Owner communication
When and what to tell owners before you ask them to pay for a capital project.
Communicate before you vote, not after. Hold informational sessions well ahead of any special assessment vote: early notice builds buy-in and cuts pushback. If you assess owners, state the specific purpose in writing and spend the money only on that purpose. Owners who feel blindsided push back hardest, and an unresolved assessment can block a buyer's financing.
Advance notice earns buy-in
A special assessment vote goes smoother when owners have heard about the project long before a ballot arrives. Practitioner guidance is direct about the payoff of holding informational sessions early:
"Holding these sessions well in advance of the project creates much more buy-in with owners and much less push back or disruption during project execution."
Source: Special assessments, what is so special about them, CAI Rocky Mountain Chapter, Community Associations Institute
In practice: walk owners through why the project is needed and what it will cost before you schedule a vote, not after the board has already committed to one.
What a special assessment notice has to say
A special assessment is a charge to owners outside the normal annual budget. Florida law requires that the notice of one name its purpose in writing, and restricts the board to spending the money on that purpose only:
"The specific purpose or purposes of any special assessment...shall be set forth in a written notice of such assessment sent or delivered to each unit owner," and "the funds collected pursuant to a special assessment shall be used only for the specific purpose or purposes set forth in such notice."
Source: Florida Statutes, section 718.116, The Florida Senate
Whether your state imposes the same written notice and use restriction is a question for your own state statute, and your CC&Rs may add requirements on top of it.
Why getting it wrong follows owners to closing
A special assessment does more than fund a project. Left unresolved, it can decide whether anyone in the community can get a mortgage.
"if the special assessment is associated with a critical repair and the issue is not remediated, the project is ineligible"
Source: Selling Guide, B4 2.1 03, Ineligible Projects, Fannie Mae
That guidance applies to loans Fannie Mae backs. A board that documents the repair and closes the loop, not just levies the money, protects every owner's ability to sell or refinance later, not only the board's own project timeline.
Defect repairs follow the same communication logic
When the capital project is a repair for a construction defect rather than routine wear, the funding options do not change:
"When associations need to finance major capital item repair, replacement, or restoration, they have 3 basic options available: reserve funds, special assessments, or obtaining a bank loan."
Source: How can my association fund an HOA capital improvement, FirstService Residential
Whichever lever the board pulls, tell owners what the money is for, in writing, before the vote, and don't spend it on anything else. Whether a defect claim also creates separate notice obligations to a builder, an insurer, or the state is a question for the association's attorney, not a rule this page can state.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A board's special assessment notice says only "for property improvements." Later the board spends part of the money on a project it never mentioned. What's the problem?
A board wants to minimize pushback before a special assessment vote. Practitioner guidance points to which practice?
An owner is trying to refinance in a community sitting on an unresolved special assessment for a critical repair. What does Fannie Mae's guidance say can happen?
- Florida Statutes, section 718.116, The Florida Senate
- Florida Statutes, section 718.103, The Florida Senate
- Selling Guide, B4 2.1 03, Ineligible Projects, Fannie Mae
- Special assessments, what is so special about them, CAI Rocky Mountain Chapter, Community Associations Institute
- How can my association fund an HOA capital improvement, FirstService Residential
Construction Defects
Ready to see how the funding decision gets made before the notice goes out? Read Funding projects.
Whether written notice of a special assessment's purpose is legally required, how tightly the funds must be tied to that purpose, and what vote threshold triggers one, vary by state and by your governing documents.