A special assessment is the most unpopular thing a board ever votes on, and the one most likely to be challenged. California sets a clear line between what the board can decide alone and what the owners have to approve. This guide walks through that line, the emergency exceptions, and the notice that has to go out before the first dollar is due.
Up to 20 percent on regular assessments and 5 percent of budgeted gross expenses on special assessments, but only if the budget report went out.
Civil Code section 5605 has two parts, and the first is a precondition most boards forget.
The precondition, section 5605(a). A board may not impose an annual increase in regular assessments for a fiscal year unless it has complied with the core parts of the annual budget report requirement in section 5300 for that year, or has obtained member approval. In plain terms: if the budget report did not go out on time and complete, the board loses the power to raise dues on its own. Our guide to the annual budget report and annual policy statement covers what that packet must contain.
The two caps, section 5605(b). Without the approval of a majority of a quorum of members, the board may not impose a regular assessment that is more than 20 percent greater than the regular assessment for the preceding fiscal year, and it may not impose special assessments which in the aggregate exceed 5 percent of the budgeted gross expenses of the association for that fiscal year.
Aggregate means every special assessment levied in the same fiscal year counts toward one 5 percent total, so splitting a project into small assessments does not get under the line. The base is the budgeted gross expenses in the adopted budget.
There is also a newer, tighter limit for deed restricted affordable housing units in associations that record their original declaration on or after January 1, 2025, found in section 5605(c). It generally caps those owners' regular assessment increases at 5 percent plus the change in the cost of living, never more than 10 percent. Ask counsel if it applies to you.
Your governing documents may set their own limits. Read your CC&Rs and bylaws next to the statute before the board votes. If you are not sure which document controls, start with the four governing documents, explained.
Only three situations, and the third one requires a written resolution before anyone is billed.
Section 5610 says the limits in section 5605 do not apply to assessment increases necessary for emergency situations. It then defines an emergency narrowly.
The resolution requirement. For the third category only, the board must pass a resolution containing written findings on the necessity of the extraordinary expense and why it was not or could not have been reasonably foreseen in the budgeting process, before the assessment is imposed or collected. That resolution must be distributed to the members with the notice of assessment.
Where emergencies fall apart. The unforeseeable category is the one owners most often dispute. A roof or a balcony that shows up in the reserve study with a short remaining life is hard to call unforeseeable. That is why the reserve study matters here: it is the written record of what the board knew and when. If you have not looked at yours recently, our guide on how to read your HOA reserve study takes ten minutes.
An emergency does not remove the notice requirement. Section 5615 still applies, so owners must still get individual notice before the emergency assessment is due.
A majority of a quorum, where the quorum is more than half of all members, by secret ballot.
Read section 4070 and section 5605(d) together.
The quorum. For section 5605, "quorum" means more than 50 percent of the members. That is a statutory number, not whatever your bylaws say.
The vote. Under section 4070, the action must be approved by an affirmative vote of a majority of the votes represented and voting in a duly held election in which a quorum is represented, and those yes votes must also be a majority of the required quorum.
Secret ballot. Section 5100 requires elections regarding assessments legally requiring a vote to be held by secret ballot under the Act's election procedures. Under section 5115, ballots and two preaddressed envelopes go out by first class mail or are delivered at least 30 days before the voting deadline, using the double envelope method so the vote stays confidential. The reduced 20 percent quorum that section 5115 allows for a reconvened meeting applies to director elections, so do not plan on it for an assessment vote.
Elections have their own rules, inspectors, and deadlines. Our guide to California HOA election rules walks through them, and the board meeting where the assessment is discussed must be noticed like any other; see how much notice a board meeting needs.
Run every proposed assessment through these questions, in order.
Every path ends in the same place: individual notice 30 to 60 days before the money is due.
Not less than 30 and not more than 60 days, by individual notice.
Section 5615 requires the association to provide individual notice under section 4040 to the members of any increase in the regular or special assessments, not less than 30 nor more than 60 days before the increased assessment becomes due.
Individual notice goes by the delivery method each member chose in the annual solicitation under section 4041, which can be a mailing address or a valid email address. If a member never answered, the association uses first class, registered, certified, or express mail, or overnight delivery, to the address on file.
Yes once it is delinquent, under section 5665, and the board can offer installments from the start if it chooses.
The Act's payment plan right attaches to delinquent debt. After the association sends the pre-lien notice under section 5660, an owner may submit a written request to meet with the board to discuss a payment plan.
Whether to offer installments from day one is a board decision under your governing documents. Related: the AB 130 fine rules, California HOA rental restrictions, and the self managed HOA checklist.
Every special assessment produces the same questions: why, how much, when is it due, can I pay over time. The HOA180 Online Assistant answers from your own documents and notices, and the 24/7 Community Information Hub keeps the reserve study, the notice, and the minutes in one place. See how the 24/7 Community Information Hub works, or start with the 30 day free trial.
Statutes change, courts interpret them, and your governing documents may impose stricter or different requirements than the Act does. Nothing here creates an attorney client relationship, and no summary can account for the facts of your community. Before your board acts on an assessment, a deadline, a fine, a rental rule, or an amendment, confirm it with your association's legal counsel.
HOA180 is not a law firm and does not practice law. Where this page states a specific number of days, dollars, or percent, we have taken it from the current Civil Code section cited alongside it or from the agency that administers the requirement; where the law does not set a number, we have said so rather than supply one.
Statutes cited: Civil Code § 5605 · Civil Code § 5610 · Civil Code § 5615 · Civil Code § 4070 · Civil Code § 5100 · Civil Code § 5115 · Civil Code § 4040 · Civil Code § 5665
Last reviewed October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will check it.
Most of the owners who read this page are not on their board. That is fine. The fastest way to change how your community handles information is a short, polite note to the people who can. Copy this, change the name, and send it.
Hi [board president's name],
I came across a plain English guide on when our board can levy a special assessment on its own and when owners have to vote, and I thought it was worth sharing with the board: {URL}
It also mentions a service that answers homeowner questions any hour from our own CC&Rs and rules, with a community website included, for $89 a month with a free 30 day trial. I am not asking for anything, I just thought it might save the board some repeat questions and help owners like me feel informed. Happy to talk about it at the next meeting.
Thanks for the work you put in,
[your name], [your street]
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