74% of HOAs are underfunded. 44% of homes for sale carry an HOA fee. Special assessments of $50,000–$200,000 per unit are hitting homeowners who had no warning. Here is how to read the documents that tell you what’s coming before you sign.

Special Assessment Risk By Property Type

Table of Contents

• The HOA You Buy Into Is a Financial Decision, Not Just a Lifestyle One
• The Scale of HOA America in 2026
• Why HOA Risk Is Rising Right Now
• The Four Documents That Tell You Everything
• Way #1: Read the Reserve Study for Funding Level
• Way #2: Review the Meeting Minutes for Deferred Maintenance
• Way #3: Check the CC&Rs for Restrictions and Assessment Authority
• Way #4: Examine the Budget and Delinquency Rate
• The Five-Number HOA Financial Health Check
• Understanding Special Assessments: The Risk Most Buyers Miss
• The HOA Risk-by-Property-Type Matrix
• The Litigation and Insurance Check
• Talk to Current Residents: The Human Intelligence Layer
• What to Do If You Find Red Flags
• State-by-State HOA Risk Context
• Conclusion: The HOA Is Part of the Property
• Frequently Asked Questions

The HOA You Buy Into Is a Financial Decision, Not Just a Lifestyle One

When buyers evaluate a home in an HOA community, they typically assess the amenities, the rules, and the monthly fee. Most do not assess the HOA’s financial health. That omission is expensive. Association Reserves — the largest reserve study firm in the industry, which has analysed more than 100,000 reserve studies since 1986 — found that 74 percent of community associations are underfunded, meaning they have less money in their reserve accounts than they should need for the maintenance and replacements coming due. Since the June 2021 Surfside condominium collapse in Florida, special assessments of $50,000 to $200,000 per unit have been levied in older Florida high-rises where decades of deferred maintenance met mandatory structural repair requirements (FloridaHomeFinder, March 2026).

The buyers who received those assessments had no warning — because they had not checked the documents that contained the warning. GoverningDocs, which has analysed more than 1,900 HOA document packages, found that the same five warning signs appear in documents months or years before a special assessment arrives. Those signs are in the reserve study, the meeting minutes, the CC&Rs, and the budget. The warning is almost always there. Most buyers never look.

This guide presents four specific, practical ways to spot HOA risks before you close on a home in a community association. Each way involves a specific document, a specific metric, and a specific threshold that separates a well-managed HOA from one that may generate a financial surprise after you move in.

The Numbers: 74% of HOAs are underfunded (Association Reserves, 100,000+ reserve studies). 44% of homes for sale carry an HOA fee (Realtor.com, early 2026). 377,000 community associations in the US; 80 million Americans governed by HOAs (Foundation for Community Association Research 2026). Special assessments up to $200,000+ per unit in Florida post-Surfside (FloridaHomeFinder March 2026).

The Scale of HOA America in 2026

The decision to check an HOA’s financial health is not niche guidance for condo buyers. It is relevant to nearly half of all current home listings in the United States. A Realtor.com analysis from early 2026, cited by ManageCasa, found that 44 percent of homes currently listed for sale carry an HOA fee. The Foundation for Community Association Research’s 2026 outlook projects approximately 377,000 community associations across the US, with 3,000 to 4,000 new associations forming every year. Nearly 80 million Americans — about one-third of all US housing stock — now live under HOA governance.

The states with the highest HOA penetration — Florida (45 percent of homes), California (37 percent), Colorado (38.6 percent), and Texas (20 percent) — are also among the most active real estate markets in the country. In the Sun Belt and on both coasts, avoiding an HOA in your home search has become genuinely difficult (ManageCasa, May 2026). For buyers in these markets, HOA due diligence is not optional; it is as essential as the home inspection.

The average monthly HOA fee ranges from $275 per month (FixMyHOA national average, March 2026) to $355 per month based on 161,699 fee reports (HOACosts.com May 2026). But the fee shown in the listing is only the baseline. The financial risk in HOA communities does not live in the monthly fee — it lives in what the monthly fee does not cover.

