Blog

Caller: Help! We need an Assessment! It’s an EMERGENCY!

By Zer Iyer, Esq.

This article first appeared in our Communicator Magazine, Summer 2025 Edition.

Unexpected expenses. Unanticipated cost increases. Unforeseen repairs. Unprecedented rate increases. These are examples of all‐too‐common situations affecting homeowner associations in the state and the all‐too‐common response of most boards to levy an emergency assessment. An association needs money, doesn’t have the money and that board is pretty sure the membership won’t approve the assessment on their own, so an emergency assessment makes sense, right? I mean, what could go wrong? Actually, a lot could go wrong and in fact, a lot often does go wrong when boards decide to levy emergency assessments. The purpose of this article is to explain what an emergency assessment is, when it is appropriate to levy and, perhaps most importantly, how to approach an emergency assessment to minimize challenges by homeowners. 

First, a quick re...