Prithvi Dhelia

Condo & HOA · Kirkland & the Eastside

How Special Assessments Work in Washington Condos and HOAs

By Prithvi Dhelia, broker at Beyond Real Estate · Published July 22, 2026 · Statutes verified July 22, 2026

Downtown Bellevue skyline seen from Lake Washington on the Eastside
Downtown Bellevue from Lake Washington

A special assessment is not automatically evidence of a badly managed condominium association.

Sometimes a special assessment reflects years of underfunding or deferred maintenance. In other cases, it pays for a necessary project that could not have been predicted precisely, such as concealed water damage, an insurance deductible, or a construction scope that became clear only after engineering work.

The better question is not simply:

Does this Kirkland condo have a special assessment?

The useful questions are:

  1. What work or obligation created the assessment?
  2. How was the amount approved?
  3. How was the selling unit’s share calculated?
  4. Is the assessment amount final or still likely to increase?
  5. Is the association collecting cash, borrowing money, or using both?
  6. Who is responsible for unpaid installments after closing?
  7. What other projects remain after this assessment is completed?

I have served as an HOA board member and treasurer through a major condominium recladding project and special assessment. That experience shapes how I review these situations. A single assessment number rarely explains the full financial exposure. The board resolution, project budget, loan documents, reserve study, meeting minutes, construction contract, and unit ledger need to agree.

This article is educational and is not legal, engineering, lending, insurance, or tax advice. Washington community-association law is in a transition period. Before January 1, 2028, the law governing a specific community can depend on when it was created and whether it elected to become subject to the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, commonly called WUCIOA.

What is a condo special assessment in Washington?

A special assessment is an amount charged to owners outside the association’s ordinary recurring assessment structure, usually to pay for a defined expense, project, funding shortfall, or debt obligation.

Common examples include:

The label used by the board is less important than the legal and financial substance. A project cost may appear as a one-time assessment, a multiyear installment assessment, an increase in regular dues, a loan-repayment charge, or a combination of these.

For a buyer, the key distinction is whether the obligation is:

Start by identifying which assessment law applies

As of July 22, 2026, WUCIOA generally applies before January 1, 2028 to communities created on or after July 1, 2018 and older communities that amended their declarations to elect into the statute. Older condominiums that have not elected into WUCIOA may remain governed primarily by Chapter 64.34 RCW until the 2028 transition.

This distinction matters because WUCIOA contains an express statutory ratification process for special assessments. The older Washington Condominium Act addresses board authority, budget ratification, assessment allocation, and disclosure differently.

Do not rely on the listing agent’s description of the voting process. Review:

How WUCIOA special assessments are approved and ratified

Under RCW 64.90.525(3), the board may propose a special assessment at any time. The assessment becomes effective only after the board follows the same owner-ratification procedure used for a proposed budget and the owners do not reject the assessment.

The statutory process works as follows:

  1. The board proposes the special assessment.
  2. The board provides the required information to owners and schedules an owner meeting.
  3. The meeting must generally occur no fewer than 14 days and no more than 50 days after the budget or assessment information is provided.
  4. The assessment is ratified unless owners holding a majority of all votes in the association, or a larger percentage required by the declaration, vote to reject it.
  5. A quorum is not required for ratification or rejection under this process.

This is a negative-ratification structure. Owners do not necessarily need to cast a majority vote in favor. Instead, the assessment generally survives unless the required percentage of the association’s total voting power rejects it.

That distinction is important in practice.

Illustrative voting example

Assume an association has 40 units, with one equal vote allocated to each unit. This example is illustrative.

If the declaration does not impose a larger rejection threshold, owners holding 21 votes would need to reject the proposed special assessment.

If 15 owners attend the meeting and all 15 vote against the assessment, the proposal would not be rejected because 15 votes are not a majority of the association’s total 40 votes.

A buyer reviewing a pending assessment should therefore ask for:

How the older Washington Condominium Act treats special assessments

The older Condominium Act gives the association authority, subject to the declaration, to adopt and amend budgets, incur liabilities, and impose and collect assessments for common expenses. RCW 64.34.304 does not create the same separate statutory ratification procedure for special assessments found in RCW 64.90.525.

RCW 64.34.308 requires the board to submit proposed budgets to an owner-ratification process. The board must provide a budget summary and schedule a meeting generally between 14 and 60 days after mailing. The proposed budget is ratified unless owners holding a majority of the association’s votes, or a larger percentage specified in the declaration, reject it.

The budget summary must disclose scheduled additional regular or special assessments, including:

The summary must also describe projected reserve sufficiency and additional assessments that may be necessary to meet future reserve obligations.

The critical difference is this:

RCW 64.34.308 requires disclosure of scheduled special assessments in the budget summary, but it does not itself establish a separate statutory owner-ratification process for the special assessment merely because the charge is labeled "special."

The declaration and bylaws may still require an owner vote, impose spending limitations, distinguish repairs from capital improvements, or prescribe a particular approval process. The board’s authority under RCW 64.34.304 is expressly subject to the declaration.

