Connecticut HOA Assessment Limits

Section 1 — Overview: How assessment authority and limits work in Connecticut

Connecticut builds its HOA assessment authority into statute. The state controls regular-assessment increases through an owner budget-rejection mechanism — not a fixed percentage cap.¹ That authority flows from the Connecticut Common Interest Ownership Act (CIOA), Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-200 et seq. (Title 47, Chapter 828), which governs condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities created on or after January 1, 1984. Condominiums created before that date may fall under the older Condominium Act of 1976 (§ 47-68a et seq.) or the Unit Ownership Act, though certain CIOA provisions reach pre-1984 communities as well.² Regular increases carry no numeric ceiling. The executive board adopts a proposed budget, distributes a summary, and the budget takes effect unless owners affirmatively reject it under § 47-261e(a).¹ Special assessments follow a parallel path. Under § 47-261e(b), a special assessment that — combined with all other special and emergency assessments proposed in the same calendar year — stays at or below 15 percent of the last adopted periodic budget takes effect without owner approval. Anything above that line triggers the owner-rejection process.¹ On the national spectrum, Connecticut sits among the ratification-mechanism UCIOA states, distinct from statutory-cap states such as California and from states where the recorded covenants are the primary control.³ The sections below detail assessment authority and allocation, limits on regular increases, special-assessment rules, procedures in practice, and recent legislative and judicial activity.

Section 2 — The assessment framework

2A. Authority to levy and allocate assessments

CIOA places the duty to fund common expenses on the association and gives the executive board authority to levy assessments through the budget. Section 47-257 provides that, after the association makes its first common-expense assessment, it assesses at least annually based on a budget adopted at least annually.⁴ Common expenses are assessed against all units in accordance with the allocations in the declaration under subsections (a) and (b) of § 47-226 — so the declaration, not the statute, fixes each unit's share.⁴ The association may charge interest on past-due assessments at a rate it establishes, not exceeding 18 percent per year.⁴ Section 47-257 also allows the declaration to shift specific costs — for example, assessing a limited-common-element expense against the units served, or assessing insurance costs in proportion to risk and utilities in proportion to usage.⁴ These allocation and assessment rules apply to both condominiums and planned communities under CIOA. For condominiums created before January 1, 1984, the older Condominium Act of 1976 (§ 47-68a et seq.) or the Unit Ownership Act may supply the operative framework, though § 47-216 makes a list of CIOA sections — including § 47-257 and § 47-258 — apply to pre-1984 communities with respect to events occurring after January 1, 1984, without invalidating existing declaration provisions.⁵ Section 47-218 separately allows a pre-1984 community to amend its governing documents to adopt CIOA provisions.⁵

2B. Limits on regular assessment increases

CIOA regulates regular increases through rejection, not a fixed percentage cap. Under § 47-261e(a), the executive board adopts a proposed budget at least annually. Within 30 days of adoption, it must provide all unit owners a summary of the proposed budget, including a statement of the amount of any reserves and the basis on which those reserves are calculated and funded.¹ The board simultaneously sets a date — not less than 10 nor more than 60 days after the summary — for either a meeting or a ballot vote to consider approval or rejection.¹ Under the current text, the proposed budget is rejected only if a majority of unit owners actually voting votes to reject it, provided that not less than 33 and one-third percent of the unit owners entitled to vote cast a rejection vote. Public Act 14-215 added this "actually voting" plus 33 and one-third percent participation standard, replacing the prior "majority of all unit owners" formulation.¹ If an association's documents include quorum requirements, the absence of a quorum does not affect rejection or approval, and a budget that is not rejected is deemed approved.¹ If a budget is rejected, the last approved budget continues until owners approve a new one.¹ The declaration may impose stricter limits, and where statute and declaration differ the stricter control governs. A defective process — for example, a budget adopted without the required summary or vote window — leaves the increase open to challenge by an owner or as a defense to collection.

