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California HOA Special Assessment Notice Letter

Write the notice owners get when the board levies a special assessment, in a standard version or an emergency version that includes the board’s resolution and written findings. The builder checks the 5 percent limit and the 30 to 60 day window.

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Build Your Special Assessment Notice

Which version do you need?

The emergency version adds the board’s resolution and written findings.

1The association and the owner

Leave the owner fields blank to make a general letter for a mail merge. Everything you type stays in your browser.

2The special assessment

Describe what it pays for and each home’s share.

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$

Without a member vote, special assessments in one fiscal year can total up to 5 percent of that year’s budgeted gross expenses (section 5605).

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3Delivery

Each owner gets individual notice 30 to 60 days before the first payment is due (sections 4040 and 5615).

Everything you enter stays in your browser and is saved there so you can come back later. Nothing is sent to How2HOA. This builder follows California Civil Code sections 4040, 5600, 5605, 5610 and 5615, reviewed November 2026. It doesn’t decide whether a situation is an emergency, and your governing documents may set stricter rules. This tool is general educational information, not legal advice. Have your association’s attorney review the letter before you send it.

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What the law requires

The Rules Behind the Notice

The limit, the vote and the notice all depend on whether it’s an emergency.

Each requirement comes from a specific section of the Civil Code. Here’s what each one says.

  • The notice. Each owner gets individual notice of the special assessment not less than 30 nor more than 60 days before it’s due (sections 4040 and 5615).
  • The 5 percent limit. Without member approval, the board can’t impose special assessments that together exceed 5 percent of the association’s budgeted gross expenses for the fiscal year (section 5605).
  • Member approval. Above the limit, the special assessment needs approval of a majority of a quorum of the members, and quorum means more than 50 percent of the members (section 5605).
  • Emergencies. The limit doesn’t apply to an assessment needed for an extraordinary expense required by a court order, an extraordinary expense to address a threat to personal health or safety or another hazardous condition discovered on the property or an extraordinary repair the board couldn’t reasonably have foreseen when it prepared the budget (section 5610).
  • The written findings. For an unforeseen repair, the board passes a resolution with written findings on why the expense is necessary and why it wasn’t or couldn’t reasonably have been foreseen. It passes the resolution before imposing or collecting the assessment and sends it to owners with the notice (section 5610).
  • Only what’s needed. An assessment can’t exceed the amount needed to cover the costs it’s levied for (section 5600).

For votes, limits and alternatives, see HOA Special Assessments in California.

How to use it

Sending the Notice

Owners take a special assessment better when they know why and when.

Five steps from the board’s vote to the owner’s mailbox.

  1. Choose the version. Use the emergency version only if the expense fits one of the three emergencies in section 5610.
  2. Check the limit. For a standard assessment, enter the budgeted gross expenses and any earlier special assessments this fiscal year.
  3. Write the findings. For an unforeseen repair, the board adopts the resolution and findings before the assessment is imposed. For the other two emergencies a resolution is good practice.
  4. Set the payments. Choose one payment or installments, and the builder lists each due date.
  5. Review and send. Have your attorney review the letter and resolution, remove the board file page and deliver it 30 to 60 days before the first payment is due.

Explaining how shares were set, naming a contact and attaching a resolution for court-ordered or health and safety emergencies are good practice, not legal requirements. The builder labels each one.

Sources

The Law Behind This Page

Every rule in this builder comes from the official text. Each link below opens it in a new tab.

Civil Code sections: 4040 · 5600 · 5605 · 5610 · 5615

Keep going

Related Resources

California HOA Assessments and Collections

The rules for dues, special assessments and collections.

Dues and Special Assessment Calculator

Check the 20 percent and 5 percent limits.

HOA Special Assessments in California

Limits, votes and emergencies.

Assessment Increase Notice Letter

The notice for a regular dues increase.

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Get help

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Last reviewed November 2, 2026. Sources: Civil Code sections 4040, 5600, 5605, 5610 and 5615. By the How2HOA Editorial Team. This tool is general educational information, not legal advice. Check with your association’s attorney about your situation.

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