Why HOA Risk Is Rising Right Now

Three converging factors are making 2026 a particularly important time to conduct thorough HOA financial due diligence:

• Construction cost inflation (2021–2025): the rapid rise in labour and material costs means that maintenance and repairs that were budgeted at 2019 prices may cost 30 to 50 percent more than the reserve study assumed. HOAs that conducted their reserve studies before this inflation wave may be significantly more underfunded in real terms than the percentage-funded number reflects. FastExpert’s July 2026 guide notes that a reserve study older than five years is a red flag specifically because of this inflation.
• Florida’s post-Surfside reforms: as of January 2025, Florida condo budgets must include SIRS (Structural Integrity Reserve Study) funding, and associations can no longer waive reserves for structural components. Buildings that underfunded reserves for decades are now scrambling to catch up, resulting in fee increases and special assessments (FloridaHomeFinder, March 2026). The scale is significant: special assessments of $50,000 to $200,000 per unit in older coastal high-rises.
• Ageing housing stock: communities built in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s are now facing major capital expenditure cycles — roof replacements, elevator overhauls, parking structure repairs, pool resurfacing, HVAC replacements. If the reserve fund was not consistently built up over the decades, the assessment arrives as a large one-time bill rather than a gradual accumulation in a well-funded reserve.

The Four Documents That Tell You Everything

Every HOA community is required to maintain a set of governing documents. When you enter into a purchase contract on an HOA property, you are typically entitled to receive these documents within a specified period (which varies by state). GoverningDocs recommends a focused review of approximately 90 minutes across four documents:



Requesting these documents is a standard part of the HOA due diligence process. In Florida, state law (HB 913, effective July 2025) extended the buyer review period from 3 to 7 days for condominiums. Other states have their own timelines and disclosure requirements. In any state, you should request all four documents before the review period expires and before waiving any contract contingencies.

Ask For This: Immediately upon going under contract on an HOA property: request the most recent reserve study, the past 24 months of board meeting minutes, the current CC&Rs, and the most recent approved budget including the current reserve fund balance and delinquency rate. In Florida, also request the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS). Allow yourself time to review all documents before the review period expires.

Way #1: Read the Reserve Study for Funding Level

Way #1: Read the Reserve Study and Find the Percent-Funded Number

The reserve study is the single most important financial document in any HOA due diligence review. It is an independent engineering assessment that evaluates every common area component — roofs, elevators, pools, parking structures, HVAC systems, paving, fencing, landscaping infrastructure — and calculates how much money should be in the reserve fund right now to pay for those components as they reach the end of their useful life.

The key metric is the percent funded figure: how much money the HOA actually has in reserves compared to what the reserve study says it should have at this point in the maintenance cycle. Association Reserves provides the widely used thresholds:

• Above 70% funded: financially healthy range. The association has the majority of needed reserves in place and should be able to fund upcoming major repairs without a special assessment.
• 30–70% funded: the yellow flag zone. Some underfunding exists. A fee increase or modest special assessment may be coming, but the risk is manageable and the situation is recoverable with proper management.
• Below 30% funded: the red flag. The association has very little of its needed reserves in place. A special assessment is not just possible — it is likely. At this funding level, even a single major repair (a roof, an elevator overhaul) may require an immediate assessment that exceeds what buyers budgeted for their housing costs.

Red Flag: A reserve fund below 30% funded means a special assessment is likely, not possible. GoverningDocs found this threshold in documents consistently preceding major assessments across its analysis of 1,900+ document packages. A reserve fund at this level combined with a component (roof, elevator, pool deck) past its useful life means the assessment may arrive within 12 to 24 months of your purchase.

The secondary check in the reserve study: look for components listed as ‘past useful life’ or with remaining useful life of zero or negative years. These are the assets that need replacement now. If the reserve fund is underfunded and components are past useful life, the assessment risk is structural and near-term, not theoretical.

Finally: check the date of the reserve study. FastExpert’s July 2026 guide is explicit: a reserve study older than five years is a red flag, especially after the construction cost inflation from 2021 through 2025. A study conducted in 2018 or 2019 used pre-inflation cost estimates. The actual cost of replacing a roof or repaving a parking structure today is likely 30 to 50 percent higher than what the 2019 study projected, meaning the association may be more underfunded than the study number suggests.