2C. Special assessments, emergency assessments, and the declaration

Section 47-261e(b) allows the executive board to propose a special assessment at any time, with a 30-day summary requirement that mirrors the budget process.¹ Unless the declaration or bylaws provide otherwise, if the proposed special assessment together with all other special and emergency assessments proposed by the board in the same calendar year does not exceed 15 percent of the association's last adopted periodic budget for that year, the special assessment takes effect without owner approval.¹ Above that cumulative line, the board must set the 10-to-60-day meeting or ballot. The special assessment is rejected only if a majority of owners actually voting votes to reject it, subject to the same 33 and one-third percent participation floor and quorum-independence rule.¹ Emergency assessments count toward the 15 percent calendar-year total used to test whether owner approval is required. Because the threshold opens with "unless the declaration or bylaws otherwise provide," a community's documents may raise, lower, or remove it.¹ Operationally, a board can levy modest special assessments without a vote, but it must track the running calendar-year total of special plus emergency assessments against the 15 percent line, because crossing it converts the next assessment into an owner-vote item. A separate set of subdivisions, § 47-261e(a)(2) and (b)(2), establishes parallel rules for communities established before July 3, 1991 with more than 2,400 residential units, including master associations under § 47-239.¹

Section 3 — Assessment limits and procedures in practice

A. Regular assessment increase procedure

• The board adopts a proposed budget at least annually; a summary including the reserve statement goes to all owners within 30 days (§ 47-261e(a)). Applies to both condominiums and planned communities under CIOA.¹
• The board sets a meeting or ballot 10 to 60 days after the summary; the budget is deemed approved unless rejected (§ 47-261e(a)). Both community types.¹
• Rejection requires a majority of owners actually voting, with at least 33 and one-third percent of owners entitled to vote casting rejection votes, regardless of quorum (§ 47-261e(a)). Both community types.¹
• Statute sets no numeric cap on the size of a regular increase; any stricter limit is a matter of the declaration. Both community types; pre-1984 condominiums may instead follow the Condominium Act or Unit Ownership Act unless they have adopted CIOA provisions under § 47-218.⁵

B. Special assessment procedure

• The board may propose a special assessment at any time, with a 30-day summary (§ 47-261e(b)). Both community types.¹
• Special plus emergency assessments in the same calendar year at or below 15 percent of the last adopted periodic budget take effect without owner approval (§ 47-261e(b)). Both community types.¹
• Above 15 percent cumulatively, the owner meeting or ballot and the rejection standard apply (§ 47-261e(b)). Both community types.¹
• The 15 percent default may be altered by the declaration or bylaws (§ 47-261e(b)). Both community types.¹

C. Caps, ceilings, and override mechanisms

• Statute sets no percentage cap on regular assessments. The only numeric figure is the 15 percent cumulative special-plus-emergency trigger — a vote trigger, not a hard ceiling (§ 47-261e). Both community types.¹
• The declaration or bylaws may set stricter ceilings or higher voting thresholds; the stricter of statute and declaration controls. Set by the declaration where the statute is silent.
• A separate regime applies to large communities established before July 3, 1991 with more than 2,400 residential units, including master associations under § 47-239, which follow the parallel subdivisions of § 47-261e(a)(2) and (b)(2). Both community types meeting the size and date criteria.¹

D. Notice, documentation, and disclosure tied to assessments

• The budget summary must state the amount of any reserves and the basis on which reserves are calculated and funded (§ 47-261e(a)). Both community types.¹
• Records of budgets, reserve funds, assessment delinquencies, and collection actions are part of the association records owners may inspect (§ 47-260). Both community types.⁶
• The resale certificate under § 47-270 must disclose the periodic common-expense assessment, any unpaid common or special assessment due from the selling owner, other fees, and capital expenditures, and gives the buyer a five-to-seven-day cancellation window. Both community types; the statutory preparation fee is $185, adjusted under § 47-213.⁷
• The statutory assessment lien under § 47-258 secures unpaid assessments and carries a limited priority over a prior first or second mortgage equal to the common-expense assessments that would have become due during the nine months immediately preceding a foreclosure action, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Public Act 13-156 raised that period from six months to nine months. Both community types.⁸

