How does an HOA board levy a special assessment, step by step?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 26, 2026

How an HOA board levies a special assessment: check its authority, price the project, notice the meeting, word the motion, bill owners and offer installments.

Part of the HOA board handbook: treasurer and money.

The short answer

A special assessment holds up when the board can show four things: the governing documents let it levy one at this size without an owner vote (or the owners voted), the meeting was noticed the way state law requires, the motion named the amount, purpose and due dates, and every owner got a written notice before the first payment came due. Skip any one of them and an owner who doesn't want to pay has an argument. The order matters too. Read the documents first, then price the work, then notice the meeting, then vote, then bill. This guide walks through that sequence with the Texas, Florida and Colorado rules a board will hit along the way. The rules vary by state and by your declaration and bylaws, so treat this as general education, not legal advice, and have your association's attorney read the plan before you vote on a large one.

Find your authority before you price anything

Open the declaration to the assessment article and look for three things. First, whether it allows special assessments at all and for what purposes. Some declarations limit them to capital improvements or uninsured losses. Second, any cap or vote threshold. Many declarations let the board levy up to a set dollar amount or a percentage of the annual budget, and require an owner vote above that. Third, how the cost is split. The special assessment follows the same allocation as regular assessments unless the declaration says otherwise. In Colorado, C.R.S. 38-33.3-315(2) requires common expenses to be assessed against all units under the allocations in the declaration, with exceptions in subsection (3) for limited common elements and expenses that benefit only some units. So if your declaration allocates by square footage, a flat per-lot bill is wrong. State law can add a ceiling your documents don't mention. California Civil Code 5605(b) is the clearest example: without a majority of a quorum of members, the board may not impose special assessments that together exceed 5 percent of the budgeted gross expenses for that fiscal year. Colorado's statute has no separate special assessment section, but 38-33.3-303(4)(a) sends every proposed budget through a summary-and-veto process. If the assessment changes the year's budget, ask your attorney whether that process applies under your documents.

Build the number owners will see

Owners accept a number they can check. Get at least two written bids for the work, or an engineer's estimate if bidding comes later. Add a contingency. Ten percent is a common choice for straightforward work. Go higher for anything structural where the contractor can't see the full scope until demolition starts. Then subtract what you can fairly take from reserves without leaving the next component unfunded, using the current reserve study. Here is the math for a 60-home association replacing a pool deck. Low bid $162,000, plus a 10 percent contingency, is $178,200. The board applies $40,200 from the pool reserve line, leaving $138,000 to raise. Split equally under the declaration, that is $2,300 per home. Round only if the documents allow it, and show the board's arithmetic in the meeting packet. Price the alternative too. A bank loan repaid through dues spreads the cost over several years and spares owners a lump sum, at the price of interest. Our guide on how to get a bank loan for an HOA project covers what lenders ask for. Put both options in front of the board so the minutes show it chose one on purpose.

Notice the meeting the way your state requires

A special assessment is never a hallway decision or an email vote. In Texas, Property Code 209.0051(h) bars the board from considering or voting on the levying of special assessments except in an open meeting for which owners received notice. Under 209.0051(e), that notice goes out by mail no fewer than 10 and no more than 60 days before the meeting, or by posting and email at least 144 hours before a regular meeting and 72 hours before a special one. The notice has to state the general subject, so name the assessment. Florida is stricter on timing. For an HOA, section 720.303(2)(c)2 says no assessment may be levied at a board meeting unless the notice says assessments will be considered and describes their nature. Written notice of a meeting where special assessments will be considered must be mailed, delivered or electronically sent to owners and posted conspicuously at least 14 days ahead. Florida condominiums follow 718.112(2)(c): the same 14 days, and the notice must state the estimated cost and describe the purposes. In Colorado, 38-33.3-308(2) requires board meetings to be open to owners. If the documents call for an owner vote, 308(1) requires notice 10 to 50 days before the owners' meeting, with budget changes listed on the agenda.

Wording for the motion and the owner letter

Write the motion so a stranger could read the minutes and know exactly what was approved. For example: "I move that the board levy a special assessment of $138,000 for replacement of the pool deck, allocated equally at $2,300 per lot under Article 6 of the Declaration, payable in full by March 1, 2027, or in four quarterly installments of $575 due March 1, June 1, September 1 and December 1, 2027. Funds will be held in a separate account and used only for this project. Any amount left after completion will be credited to owners' accounts." The owner letter repeats the motion in plain words and adds the reasons. A short version: "At its January 14 meeting, the board approved a special assessment of $2,300 per lot to replace the pool deck, which the engineer's report found unsafe in October. Bids and the report are attached. You may pay $2,300 by March 1 or $575 each quarter. The money will go into a separate account and be used only for this work." Florida condominiums have to do this. Section 718.116(10) requires the specific purpose to be set out in a written notice to each owner, limits the funds to that purpose, and lets the board return or credit any surplus once the work is done. California Civil Code 5615 requires individual notice 30 to 60 days before an increased or special assessment comes due. Other states are less specific, but the letter is cheap and it heads off most disputes.

Installments and owners who fall behind

Offer installments in the motion itself. A $2,300 bill due in six weeks will put some owners into delinquency who would have paid $575 a quarter without trouble, and collecting from them costs more than waiting. State payment plan rules apply once an owner falls behind. Texas Property Code 209.0062 requires associations with more than 14 lots to adopt guidelines for partial payments on delinquent regular or special assessments, with a minimum term of three months. The association need not allow a plan that runs more than 18 months from the request. In Colorado, 38-33.3-316.3 requires a good-faith effort to set up a plan of equal installments over at least 18 months, and section 315(2) caps interest on past-due assessments at 8 percent a year. Run late special assessment payments through your regular collection policy so every owner gets the same steps.

A sample timeline

This schedule fits a Florida HOA, which has the longest notice period of the three states. A Texas or Colorado board can compress the notice step. Week 1: the treasurer collects bids and the current reserve study and drafts the per-home math. Week 2: the board reviews the numbers at a workshop or regular meeting and picks between an assessment and a loan, with no vote on the levy itself. Week 3: send and post the 14-day notice, with the bids and math attached. Week 4: hold an owner information session if the amount is large. Our guide on holding an HOA town hall before an owner vote covers how to run one. Week 5: the board votes in an open meeting and records the motion word for word. Week 6: mail the owner letter and invoices. Day 30 to 60 after the letter: first payment due. Then post payments monthly, report the project balance at each board meeting, and send a closing report when the work is done.

Mistakes that get special assessments challenged

Voting by email or text. Texas section 209.0051(h) bars it outright, and anywhere else it leaves owners no meeting record to review. Notices that say "repairs" when the board means one project. Name it. Spending the money on something else because the bids came in low. In a Florida condo that breaks 718.116(10), and anywhere else it breaks trust. Pricing without a contingency and coming back for a second assessment a year later. Splitting the bill per lot when the declaration allocates by percentage. Mixing the funds into the operating account, where the project balance disappears into routine spending. Use a separate account or at least a separate ledger line. Forgetting homes that are under contract. Update every pending resale certificate or estoppel letter so the closing paperwork shows the new assessment. The last one is tone. Our guide on how to explain a dues increase to homeowners applies here: show the bids, show the arithmetic, and answer the question every owner asks, which is why the reserves didn't cover it.

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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