Way #2: Review the Meeting Minutes for Deferred Maintenance

Way #2: Read 24 Months of Board Meeting Minutes for Deferred Maintenance Patterns

The meeting minutes of an HOA board are the closest thing to a real-time operational diary of the community. Unlike the reserve study (which is a point-in-time engineering snapshot) or the CC&Rs (which are the static legal framework), meeting minutes show what the board is actually discussing, what decisions it is deferring, what problems residents are raising, and what the board has voted to approve or postpone over the past 24 months.

GoverningDocs identifies deferred maintenance appearing in board minutes as one of the five patterns that consistently precede special assessments. The specific language to look for in 24 months of minutes:

• Repeated tabling of major repair decisions: if the same roof repair, parking structure issue, or elevator maintenance topic appears in three or more consecutive months’ minutes without resolution, it is being deferred, not solved.
• Phrases such as ‘will revisit next quarter’ or ‘monitoring the situation’ applied to physical maintenance issues: these are the language of deferral, not action.
• References to contractor bids received but not accepted: if the board received three bids for a major repair and declined all of them due to cost, the repair is being deferred and will be more expensive when it cannot be deferred further.
• Management company changes: a management company change — especially one in which the prior management company resigned or was terminated abruptly — often signals governance conflict, financial problems, or both.
• Resident complaints about specific physical conditions repeated over multiple meetings: water intrusion, foundation cracks, balcony deterioration, parking structure spalling, roof leaks. Any physical complaint that appears across multiple months of minutes is a maintenance issue that has not been resolved.
• References to litigation, threatened lawsuits, or legal consultations: legal fees are a major drain on reserve funds and can trigger special assessments.

The HOA Handbook’s April 2026 guide to evaluating an HOA before purchase specifically identifies active litigation as a significant financial risk: ‘An HOA embroiled in a construction defect lawsuit or one that has let its insurance lapse presents a significant financial risk to you as a homeowner. These situations can lead to costly special assessments to cover legal fees or repairs.’

Red Flag: Three or more consecutive months of meeting minutes in which the same physical maintenance topic is deferred without resolution is one of the most reliable advance signals of a coming special assessment. The deferral is the financial risk accumulating in real time, documented in the association’s own records.

Way #3: Check the CC&Rs for Restrictions and Assessment Authority

Way #3: Review the CC&Rs for Restrictions That Affect Your Life and Assessment Language

The CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) are the governing legal contract of the HOA community. When you buy a home in an HOA, you agree to be bound by the CC&Rs as a condition of purchase, whether or not you have read them. They determine:

• What you can and cannot do to your property: exterior paint colours, architectural modifications, holiday decorations, landscaping changes, fence height, satellite dishes, solar panels, electric vehicle charging equipment, and dozens of other modifications may require HOA approval, be restricted, or be outright prohibited.
• Rental restrictions: some CC&Rs prohibit or severely limit rentals. A community with a no-rental provision or a rental cap (limiting short-term rentals, Airbnb, or even long-term rentals above a percentage of units) can directly affect your ability to generate rental income from the property. GoverningDocs identifies rental restriction checking as a specific buyer need within CC&Rs review.
• Special assessment authority: the CC&Rs define under what circumstances the board can levy a special assessment, what the cap is (if any) on assessments without a homeowner vote, and what notice is required. Some CC&Rs allow the board to levy assessments of significant dollar amounts without a homeowner vote. Others require a supermajority of homeowners. Understanding the assessment authority embedded in the CC&Rs tells you how much financial exposure you hold without direct input.
• Pet restrictions: limits on number, breed, or size of pets.
• Parking rules: guest parking, commercial vehicle restrictions, RV storage, boat parking.
• Business operation restrictions: rules about operating a home-based business, client visits, or commercial deliveries.

The restrictions in the CC&Rs are legally binding. A buyer who purchases a home without reviewing the CC&Rs and then discovers they cannot install a solar panel, cannot rent the property during a temporary relocation, cannot park their work truck in the driveway, or cannot add a fence for their dog has discovered these restrictions at the most expensive possible moment.

Key Insight: The CC&Rs were written by attorneys for the developer when the community was built. They may be 20 or 30 years old. They may contain language that seems unusual, disproportionately restrictive, or inconsistent with your plans. The time to discover this is before you close, not after.

