How should our HOA board dispute a vendor invoice that looks wrong?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 31, 2026

How an HOA board disputes a wrong vendor invoice: check it against the contract, short-pay the disputed lines in writing, avoid paid-in-full traps, and settle it.

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

The short answer

Check the invoice against the contract, the approval for any extra work, and proof that the work happened before anyone calls the vendor. Then call, explain the problem, and follow up the same day with a short written dispute that lists the line items and the dollar amounts. Pay the part of the invoice nobody disputes by its normal due date and hold only the disputed amount. Record the dispute in the books and the minutes, settle it in writing, and get a corrected invoice or credit memo before you pay the rest. Most billing disputes are errors, not fraud: a rate from last year's contract, a crew billed twice, an extra nobody approved. Treat it as paperwork and it usually ends in a week with a corrected invoice. This guide covers the case where the work was fine and the bill is wrong. When the work itself is poor or missing, see our guide on dealing with an HOA vendor who is not doing the work. Rules vary by state and by your contract and governing documents, and this guide is education, not legal advice.

Check the invoice against three documents

Before the treasurer or manager approves any invoice, it should match three things. The contract or proposal. Unit prices, hourly rates, the number of visits, what is included and what is billed separately. A landscaping contract that says irrigation checks are included means a line for 'irrigation inspection, 2 hrs' is an error, not an extra. The approval. Any work outside the contract needs a written change order or an email from the director who has authority to approve it, at or under that director's spending limit. If no one approved the $1,850 drainage repair, the invoice is not ready to pay, even if the repair was a good idea. Proof of the work. Service tickets, the pool chemical log, gate entry records, photos, or a director's walk of the site. For hourly work, ask for the crew's time sheets if the hours look high. The common problems are a short list. Old rates after a renewal, duplicate invoices (same work, new invoice number), extras with no approval, fuel or 'environmental' surcharges the contract never mentions, emergency call-out rates for a call that was not an emergency, materials marked up beyond the contract's stated markup, late fees on invoices the vendor sent to an old address, and plain math errors. Keep a one-page checklist with these items and staple or attach it to each invoice the reviewer signs off on.

Call first, then put it in writing

Call the vendor's billing contact or account manager, not the crew lead. Say which invoice, which lines, and why. Many disputes end on that call with 'we'll send a corrected invoice.' If it does, write that down and wait for the corrected copy before paying anything on the old one. If the call does not settle it, send a written dispute the same day by email and by whatever notice method the contract requires. Keep it short and factual. Sample wording: 'Re: Invoice 4471 dated October 3, 2026, $6,240.00. The Association disputes the following lines: (1) Line 6, emergency call-out, $425.00. The September 18 visit was scheduled on September 12 and was not an emergency under Section 4.2 of the Service Agreement. (2) Line 9, mulch, 40 cubic yards at $68.00. The contract rate is $52.00 per cubic yard, a difference of $640.00. The Association will pay the undisputed balance of $5,175.00 by the due date. Please send a corrected invoice or a credit memo for $1,065.00, or documents supporting the charges, by October 24.' List each disputed line, the amount, and the reason tied to a contract section. A vague 'this invoice seems high' gives the vendor nothing to fix and gives you nothing to point to later.

Pay the undisputed part on time

Holding the whole invoice turns a billing error into a late payment by the association, and Texas and Florida both charge interest on late payments. Texas. Property Code chapter 28 covers contracts to build, repair, alter, clear or landscape real property, which reaches most common area repair and landscaping work. Section 28.002 requires the owner to pay a proper written payment request within 35 days of receiving it. Section 28.003(b) lets an owner in a good faith dispute over work on property other than a house or a duplex to quadruplex withhold no more than 100 percent of the difference between what the contractor claims and what the owner says is owed. Section 28.004 charges interest on late amounts at 1.5 percent a month. The math is the point: on a $6,240 invoice with $1,065 in dispute, hold $1,065 and pay $5,175. Florida. The Construction Contract Prompt Payment Law, section 715.12, applies to written contracts to improve real property where a construction lien is available. If a payment request is incomplete or contains an error, the payer has 14 days to send it back with the reasons in writing, or it owes interest. Section 715.12(6)(e) says that unless the contract provides otherwise, a dispute does not allow withholding payment for work the dispute does not affect. Colorado. The prompt payment statute in title 24, article 91, applies to public entities awarding contracts over $150,000, so it does not reach a typical HOA vendor. On private association work, the contract's payment and dispute terms control. Read them, because some vendor contracts set their own late fees or a deadline to dispute an invoice.