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

C. Active legislative debates

The recurring reserve-study proposals — SB 144 in 2024 and SB 816 in 2025 — and the 2026 budget-approval proposal in HB 5437 signal continuing legislative interest in tightening reserve documentation and in shifting budget and special-assessment ratification toward an affirmative-vote model. As of June 9, 2026, none had become law.⁹

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Connecticut sits in the middle band of a three-part national spectrum. In statutory-cap states led by California, Cal. Civ. Code § 5605(b) provides that the board "may not impose a regular assessment that is more than 20 percent greater than the regular assessment for the association's preceding fiscal year or impose special assessments which in the aggregate exceed 5 percent of the budgeted gross expenses of the association for that fiscal year" without member approval.³ In ratification-mechanism UCIOA states — including Connecticut, Alaska, Colorado, Vermont, and Washington — there is no numeric ceiling on regular increases; an owner-rejection or ratification process governs instead. In CC&R-primary states such as Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi, the recorded covenants serve as the principal control. Connecticut operates on the modern UCIOA text after Public Act 09-225, so its budget and special-assessment provisions reflect the 2008 UCIOA amendments.¹⁴ For a multi-state operator moving from a percentage-cap state into Connecticut, the practical effect is that control shifts from a numeric ceiling to two procedural levers: the budget-rejection deadline and the 15 percent cumulative special-assessment threshold.

HOA Weekly updates its Connecticut Assessment Limits coverage quarterly as the General Assembly and the Connecticut appellate courts act. Federal frameworks also bear on Connecticut assessment practice, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the bankruptcy treatment of assessments.

1. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-261e, Adoption of budgets; Special assessments; Loan agreements (Title 47, Chapter 828, Common Interest Ownership Act) ↩
2. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-68a et seq., Condominium Act of 1976 (Title 47, Chapter 825); and Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-200 et seq., Common Interest Ownership Act (Chapter 828) ↩
3. Cal. Civ. Code § 5605, Assessment increases; requirements and limitations (California Legislative Information) ↩
4. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-257, Assessments for common expenses (Title 47, Chapter 828); allocation per § 47-226 ↩
5. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-216, Applicability to preexisting common interest communities; and § 47-218, Applicability to amendments to governing instruments ↩
6. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-260, Association records; Copies; Fees (Title 47, Chapter 828) ↩
7. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-270, Resales of units; and § 47-213, Adjustment of dollar amount and resale certificate fee (Title 47, Chapter 828) ↩
8. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258, Lien for assessments and other sums due association; Enforcements (Title 47, Chapter 828); nine-month priority period as amended by P.A. 13-156 ↩
9. Connecticut General Assembly, H.B. No. 5437 (2026), An Act Concerning the Approval Process for Proposed Budgets and Special Assessments in Common Interest Communities and the Availability of a List of Names and Addresses of Unit Owners ↩
10. Connecticut General Assembly, S.B. No. 816 (2025), An Act Concerning Reserve Funds in Common Interest Communities ↩
11. Connecticut General Assembly, S.B. No. 144 (2024), An Act Concerning Reserve Funds in Common Interest Ownership Communities ↩
12. Stonybrook Gardens Cooperative, Inc. v. NewRez, LLC, 225 Conn. App. 168 (2024) (Connecticut Appellate Court, officially released April 23, 2024) ↩
13. Canner v. Governors Ridge Association, Inc., 348 Conn. 726 (2024) (Connecticut Supreme Court, April 2, 2024) ↩
14. Connecticut Public Act 09-225, An Act Concerning Amendments to the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act ↩