Way #4: Examine the Budget and Delinquency Rate

Way #4: Examine the Current Budget and Delinquency Rate for Financial Stress Signals

The HOA’s annual budget and financial statements reveal the current operational financial health of the association. The reserve study tells you about the long-term capital position; the budget tells you about the immediate cash flow position. The two most important numbers from the budget:

The Reserve Contribution Rate

The budget shows how much money the association is currently contributing to the reserve fund each month. Compare this to what the reserve study says the monthly contribution should be to maintain or improve the percent-funded level. If the reserve study says the association needs to contribute $50,000 per month to its reserve fund to reach 70 percent funded within 10 years, and the budget shows contributions of $20,000 per month, the association is knowingly underfunding its reserves. This gap is a deferred liability that will eventually become a special assessment.

The Delinquency Rate

The delinquency rate measures what percentage of unit owners are behind on their HOA dues. This metric matters because an HOA’s ability to maintain the community, fund reserves, and pay for unexpected repairs depends on collecting dues from all owners. A high delinquency rate creates a cash flow shortfall that either forces cuts to services and reserves or triggers an assessment on the remaining paying owners.



The lender angle on delinquency rates is important: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have guidelines that restrict financing in condo communities where the delinquency rate exceeds certain thresholds. A high delinquency rate does not just signal financial risk — it can make the property difficult or impossible to finance with a conventional mortgage.

Red Flag: A delinquency rate above 10% combined with a reserve fund below 50% funded is a two-factor red flag that places significant financial risk on all purchasing homeowners. This combination — underfunded reserves plus cash flow problems from dues delinquency — creates the conditions in which an urgent special assessment becomes nearly inevitable.

The Five-Number HOA Financial Health Check

GoverningDocs’ five-number HOA health check, drawn from analysis of 1,900+ HOA documents, provides a systematic framework for quickly assessing financial risk across the documents reviewed above:

Understanding Special Assessments: The Risk Most Buyers Miss

A special assessment is a one-time fee charged by the HOA to all unit owners to cover a specific expense that cannot be funded from normal operating dues or the reserve fund. They are the single biggest financial surprise in HOA living — and the one most consistently underestimated by buyers.

The HOACosts.com May 2026 data on 74 special assessment reports shows that assessments range from a few thousand dollars to over $140,000 per unit for major structural repairs. The Florida post-Surfside context has produced assessments of $50,000 to $200,000 per unit in older coastal high-rises. These are not edge cases in a coastal market — they are the predictable outcome of decades of underfunded reserves meeting mandatory structural repair requirements.

The key point about special assessments: they are binding. Once the board votes to levy a special assessment (under the authority granted in the CC&Rs), every owner in the community owes their share. Failure to pay results in late fees, interest, restrictions on amenity use, and ultimately a lien on the property — a legal right the HOA holds to your home until the debt is cleared.

AmeriSave’s 2026 special assessment guide provides the clearest framing: ‘Take the association’s finances as seriously as you would a home inspection. Asking a few questions now can help you avoid a lot of stress later.’

The HOA Risk-by-Property-Type Matrix

The Litigation and Insurance Check

Two non-financial-statement risk factors deserve explicit investigation before any HOA property purchase:

Pending Litigation

An HOA involved in active litigation — whether a construction defect lawsuit, a lawsuit by or against a homeowner, a dispute with a contractor, or a claim against a prior management company — faces legal costs that may not be fully funded by insurance and may require a special assessment. The HOA Handbook’s April 2026 guide identifies this directly: ‘An HOA embroiled in a construction defect lawsuit... presents a significant financial risk.’
The meeting minutes will typically reference ongoing litigation. But always ask the seller, the HOA management company, and your real estate attorney explicitly: Is there any pending or threatened litigation involving the association? Request a written disclosure if possible.

Insurance Coverage

Every HOA should carry a master insurance policy covering the building and common areas, general liability insurance, and directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance. Request the HOA’s certificate of insurance and verify:

• The coverage amount is adequate relative to the replacement cost of the buildings and common areas.
• The policy is current and not lapsed.
• There are no significant recent claims that may affect renewability or rate.
• For condominiums: understand exactly where the HOA’s coverage ends and your individual unit owner’s policy must begin. This boundary (the ‘bare walls in’ vs. ‘all in’ standard) determines how much individual owner coverage you need.

