How do we send the annual HOA dues invoice to every owner?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 25, 2026

How an HOA treasurer sends the annual dues invoice: what it must say, cleaning the owner list, TX, FL and CO billing rules, a timeline and cover letter wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: treasurer and money.

The short answer

Send one billing packet a year, after the board adopts the budget and about a month before the first payment is due. It should tell every owner four things without a phone call: how much they owe, when each payment is due, what happens if they pay late, and how to pay. Build it from a cleaned owner list, mail it to the address the owner gave you rather than the lot address, and keep a record of what went to whom and when. The invoice also matters later. If an account goes delinquent, the first question an owner or a lawyer asks is whether the owner was billed correctly. A clear invoice that matches the adopted budget and the declaration makes every later step easier. Rules vary by state and by your declaration and bylaws, and this guide is general education for board members, not legal advice.

What goes on the invoice

Put these on every invoice or statement: - The association's legal name, the owner's name, the lot or unit number and an account number. - The assessment for the year and how it is split: annual, quarterly or monthly installments, with each due date. - Any balance carried from last year, shown as its own line, and any credit for prepayment. - The date a payment becomes late and the late charge or interest your documents allow. - Every way to pay: the mailing address for checks, the payee name, online payment instructions and any card fee. - A contact for questions, and one sentence saying a payment plan is available if the owner falls behind. - A short note on why the amount changed, if it did, with a pointer to the adopted budget. If some lots pay a different amount, because the declaration allocates by unit size or a phase pays for its own amenity, check each lot's figure against the allocation table before anything prints. A spreadsheet that applies one rate to every row is the most common source of a wrong bill.

State rules that shape the bill

Texas. Property Code section 209.0062 requires an association with more than 14 lots to adopt guidelines for an alternative payment schedule on delinquent amounts, with a minimum term of three months, and to file those guidelines in the county real property records. Section 209.0063(a) sets the order in which payments are applied: delinquent assessments first, then current assessments, then collection-related attorney fees and costs, then other attorney fees, then fines, then anything else. Your statement should show the balance in a way that lets an owner follow that order. Florida. Section 720.3085(3)(c) says that if the association sends invoices or account statements, they go by first-class mail or by email to the address in the association's official records. Before switching an owner from paper to email, the association must mail written notice of the change at least 30 days before the first invoice goes out by the new method, and the owner must acknowledge the change in writing or electronically. Section 720.3085(3)(a) allows an administrative late fee only if the declaration or bylaws provide for it, capped at the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each late installment, and section 720.3085(3)(b) applies payments to interest first, then late fees, then collection costs and attorney fees, and the assessment last. Colorado. Section 38-33.3-315(2) caps interest on past-due assessments at 8 percent a year. Section 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(b)(I) bars late fees charged on a daily basis. Section 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(c) requires the association to send every owner who has any outstanding balance a monthly itemized list of all assessments, fines, fees and charges owed, by first-class mail and also by email if the association has one. That list goes in the language the owner has asked for, and a copy goes to any designated contact the owner named. Section 38-33.3-316.3(4) applies a payment to assessments first and only the rest to fines and fees. Other states have their own notice rules, and many declarations add more. Read the assessment article before you design the form.

Clean the owner list before you print

Most billing problems are list problems. Two weeks before the invoices go out, freeze the owner list and work through it. Check ownership. Compare the list against every resale certificate, estoppel letter or closing notice from the past year, and against the county appraisal district or property appraiser's records for any lot you are unsure about. A bill addressed to a seller who moved out in June tends to come back with nothing on it. Check mailing addresses. Absentee owners and landlords often want mail sent somewhere other than the lot. Use the mailing address the owner gave the association in writing, and keep the request on file. Check delivery consent. An owner who agreed to email notices can get the invoice by email. Everyone else gets paper. In Florida, follow the 30-day notice and acknowledgment steps above before switching anyone. In Colorado, note any language preference and designated contact, because the monthly balance statements have to honor both. Our guide on collecting owner emails and consent for electronic notices covers how to build that list. Check credits and balances. Post every payment received through the cutoff date, apply prepayments, and confirm that the total of all owner balances matches accounts receivable in the books.

A sample timeline for a January 1 due date

Adjust this to your fiscal year and to the budget and notice deadlines in your bylaws. October: the board reviews the draft budget. A Florida board moving owners from paper to email this cycle mails the change notice now, so the 30 days run before the invoices go out, and starts collecting acknowledgments. November board meeting: the board adopts the budget and the assessment, following the notice and approval steps its documents require. November 15: the treasurer freezes the owner list and starts the cleanup above. November 25: a second board member checks ten invoices at random against the allocation table and the ledger. December 1: invoices go out by mail and by email to owners who have consented. December 15: a short reminder email to everyone who has not paid or set up autopay. January 1: first installment due. After the grace period in your documents: late charges post, and accounts move into the collection policy's first step. Our guide on the timeline for collecting past-due dues picks up from there.

Cover letter wording you can adapt

Send a one-page letter with the invoice. Owners read the letter. They skim the invoice. "Dear [owner name], At its November [date] meeting, the board of [association name] adopted the [year] budget. Your assessment for [year] is $[amount], payable in [number] installments of $[amount] due on [dates]. A payment received after [late date] will be charged [late fee] as allowed by [section of the declaration or collection policy]. You can pay by check made out to [legal name] and mailed to [address], or online at [payment page]. The association will never ask you to send money to a new bank account by email or text. If you receive a message like that, call [treasurer name] at [phone] before you pay. The increase of $[amount] covers [one or two reasons]. The full budget is posted at [location]. If you expect trouble paying, contact us before the due date. The association offers a payment plan under its written policy. [Treasurer name], Treasurer" Have the association's attorney look at the late fee sentence once, so it matches the declaration and your state's limits, then reuse it every year.

After the invoices go out

Keep a mailing log: the date, the method for each owner and the list used. Save one copy of the letter and a PDF of each invoice. If an owner says they never got a bill, the log answers it. Watch returns. Returned mail and bounced emails show up within two weeks. Look up a better address for each one, resend, and note the change. Post payments as they arrive and reconcile the operating account at the end of December and January. Owners who pay the whole year in December have prepaid. Show that money separately on the January report so the board does not read it as a surplus. Bill new owners as homes sell. When a closing notice or resale certificate request comes in, send the buyer the same letter with the remaining installments, so the first bill a new owner sees is not a late notice. In Colorado, add any owner with a balance to the monthly itemized statement run.

Mistakes boards make with the annual bill

Sending invoices before the budget is adopted, then sending a corrected bill two weeks later. Billing every lot the same amount when the declaration allocates differently. Mailing only to the lot address, so landlords never see the bill. Switching a Florida community to email-only invoices without the mailed notice and owner acknowledgment section 720.3085(3)(c) requires. Charging a late fee the declaration does not provide for, or charging it before the grace period ends. Skipping Colorado's monthly itemized statements for owners with a balance. Printing a past-due amount on a postcard or the outside of an envelope, where neighbors can read it. And changing the payment address or bank account in the same mailing without warning owners, which is exactly what a fraudster's fake invoice looks like. If you change banks, announce it in a separate letter first.

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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