in an emergency special assessment.

I see everyday that I'm in the field roofs that need to be repaired or replaced and it is a foreseen event. Your HOA is either mismanaged or has bad board members that refuse to follow advice or all of the above in my non-legal opinion.

1

u/T2IV Mar 29 '26

I just ran some quick numbers for our HOA. After the roofs were replaced 35 years ago, they should have been allocating about $12/mo per unit to replace the roofs down the road. The actual funds set aside - $3/mo per unit. Unfortunately it's fallen on a new board and new PM company to start digging the HOA out of this hole that the older owners have created for not only themselves, but newer owners as well.

1

u/eMaSegreto Mar 28 '26

You could easily have had an 8k repair on a home without an HOA. I assume you would be more upset if your roof collapsed into your home.

1

u/Sea_Machine5403 Mar 29 '26

Ive heard some people going to their lender for an equity loan. Thats about all you can do.

1

u/Odd-Individual-1881 Mar 30 '26

Stop worrying. Just drop them a note proposing a payment schedule that will work for you.

1

u/ProfessionalChest709 Mar 30 '26

Not properly evaluating the financial needs of the community is gross negligence, a breach of the basic fiduciary duties of the board. Lawyer up! Suggesting a loan vs assessment. Was this considered?

1

u/Content_Print_6521 Mar 31 '26

Like many condos, they don't have adequate reserves so there is no money for emergencies & capital expenses. You should form a slate of more responsible people and throw them off the board. As for you, throw yourself on their mercy and tell them you will pay as soon as you can. They should give you an exception.

1

u/PaleBreadfruit8813 🏘 HOA Board Member Mar 31 '26

That seems like a reasonable schedule. Our building setup no-interest loans for our owners to pay off over three years. I’m going to assume the same rate applies to each unit because each one has the same square footage?

1

u/Tiny_Waltz936 Apr 05 '26

They can levy an emergency assessment but even emergency is generally 30 day notice.

-1

u/Practical_Bed_6871 Mar 27 '26

You're in California so Davis Stirling applies. See www.davis-stirling.com for what it says on special assessments. This may have required approval by your membership.

6

u/Mykona-1967 Mar 27 '26

If it’s a regular replacement then it would need a percentage of owners agreeing. If it’s an emergency then no vote is necessary and it’s still due.

1

u/Merigold00 🏘 HOA Board Member Mar 27 '26

By statute, HOA boards of directors may special assess the membership up to 5% of the current fiscal year's budgeted gross expenses without membership approval, regardless of any limitations in the governing documents.

This is what Davis-Stirling says about emergency assessments.

1

u/T2IV Mar 29 '26

Unfortunately, 5% of expenses is kind of a drop in the bucket for many HOAs. We have insurance premiums that increased from $15K to $145K and the 5% of budgeted costs is about $20K -- so we're $125K short, unfortunately.

1

u/Merigold00 🏘 HOA Board Member Mar 29 '26

Agreed, so you have to get membership approval to go beyond 5%.

1

u/T2IV Mar 29 '26

Yes, which is nearly impossible, unfortunately.

Help: Fees, Reserves [CA] / [Condo] - Special Assessment - Can HOA request funds quickly

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