Watch the paid-in-full check

Some boards try to settle a dispute by mailing a check for the amount they think is fair with 'paid in full' in the memo line. That can work, and it can also settle a claim the board did not mean to settle, so do it on purpose or not at all. All three states adopted the same Uniform Commercial Code rule on accord and satisfaction: Texas Business and Commerce Code 3.311, Florida Statutes 673.3111 and Colorado Revised Statutes 4-3-311. A claim is discharged when the payer in good faith sends a check as full satisfaction of a claim that is genuinely disputed or unsettled in amount, the check or a letter with it says so conspicuously, and the vendor cashes it. There are exits. The vendor can undo the settlement by paying the money back within 90 days, and a vendor that told you in advance to send disputed-debt payments to a specific person or address is not bound by a check sent somewhere else. For most boards the cleaner path is a short written settlement: the vendor agrees to a credit of a stated amount, sends a corrected invoice, and the association pays it. Use the full-satisfaction check only when the vendor has stopped responding, the dispute is real, and the board has voted on the amount.

Record the dispute where the next treasurer will find it

Enter the full invoice in the books when it arrives and mark the disputed amount, so the balance sheet shows what the association may owe. A cash-basis HOA should still keep a list of open disputes with the vendor, invoice number, amount and date. Keep the invoice, the checklist, the dispute letter, the vendor's replies and the settlement together in the vendor's file. The board should approve any settlement above the treasurer's spending authority at a meeting, and the minutes should say what was decided without repeating the argument. Sample motion: 'Motion to accept the landscaping contractor's credits of $640.00 for the mulch rate and $200.00 on the call-out charge on invoice 4471, and to pay the remaining $225.00, which resolves the dispute.' Watch the lien deadline on construction and repair work. A vendor that does not get paid can sometimes claim a lien on common area. In Colorado a claimant must serve a notice of intent before recording a lien statement, and in Texas and Florida suppliers and subcontractors have their own notice deadlines. If a lien notice arrives, see our guide on what to do when a contractor files a lien on HOA common area and call the association's attorney.

A sample timeline

Day 0: the invoice arrives. The treasurer logs it and checks it against the contract, approvals and service tickets. Day 3: the treasurer finds the call-out and mulch rate problems and calls the billing contact. Day 3, afternoon: the dispute email goes out, and by certified mail if the contract requires it. Day 10: no corrected invoice. The treasurer follows up by phone and email. Day 20: the association pays the undisputed $5,175, inside the 35 days Texas allows. Day 21: the vendor agrees to the mulch credit and offers to cut the call-out charge from $425 to $225, its regular visit rate. The treasurer checks the service ticket against the September 12 scheduling email and recommends taking the offer. Next board meeting: the board votes on the settlement. The vendor sends a corrected invoice for $225, and the association pays it on the contract's terms.

Mistakes boards make

Paying first and disputing later. Money already paid is hard to get back. Ask the questions before the check goes out. Disputing by phone only. The next treasurer finds an unpaid invoice and no explanation. Letting one director negotiate alone. Two people should see the settlement before anyone agrees to it, and anything over the spending limit goes to the board. Approving extras in the field. A director who tells the crew 'go ahead and fix it' creates the dispute. Route every extra through a written change order. Forgetting the contract's own deadline. If the contract says invoice disputes must be raised within 15 days, a dispute raised on day 40 may be too late.

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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