For an older Kirkland condominium, I would not assume that owners had a statutory right to approve or reject the assessment itself. I would read the declaration first and determine whether the assessment was:

How owners can respond to a proposed special assessment

Owners should respond before the assessment becomes delinquent, not after collection begins.

Under WUCIOA

Owners can:

RCW 64.90.525 allows the board to make the assessment payable in installments over a period selected by the board and to offer a discount for early payment. The statute gives the board that discretion. It does not state that each individual owner is entitled to select a private payment schedule.

Under the older Condominium Act

Owners should review the declaration and bylaws to determine:

The older Act recognizes that assessments may be payable in installments and provides that past-due assessments or installments bear interest at the rate established by the association. It does not provide the same express special-assessment installment and early-payment language found in RCW 64.90.525.

What owners should not do

An owner should not treat nonpayment as a substitute for challenging the approval process.

Under both WUCIOA and the older Condominium Act, an unpaid assessment creates an association lien against the unit from the time the assessment is due. Late charges, interest, collection expenses, and attorneys’ fees may follow, subject to statutory requirements and the governing documents.

An owner who believes the assessment was unauthorized should obtain legal advice promptly while continuing to understand the consequences of delinquency.

How a unit’s share of the assessment is calculated

Buyers often make a basic mistake:

They divide the total project cost by the number of units.

That calculation is valid only when the declaration allocates the expense equally.

Allocation under the older Condominium Act

RCW 64.34.360 generally requires common expenses to be assessed against units according to the allocations stated in the declaration. The declaration may require certain limited-common-element expenses to be charged to the units to which those elements are assigned. Expenses benefiting fewer than all units may also be assessed exclusively against the benefited units.

Allocation under WUCIOA

RCW 64.90.480 generally requires common expenses to be assessed according to each unit’s common-expense liability. The declaration may allocate limited-common-element expenses, expenses benefiting fewer than all units, insurance costs, and specified utilities or services on a different basis.

For a Kirkland condo assessment, obtain the recorded declaration and confirm:

Illustrative allocation example

Assume an exterior project has an estimated cost of $2,000,000. This example is illustrative.

A buyer may initially assume that a 40-unit building creates a $50,000 assessment per unit.

But assume the declaration assigns the unit being purchased 3 percent of common expenses. Its initial allocated share would instead be $60,000.

That is still not necessarily the final exposure. The buyer must determine whether the $2,000,000 estimate includes:

The correct calculation begins with the declaration’s allocation percentage, not the number of front doors.

Payment plans are not all the same

The phrase "payment plan" can describe three different structures.

1. Association-provided assessment installments

The association levies the full obligation but permits owners to pay it over time.

Review:

WUCIOA expressly allows the board to provide installments over any period it determines and to offer an early-payment discount.

2. Individual hardship arrangement

An owner separately negotiates with the association because the owner cannot meet the standard schedule.

A buyer should not assume that an individual arrangement will transfer with the unit or remain available after closing. Obtain the agreement in writing and confirm its treatment with the association, escrow, lender, and legal counsel.

3. Association loan

The association borrows money for the project and repays the lender using assessment income, increased dues, or a dedicated loan-repayment charge.

This can reduce the immediate cash demand on owners, but it does not eliminate the cost. It converts part of the project obligation into principal, interest, lender fees, and loan covenants.

How association loans affect owners and buyers

Under WUCIOA, an association may make contracts and incur liabilities, subject to the declaration and statutory limitations. If borrowing will be secured by assigning the association’s right to receive future income, including assessments, RCW 64.90.405(4) requires a separate owner-ratification process.

The borrowing notice must state the purpose and maximum amount of the loan and the estimated amount and term of any assessments required to repay it, along with the other details the statute requires.

The borrowing is permitted unless owners holding a majority of the association’s votes, or a larger percentage required by the declaration, reject it at the meeting. A quorum is not required.

For older-act condominiums, RCW 64.34.304 authorizes the association, subject to the declaration, to make contracts and incur liabilities. It permits the association to assign future income, including common-expense assessments, only to the extent the declaration provides.

A buyer evaluating an association loan should request:

Illustrative financing comparison

Assume a unit’s project allocation is $60,000. This example is illustrative.

The association could:

Those alternatives are not economically identical. A smaller monthly charge can still carry a significantly larger total cost because of interest and financing fees.

How special assessments appear in resale certificates

A buyer should not rely on a verbal statement from the seller or listing agent. For the full document review process, see my guide to reviewing a condo resale certificate in Kirkland.

Older Condominium Act resale certificate

RCW 64.34.425 requires the resale certificate to disclose:

The statute generally limits a purchaser’s liability for unpaid assessments existing as of the certificate date to the amount stated in the association-prepared certificate, unless the purchaser had actual knowledge of a greater amount. It also provides a statutory period during which the purchase contract may be voidable after delivery of the certificate.

WUCIOA resale certificate

RCW 64.90.640 requires disclosure of:

WUCIOA’s repair-cost disclosure is broader than the older Act’s board-approved-cost language. It covers certain costs reasonably anticipated to exceed the threshold regardless of whether owners are entitled to approve the expense.