Talk to Current Residents: The Human Intelligence Layer

Every document in an HOA disclosure package was written by people with an interest in presenting the community favourably. The reserve study was commissioned by the board. The minutes were taken by someone appointed by the board. The CC&Rs were written by the developer’s attorneys. The budget was prepared under the board’s direction.
The residents who live there have no such interest in the presentation. The HOA Handbook’s April 2026 guide recommends taking a slow, observant walk around the entire community — looking for visible signs of maintenance issues, unauthorised modifications that suggest rule enforcement is lax, and the overall physical condition of common areas. Then talk to people.

Questions that are worth asking current residents before buying:

• Have fees increased significantly in the past three years? By how much?
• Have there been any special assessments in the past five years? What triggered them?
• How is the relationship between the board and residents generally? Any significant conflicts?
• Is there anything about this community you wish you had known before you bought?

Residents who have lived through a special assessment will tell you. Residents who are satisfied will tell you that too. The 86 percent positive/neutral satisfaction rate among HOA residents (HOAReviewer.com) means that the majority of communities are genuinely well-managed. The human intelligence check helps you distinguish which category you are looking at.

What to Do If You Find Red Flags

If your review of the four documents — reserve study, meeting minutes, CC&Rs, and budget — reveals one or more red flags, your options are:

• Negotiate a price reduction: a property in an HOA community with identified financial risks should trade at a discount to an equivalent property in a well-funded community. The discount should reflect the present value of likely future assessments. A real estate attorney or CPA can help you estimate this.
• Request a seller credit at closing: rather than a price reduction, negotiate a closing credit that covers the immediate financial exposure. If a special assessment has been approved but not yet billed, request that the seller pay it or provide a credit equal to it.
• Walk away: GoverningDocs is explicit: ‘If three or more red flags are present, the financial risk may be structural; no discount fully covers a building heading toward a six-figure assessment.’ This is the option that most buyers are reluctant to exercise after investing time and emotion in a property, but it is always available and sometimes the correct one.
• Get a specialist review: if the documents are complex and the red flags are ambiguous, engage a real estate attorney who specialises in community associations, or a service that specifically reviews HOA documents (such as GoverningDocs or a similar specialist). The cost of a specialist review is modest relative to the financial exposure it reveals.

State-by-State HOA Risk Context

HOA law, disclosure requirements, and financial risk levels vary significantly by state:

• Florida: the highest-concentration HOA state (45% of homes) and the state with the most documented special assessment risk following post-Surfside reforms. As of January 2025, SIRS funding is mandatory for condo associations; reserves can no longer be waived. Florida law (HB 913, July 2025) extended the condo buyer review period from 3 to 7 days. In older Florida high-rises, special assessments of $50,000 to $200,000+ per unit have been documented.
• California: the state with the most HOA homes in absolute terms (4.9 million). California capped most HOA fines at $100 per violation effective 2024. The Davis-Stirling Act governs California HOA law and provides specific buyer disclosure rights. Construction cost inflation in California has been among the highest in the country, increasing the risk of underfunded reserves in communities with pre-2021 reserve studies.
• Texas: the third-largest HOA market (2.1 million homes), with HOA laws that are generally less restrictive than California or Florida. Texas HOAs have broad authority and fewer mandatory disclosure requirements than coastal states. Extra diligence is warranted.
• New York: high HOA fees (average $886/month in NYC-influenced areas per HOACosts.com) with a high proportion of co-op structures alongside condos. Co-ops have different legal and financial structures from HOAs; the underlying share structure and board approval requirements warrant separate analysis.

Conclusion

The property line of a home in an HOA community does not stop at the fence or the front door. The financial health of the association, the restrictions in the CC&Rs, the funded status of the reserve, and the delinquency rate of the dues collection are all part of what you are buying. They determine your future monthly obligations, your lifestyle within the community, your resale options, and your exposure to financial surprises after closing.

The four ways in this guide — reading the reserve study for funding level, reviewing the meeting minutes for deferred maintenance, checking the CC&Rs for restrictions and assessment authority, and examining the budget and delinquency rate — require approximately 90 minutes of focused document review. That 90-minute investment gives you access to the same warning signs that, according to GoverningDocs’ analysis of 1,900+ HOA document packages, appear months or years before a special assessment arrives. The warning is almost always in the documents. The buyers who receive a $50,000 special assessment six months after closing almost never checked.

