{"id":12484,"date":"2026-06-05T15:01:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T15:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484"},"modified":"2026-06-05T15:01:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T15:01:46","slug":"hoa-homefront-tips-for-emergency-special-assessments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484","title":{"rendered":"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Emergency special assessments have saved many HOAs from disaster.<\/p>\n

One recent example occurred during the rise in property insurance premiums, forcing some HOAs to choose between immediately adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to their budget, or face a loss of insurance coverage.<\/p>\n

Read more Stevie Nicks honors the USC doctor who takes care of her voice<\/a><\/p>\n

Other nasty budget surprises include major repair items that cannot wait after being discovered, or major legal expenses from defending lawsuits. Normally, the HOA\u2019s ability to increase regular assessments by 20% in a single year handles most surprises.<\/p>\n

However, if Senate Bill 1007 becomes law next year in its current form, HOA boards will be unable to increase budgets by more than 8% in a year without a membership special vote. (At press time the bill had recently passed the Senate on a divided vote, and is now in the Assembly.)<\/p>\n

Consequently, emergency special assessments may soon become more common and important, and HOA boards should become familiar with the legal requirements for such assessments.<\/p>\n

Civil Code Section 5610 allows for emergency special assessments to pay for three extraordinary expense types:<\/p>\n

1. Those required by court order<\/p>\n

2. When necessary due to a threat to health or safety, or when another hazardous condition is discovered<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

3. When a repair or maintenance expense is discovered that the HOA could not have predicted in the current budget, so long as the board adopts a written resolution explaining both the circumstances and why the expense could not have been reasonably foreseen. The resolution must be distributed to the members with the notice of special assessment.<\/p>\n

Before adopting an emergency special assessment, consider these tips:<\/p>\n

How quickly does the HOA need the funds? Civil Code Section 5615 states that notice must be provided to all members at least 30 and not more than 60 days before a special assessment can become due. So, don\u2019t expect the money to come in immediately.<\/p>\n

Read more Orange voters to decide on adding a 1 cent local sales tax in November<\/a><\/p>\n

Consult HOA legal counsel \u2014 ensure the expense qualifies as an emergency special assessment under Section 5610.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Don\u2019t assume that the members understand what the board understands about the need for the assessment. Take more time to educate your neighbors in the board-written resolution. If the expense is related to major repairs, consider including an expert recommendation letter in the disclosure packet.\u00a0 Even better, hold a special board meeting or even a \u201ctown hall\u201d informational meeting to explain this unpleasant surprise to the community.<\/p>\n

One of the most common ways I see major special assessments becoming controversial is when the board treats the assessment as a \u201cno-brainer\u201d and neglects to sufficiently explain to the community why the expense is necessary. Boards, the members don\u2019t have access to the information given to you directors \u2014 asking neighbors to \u201ctrust us\u201d sometimes is not enough.<\/p>\n

Explore alternatives to the emergency assessment. Has the HOA accumulated sufficient reserve funds so that the HOA can temporarily borrow from those funds?<\/p>\n

The HOA must restore the borrowed funds within one year, as required by Civil Code Section 5515. This allows the HOA time to educate the community about the issue and determine how to pay for it, making members more likely to understand the need for and approve the assessment.<\/p>\n

Funding HOAs is not easy and may become more difficult next year, but some planning and increased transparency may help.<\/p>\n

Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Partner of Richardson Ober LLP, a California law firm known for community association advice.\u00a0Submit questions to Kelly@roattorneys.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Case filed against Equatorial Guinea for sending US deportees to nations where they face persecution<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Such an assessment often becomes controversial when a board treats it as a \u201cno-brainer\u201d and neglects to explain to the community why the expense is necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-columnist","category-represents-the-opinion-of-the-author-who-is-either-a-paid-columnist-or-an-unpaid-guest-columnist"],"yoast_head":"\nHOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Such an assessment often becomes controversial when a board treats it as a \u201cno-brainer\u201d and neglects to explain to the community why the expense is necessary.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T15:01:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T15:01:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484\"},\"wordCount\":623,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion Columnist\",\"Represents the opinion of the author who is either a paid columnist or an unpaid guest columnist.\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484\",\"name\":\"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments - Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T15:01:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12484#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments - Silicon Valley Moving Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments - Silicon Valley Moving Post","og_description":"Such an assessment often becomes controversial when a board treats it as a \u201cno-brainer\u201d and neglects to explain to the community why the expense is necessary.","og_url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484","og_site_name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","article_published_time":"2026-06-05T15:01:46+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"headline":"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments","datePublished":"2026-06-05T15:01:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484"},"wordCount":623,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp","articleSection":["Opinion Columnist","Represents the opinion of the author who is either a paid columnist or an unpaid guest columnist."],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484","name":"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments - Silicon Valley Moving Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-05T15:01:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/06484c656e8346ab78e4165512e63888.webp","width":1024,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12484#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"HOA Homefront: Tips for emergency special assessments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/","name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}