Special assessments
What actually triggers a special assessment.
A special assessment is a one-time bill a condo board levies on owners when the association doesn't have enough saved to pay for something it has to pay for. The question that matters to a buyer isn't whether one has happened — it's whether the numbers in the association's own documents say one is coming.
The 2022/2023 law changed the math
After the Surfside collapse, Florida passed laws requiring most condo associations three stories and up to get a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) and to fully fund reserves for the items that study covers — no more voting to waive or underfund them. Associations that were coasting on partial reserves for years are now required to catch up. That catch-up is exactly where special assessments come from.
Three ways the gap gets closed
When a reserve study shows a shortfall, a board has three options: raise monthly dues, levy a special assessment, or some mix of both. Dues increases show up gradually; special assessments show up as a bill, sometimes due in 30 or 60 days. Both mean the same thing for a buyer — money you didn't put in the purchase price that you'll owe anyway.
What to look for before you close
- Has a special assessment already been approved by the board, even if it hasn't been billed yet?
- What percent funded are the reserves, and what's the dollar gap to full funding?
- Are any major components (roof, structure, elevators, plumbing) at or near zero years of remaining life?
These numbers are usually in the SIRS report or reserve study, not in the one-page disclosure summary. If you have those documents, we'll check them free and tell you whether there's enough to calculate your unit's exposure.