Seventy-four percent of HOAs are underfunded. Forty-four percent of listed homes carry an HOA fee. You are more likely than not to encounter an HOA in your home search. Make the 90 minutes of due diligence a standard part of your buying process.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most important thing to check in an HOA before buying?

The reserve study's percent-funded metric is the single most important number. Association Reserves, which has analysed more than 100,000 reserve studies since 1986, found that 74% of community associations are underfunded. If the reserve fund is below 70% funded, that is a yellow flag and a potential special assessment risk. If it is below 30% funded, that is a red flag — a special assessment is likely, not just possible. GoverningDocs, after analysing 1,900+ HOA document packages, found that reserve funding below 30% is one of the five patterns that consistently precede special assessments. Check the date of the reserve study too — a study older than 5 years may use pre-inflation cost estimates that understate current replacement costs (FastExpert, July 2026).

What is an HOA special assessment and how much can it be?

A special assessment is a one-time fee charged by the HOA to all unit owners to cover a specific expense that cannot be funded from regular dues or the reserve fund. Special assessments range from a few thousand dollars to over $140,000 per unit for major structural repairs (HOACosts.com, May 2026). In Florida, following the post-Surfside reforms, special assessments of $50,000 to $200,000 per unit have been levied in older coastal high-rises where decades of deferred maintenance met mandatory structural repair requirements (FloridaHomeFinder, March 2026). Special assessments are legally binding — once approved by the board under its authority in the CC&Rs, every owner owes their share. Failure to pay leads to late fees, amenity restrictions, and eventually a lien on the property.

What documents should I request before closing on an HOA home?

Request four core documents: (1) The most recent reserve study — check the percent-funded figure and the date of the study. (2) The past 24 months of board meeting minutes — look for deferred maintenance patterns, management changes, and litigation references. (3) The CC&Rs — review for rental restrictions, special assessment authority, and any restrictions that conflict with your plans. (4) The current approved budget and financial statements — check reserve contribution rates and the delinquency rate. Additionally, always request an estoppel certificate from the HOA — this is a legal document listing all fees currently owed and any approved or pending special assessments. In Florida, also request the SIRS (Structural Integrity Reserve Study). A focused review takes approximately 90 minutes (GoverningDocs, May 2026).

How can I tell if an HOA is financially healthy?

Use the five-number health check drawn from GoverningDocs' analysis of 1,900+ HOA document packages: (1) Percent funded above 70% (green); 30–70% (yellow); below 30% (red). (2) Delinquency rate below 2% (green); 2–10% (caution); above 10% (red). (3) Reserve contributions at or above the recommended level in the reserve study. (4) No single entity owning more than 25% of units (above this level, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac may restrict conventional financing). (5) Full master insurance coverage with no gaps, lapses, or major outstanding claims. All five numbers should be verifiable from the reserve study, annual budget, and insurance certificate — documents you are entitled to receive before closing.

What HOA restrictions should I check before buying?

The CC&Rs define what you can and cannot do with the property. The most financially significant restrictions to check: (1) Rental restrictions — some communities prohibit short-term rentals (Airbnb) entirely or cap the percentage of units that can be rented at any time. If you plan to rent the property, confirm rental is permitted. (2) Special assessment authority — check whether the board can levy assessments above a certain threshold without a homeowner vote. (3) Architectural modification requirements — any change to the exterior of the property (solar panels, EV charging, paint colours, decking, landscaping) may require board approval or be prohibited. (4) Pet restrictions — breed, size, or number limits. (5) Business operation rules — restrictions on home-based businesses, client visits, or commercial deliveries. These restrictions are legally binding upon purchase, whether or not you read them.

Is an HOA fee always fixed or can it increase?

HOA fees can and do increase. The monthly fee listed in the listing is the current fee — it is not guaranteed to stay at that level. HOA boards can typically raise fees up to a certain percentage per year without a homeowner vote (the exact cap depends on the state and the CC&Rs). Fees are driven by operating costs (landscaping, utilities, insurance, management), reserve funding requirements, and inflation in all of these categories. Construction cost inflation from 2021 to 2025 has increased maintenance and reserve costs significantly, driving fee increases in many communities. Additionally, a special assessment is separate from the regular monthly fee — it is an additional one-time (or sometimes multi-year) charge that cannot be avoided once approved. Always budget for the possibility of both regular fee increases and a special assessment when calculating your total housing cost in an HOA community.