Overview

Assessments are the lifeblood of every HOA in California. They fund critical things like insurance, reserves, and management, to common area maintenance, repairs, and replacements. Your HOA’s assessments come in two forms: regular (annual or monthly dues) and special (extraordinary or one-time assessments).

Under Civil Code 5605, an HOA board may raise assessments within narrow statutory limits without homeowner approval. Regular assessments may rise modestly each year, while special assessments can only be imposed under restricted circumstances. Anything beyond those limits requires a member vote by secret ballot.

This Fact Sheet explains how these rules work, when the board can raise assessments without a vote, and how homeowners can recognize unlawful increases.

Key Points

Assessment increases are governed by statute, not board discretion. The following points explain how California law limits HOA assessment authority and when boards can act without a member vote.

• Regular assessments fund predictable operating costs. Regular (or general) assessments cover the HOA’s recurring obligations—i.e., items like landscaping, utilities, insurance premiums, management contracts, janitorial services, and annual reserve contributions. Under Civil Code 5605, HOA boards may increase regular assessments by up to 20% of the prior fiscal year’s general assessment without a homeowner vote. For example, if your HOA’s dues last year were $400 per month, the board could raise them to $480 (a 20% increase) without member approval. Any higher increase requires approval from a majority of a quorum of homeowners voting by secret ballot.
• Special assessments cover extraordinary or unbudgeted expenses. These are one-time charges imposed when unexpected costs arise, such as major roof failures, emergency structural repairs, or costs mandated by a court or statute. Under Civil Code 5605, boards may impose special assessments up to 5% of your HOA’s prior fiscal year’s budget expenses without a vote. Any higher increase requires approval from a majority of a quorum of homeowners voting by secret ballot. For example, if the HOA’s annual operating budget is $600,000, the board can levy up to $30,000 total in special assessments (across all members) without a membership vote. That does not mean $30,000 per household. It means a total of $30,000 across all the members.
• Boards cannot disguise assessments to avoid the law. A board cannot call an assessment a “fee,” “surcharge,” or “emergency contribution” to skirt Civil Code 5605. Any mandatory payment tied to ownership is still an assessment and must follow the statute.
• Emergency exceptions exist but are narrow. Under Civil Code 5610, a board may exceed the 20% | 5% limits without a member vote only under the three conditions described below. Routine (i.e., habitual) shortfalls, bad management, systemic failures, or poor budgeting do not qualify as emergencies. If you’d like to do a deeper drive into the emergency exception, watch an episode of my podcast, HOA HELL, entitled “Emergency or Excuse? How HOAs Use “Safety” to Justify Illegal Emergency Assessments.” The three “emergency” exceptions are:
  • A court or government order requires the expense.
  • There is an extraordinary expense necessary for health or safety.
  • The association must act immediately to prevent significant property damage or comply with law.
• Notice and disclosure are mandatory. Under Civil Code 5300 (annual budget report), your HOA must deliver the year-ahead disclosures 30–90 days before the end of the current fiscal year. Separately, Civil Code 5615 requires individual written notice of any new or increased assessment 30–60 days before the due date, stating the total amount, the reason, and the payment schedule. An assessment adopted without a Civil Code 5615-compliant notice may not be collected on the noticed due date.
• Large increases require homeowner approval. Any increase beyond the above-referenced 20% or 5% caps must be approved by a majority of a quorum of members casting ballots in compliance with Civil Code 5100–5145 (e.g., proper notices, secret ballot, etc.).

Knowing these rules lets homeowners spot unlawful increases quickly, demand proof of compliance, and force boards to follow the statutory procedures before higher assessments take effect.

FAQs

About MBK Chapman Fact Sheets

Homeowners searching for answers online will often come across articles that appear authoritative, but are actually written as search-engine marketing content rather than by an experienced HOA lawyer. These pieces tend to prioritize keyword density over clarity, accuracy, or legal context, which often leaves homeowners more confused than informed.

At MBK Chapman, our Fact Sheets are part of our HOA Law Library and are written by Michael Kushner, an HOA lawyer with decades of hands-on experience representing California homeowners. In fact, Michael Kushner is the HOA lawyer who pioneered the systems and strategies used by some of California’s most successful homeowner-side HOA law firms.

Each Fact Sheet is deliberately concise, statute-based, and designed as a quick-reference guide to help homeowners understand key HOA laws and enforcement rules at a glance.

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