What should our HOA board do when a sinkhole or ground collapse opens in the common area?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

What an HOA board does when a sinkhole or ground collapse opens in common area: secure it, call the insurer, hire a geologist or engineer, and update owners.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Keep people away from the hole first, then report it, then find out what it is. Fence or tape off a wide area the same day. If the hole touches a building, a road, or anything that carries water, gas or power, call the city, county or utility right away. Report it to the association's property insurer before anyone fills it. Hire a licensed professional geologist or engineer to tell you whether it is a true sinkhole or something else, such as a broken storm pipe. Then send owners a short, factual update and a date for the next one. Do not let a volunteer, a landscaper or a helpful neighbor fill the hole with dirt. That hides the evidence the adjuster and the engineer need and can leave a void under the fill. Florida has a specific insurance statute for sinkholes, covered below. In Texas, Colorado and elsewhere the answer turns on the policy wording and your declaration. This guide is general education, not legal or engineering advice.

The first 24 hours

The Florida Geological Survey's advice for a new sinkhole starts with safety: mark and secure the hole, and keep children and pets away. If the hole is affecting a building and walls are sinking, sagging or cracking, stay out of the building and call the property insurer's adjuster. Put that into a checklist. Set up barricades or construction fencing well back from the edge, since the ground at the rim can be undercut. Close any path, parking row or lane that runs near it. If it is in or beside a private street, a pond bank or a drainage structure, call the local public works office, because a collapse there can spread and may involve a city or county storm line. Call the water, gas or electric utility if lines run through the area. Take photos and video from several angles with something for scale, measure the width and depth from a safe distance, and note the time. Post a notice at the site and email owners the same evening. Then write up what happened, who was called and when, and keep it with the association's records. Our guide on writing an HOA incident report shows a format that works here too.

Find out what caused it

Not every hole is a sinkhole. A depression over a storm pipe can be soil washing into a cracked joint. A collapsed irrigation line, a leaking water main, or old buried construction debris can do the same. The Florida Geological Survey keeps a database of reported subsidence incidents and says most of them were never field-checked, so the cause is unverified. That is why the board should hire a licensed professional geologist or professional engineer before it picks a repair. The U.S. Geological Survey notes that cover-collapse sinkholes can develop over a period of hours and that the most sinkhole damage tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. It also lists human triggers, including groundwater pumping and changes to drainage. If your community has a retention pond or a storm system that was recently altered, tell the engineer. Ask for a written report that states the likely cause, whether the ground nearby is at risk, and a recommended repair. The cause decides who pays, whether insurance responds, and whether a municipal storm line is involved.

Florida insurance rules

Florida Statutes 627.706 requires every property insurer in the state to cover catastrophic ground cover collapse, and to offer coverage for sinkhole loss for an additional premium. Those are different things. Catastrophic ground cover collapse requires all four of these: an abrupt collapse of the ground cover, a depression clearly visible to the naked eye, structural damage to the covered building including the foundation, and the insured structure being condemned and ordered vacated by a government agency. Sinkhole loss means structural damage to a covered building from sinkhole activity. Both definitions depend on damage to a covered building. A hole in a lawn, a pond bank or a parking lot with no building damage usually fits neither, so ask your agent in writing what the policy covers for land, paving and underground pipes. Ask too whether the association ever bought the optional sinkhole coverage on the clubhouse or pool building. The statute requires notice of a sinkhole claim within 2 years after the policyholder knew or reasonably should have known about the loss, but report right away anyway. Under 627.7072, the engineer and geologist on a claim run the tests they judge sufficient to find the cause. Under 627.7073, when an insurer pays a sinkhole claim, it files the report with the county clerk of court, who records it.

Who pays and how the board approves the repair

Start with the declaration's maintenance article. It says what the association maintains, and a hole in association-owned common area is normally the association's to fix unless the declaration assigns it elsewhere. In Colorado, 38-33.3-307(1) makes the association responsible for maintenance, repair and replacement of the common elements unless the declaration says otherwise. In Texas, the declaration and plat govern, so read both. If the cause turns out to be a city or county storm line, or a utility main, send that owner of the line a written request to repair it with the engineer's report attached. For the repair itself, get the scope from the engineer, not the contractor. The Florida Geological Survey suggests filling with native earth or concrete and using clayey sand to form a barrier that slows water seeping down. A larger or deeper void may need grouting or other work only an engineer should specify. Get at least two bids on that scope. Before you sign, check the bylaws and your state statute for emergency meeting rules and any cap on what the board can spend without owner approval. If the cost will exceed the operating budget, our guide on whether an HOA can dip into reserves for an emergency repair covers the options.

What to tell owners

Owners will see the fence and start guessing, so write to them within a day and again whenever something changes. Stick to facts and dates. A notice you can adapt: 'On Tuesday, October 6, a depression about 6 feet wide opened in the open space behind Lots 40 to 44. No one was hurt and no homes are affected. The board has fenced the area, reported it to the association's insurer, and hired a licensed engineer, who will inspect on Friday. Please keep children and pets outside the fence. Do not put anything into the hole. We will send the engineer's findings and the next steps by October 16. Questions go to [email protected].' Do not call it a sinkhole until a professional says so, and do not speculate about home values. If the collapse reached an owner's lot or house, that owner should call their own insurer the same day. Offer to share the engineer's report with them.

A sample timeline

Day 0: fence the area, call public works or utilities if needed, photograph it, and email owners. Day 1: report to the insurer, get a claim number, and call two geologists or engineers. Days 2 to 7: site visit by the engineer and the adjuster, ideally together. Hold an emergency board meeting if the bylaws require a vote to hire. Weeks 2 to 4: written report, repair scope and bids. The board votes on the contract at a noticed meeting and sends owners the findings. Weeks 4 to 8: repair, with the engineer confirming the work before the fence comes down. After that, add the location to the next reserve study site visit and to the annual walk-through, and look at it after heavy rain for a year. Keep the photos, reports, invoices and insurer letters in the association's permanent records.

Mistakes boards make

Filling the hole before the adjuster and the engineer see it. Treating a quick patch as the repair when nobody found the cause, so it reopens next rainy season. Assuming the master policy covers it, or assuming it does not and never reporting it. Letting a Florida notice deadline slide because the board was waiting to see if the hole got bigger. Calling it a sinkhole in writing before anyone qualified has said so. Using caution tape alone for weeks, when a sturdy fence would keep children out. Letting only one director talk to the insurer and the engineer, with no notes in the file. And forgetting the owners next to the hole, who have the most to worry about and deserve the first call.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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