Prorations
What actually happens to an assessment when a unit changes hands mid period, and why the math is rarely the board's to do.
Prorating an assessment splits it between a buyer and seller based on the closing date, but no statute reviewed for this Course sets the formula. What the law actually requires is a resale certificate: a disclosure that states unpaid amounts and caps the buyer's liability to whatever the certificate says, regardless of the closing math.
What proration actually splits
When a unit sells partway through a month, someone has to decide how much of that period's assessment the seller owes and how much lands on the buyer. That division is called proration. In practice, the closing or title company typically counts days: the seller covers the days they owned the unit, the buyer covers the rest.
That day count is a closing-industry convention, not a rule any statute reviewed for this Course requires the board to calculate. Whether your local closing practice prorates by day, by full month, or some other method varies, and it is worth confirming with the closing agent handling the sale, not with the association.
The resale certificate is what the law actually requires
Rather than prescribing a proration formula, the law that governs common interest communities focuses on disclosure. Before a sale closes, the seller, through the association, provides a resale certificate stating the current assessment amount and any unpaid assessment currently due. That document does more than inform: it caps what the association can later collect from the new owner.
"A purchaser is not liable for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in the certificate prepared by the association."
Source: Vermont Statutes Annotated, Title 27A (Vermont Common Interest Ownership Act), State of Vermont
That cap is the real protection at closing. Whatever the buyer and seller sort out between themselves about the transition month, the association's own exposure and the buyer's own exposure run through this document.
What the board's job is, and isn't
The board's job is accuracy, not arithmetic. Make sure the owner ledger the resale certificate is built from reflects the true unpaid balance before it goes out, since that figure is what the buyer can be held to and what the association can actually collect afterward.
The closing agent or title company handles whatever day-based split their own process uses. That calculation is not something the board needs to perform or referee. If the seller and buyer disagree about who owes what for the month of the sale, that is a matter between them and their closing agent. What counts as unpaid at the moment the certificate is prepared, and how quickly an association must produce one, varies by state and is worth confirming against your own statute.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A unit sells mid month and the buyer wants to know exactly who owes what for that month. What should the board do?
A resale certificate understates unpaid assessments by clerical error. After closing, the association discovers the true balance was higher. Can it collect the difference from the new owner?
A new board member asks which statute sets the formula for prorating assessments at closing. What should you tell them?
Sources
Assessments
Prorations are mostly about disclosure, not division. See how the document behind that disclosure gets built in Owner ledgers.
Whether local closing practice prorates by day or by month, and how quickly your association must produce a resale certificate, varies by state and by local custom. Confirm both with your closing agent and your own governing documents.