HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - February 20, 2026
Published: Fri, 02/20/26
Updated: Tue, 02/24/26
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HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - February 20, 2026
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The challenging economy is forcing more and more boards to take drastic actions like the one causing homeowners in Nevada to fume over monthly HOA assessments that have surged from $275 to $490. It's just doing your job and meeting your fiduciary duty.
Nonetheless, you'll hear owners give all kinds of variations on: “I honestly can't afford this!”
In this week's tip, our experts share the advice they give to boards for presenting significant assessment jumps—regardless of the underlying reason for the move—in a way that shows owners you're sympathetic to their concerns but that it's an absolute must to keep the community thriving (and their property values stable, even increasing).
Businesses nationwide are facing higher costs and passing them onto consumers, and condos and HOAs are no different from all those businesses forced to take that move.
“With the increasing costs of things, and the unknowns, it's just a necessity,” reports Jennifer Biletnikoff, a shareholder in the Naples, Fla., office of Becker & Poliakoff, who has represented condos and HOAs for more than 15 years.
“What I usually explain—and a lot of my associations have me try to explain this to their members—is that, just as costs and prices for everything in our lives have gone up, such as for eggs and milk, so too the cost of services delivered by associations have gone up,” says Sara A. Austin, CCAL, the founding partner at the Austin Law Firm LLC in York, Pa., who represents more than 130 condos, HOAs, and co-ops throughout Pennsylvania. “For example, if the association is providing landscaping services, its cost to do that has gone up. And that cost has to be borne by the owners who are receiving the services.”
Even so, we've heard some boards are getting requests from owners for decreases in dues. “When's the last time you heard a management company say, ‘We charged you $35,000 last year, and this year we're going to charge you $30,000?'” asks Biletnikoff. “It just doesn't happen.”
The best way to increase your assessments is to give a long heads up and discuss the possibility of increases over and over well before you vote to charge more.
“This underscores the need for ongoing messaging explaining the why behind assessments and how they're calculated and helping members understand that it's their personal investment in their home that's largely dependent on having an adequately funded HOA,” says Elizabeth White, senior counsel at the law firm of Sands Anderson PC in Williamsburg, Va., where she formed and continues to help lead the firm's national community association industry team. “Their assessed value takes into account the HOA's services that are delivered as well as the reserve fund and the adequacy and the financial stability of the HOA.
“We find that when you start your message at the assessment increase, you're already behind,” she adds. “It's about constant messaging, with cascading messages flowing around the calendar about what assessments are for, and working that message into your meetings.”
But there's so much more you need to know to handle this challenge wisely. Find out more in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/5254.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Click here to read the full article:
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Click here to read the full article:
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