Under RCW 64.90.640, a purchaser may have five business days after first receiving the resale certificate to cancel, subject to the statute’s timing rules and when the certificate was delivered relative to contract execution and closing.

A buyer should have the contract and delivery timeline reviewed by the buyer’s broker or attorney. Do not assume that a generic contingency waiver either preserves or eliminates every statutory resale-certificate right.

What Kirkland buyers should check before waiving contingencies

Waiving an inspection, financing, or document-review contingency can reduce the buyer’s ability to investigate or exit based on information discovered later.

Before waiving any contingency on a condo with a pending or levied special assessment, I would want written answers to the following questions.

Approval status

Project status

Unit-level obligation

Financing

Remaining building risk

A buyer who does not yet have these answers is not evaluating a known assessment. The buyer is accepting an unresolved range of outcomes.

A decision framework for buyers

I would place a condo with a special assessment into one of four categories.

1. Levied, final, and funded

The assessment has been validly approved. The project scope and contract are substantially complete. The unit allocation is documented. The financing is fixed. The seller and buyer have agreed in writing who pays each obligation.

This is the easiest situation to price.

The assessment may still affect value, but the exposure is measurable.

2. Levied, but the final cost remains open

The assessment is effective, but the project contains meaningful uncertainty.

Examples include:

The buyer should model an additional cost beyond the amount already levied.

3. Proposed or pending

The board has identified the project and may have estimated the assessment, but the approval or ratification process is incomplete.

The buyer must determine:

4. Unquantifiable

The association acknowledges a major need but cannot provide a reliable scope, cost, funding plan, allocation, or timeline.

This is not the same as buying a unit with a known $40,000 or $60,000 obligation. The buyer is accepting an unknown liability.

A lower purchase price may compensate for that risk, but only if the buyer can estimate a defensible upper range and remain financially able to absorb it.

How I would price a condo with a special assessment

I would not automatically reduce the offer by the exact assessment balance.

Instead, I would consider:

  1. The unit’s price compared with similar units in buildings without the issue
  2. Whether the project corrects a major deferred-maintenance problem
  3. Whether the completed work could improve the building’s condition and marketability
  4. The buyer’s financing cost
  5. The seller’s requested treatment of unpaid installments
  6. The possibility of supplemental assessments
  7. The remaining reserve balance
  8. Disruption during construction
  9. Future insurance and dues
  10. The likely reaction of the next buyer when this owner later sells

A recently completed and well-documented project can be materially different from an association that has only begun investigating a problem.

The assessment amount is one part of the analysis. Documentation and certainty matter almost as much.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Washington condo board impose a special assessment without an owner vote?

It depends on the statute and the governing documents. Under WUCIOA, RCW 64.90.525 requires the special assessment to follow the statutory ratification process. Under the older Condominium Act, the board generally has assessment authority subject to the declaration, and RCW 64.34.308 does not create a separate statutory owner-ratification requirement for special assessments themselves. The declaration may still require owner approval.

How many owners must vote against a WUCIOA special assessment?

Unless the declaration requires a larger percentage, owners holding a majority of the association’s total votes must reject it. It is not merely a majority of owners present at the meeting, and the statute states that ratification does not depend on a quorum.

Does the seller have to pay a special assessment before closing?

Washington’s assessment statutes do not, by themselves, resolve every seller-buyer allocation in a purchase transaction. The resale certificate should disclose levied and unpaid assessments, but the purchase agreement, association requirements, escrow instructions, lender conditions, and negotiated terms determine how the parties handle the obligation at closing.

Can a special assessment be paid monthly?

Under WUCIOA, the board may make a special assessment payable in installments over any period it determines and may offer a discount for early payment. The specific resolution controls the schedule. An owner should not assume that a separate personal payment plan is available.

Is a condo with a special assessment a bad purchase?

Not necessarily. A documented assessment funding a well-scoped project may be easier to evaluate than a building with low dues, weak reserves, and a major repair that has not yet been acknowledged. The buyer should evaluate the project, approval process, unit allocation, financing, remaining reserves, and potential for additional assessments.

Final perspective

A special assessment is a funding mechanism. It is not a diagnosis.

The diagnosis comes from the documents behind it:

For a Kirkland or Eastside condo buyer, the most dangerous situation is not always the building with the largest disclosed assessment.

It may be the building where the board knows a major project is coming, but the scope, approval, financing, and unit-level obligation are still undefined.

Get help reviewing condo documents

About the author. Prithvi Dhelia is a Washington real estate broker with Beyond Real Estate. He has owned and renovated local property and served as an HOA board member and treasurer through a major condominium recladding project and special assessment.

This article is educational and is not legal, engineering, insurance, lending, or tax advice. Statute citations reflect Washington law as published on July 22, 2026; several chapter 64.34 provisions are scheduled to change effective January 1, 2028 as WUCIOA's application expands. Confirm the governing statute, deadlines, and any material concerns with the relevant licensed professional. Prithvi Dhelia is a licensed real estate broker in Washington State with Beyond Real Estate.