Special assessment

A special assessment is a one-time (or short-run) charge on top of regular dues, usually for a repair, insurance gap, or underfunded reserve job. Authority, notice, and any owner vote live in your declaration and your state's statute — not in a national 5% rule. Regular dues are supposed to cover the year's operations and a contribution to reserves. A special assessment is the extra bill when that plan wasn't enough. Nolo draws the line this way: dues are recurring payments for day-to-day costs. Assessments, in the narrower sense, pay for unanticipated items not covered by dues or the reserve fund — a new private road, a plumbing overhaul, a clubhouse roof, storm damage above insurance. Some special assessments require a homeowner vote; whether they do depends on the bylaws, the CC&Rs, and perhaps state law. That last clause is the whole page. There is no national special-assessment cap. California has one. Most states don't. California Civil Code section 5605(b) says that, notwithstanding more restrictive limits in the governing documents, the board may not impose special assessments which in the aggregate exceed 5 percent of the budgeted gross expenses for that fiscal year without the approval of a majority of a quorum of members.

This is general information from an AI helper, not legal advice. Confirm it against your documents and your state's law. If a deadline or hearing is coming up, talk to a licensed lawyer.