Massachusetts HOA Assessment Limits

Section 1: Overview

Massachusetts caps nothing. The state imposes no statutory percentage limit on how much a condominium association may raise assessments, and it gives unit owners no mechanism to veto or reject an adopted budget. The limit on an increase comes from each condominium's own governing documents.

The governing statute is the Massachusetts Condominium Act, M.G.L. c. 183A. Its § 6 establishes both the duty to assess common expenses and the association's lien for unpaid amounts — a lien that takes priority over the unit's first mortgage for up to six months of common expenses.¹ Regular increases take effect when the trustees or board adopt the annual budget, following whatever procedure the documents prescribe — with no cap and no owner veto.¹ Special assessments draw their authority from the same documents, not from a statutory ceiling.²

On the national spectrum, Massachusetts stands apart from cap states like California and from UCIOA ratification states. It falls instead among condominium-statute jurisdictions that regulate condominiums in detail but leave the limit on increases to the governing documents — distinguished by the strength of its six-month priority lien. The sections that follow lay out the assessment framework, the procedures that apply in practice, and recent legislative and judicial activity.

Section 2: The assessment framework

2A. Authority to levy and allocate assessments

A Massachusetts condominium's authority to assess flows directly from M.G.L. c. 183A, § 6, which directs the association to assess all common expenses against units in proportion to their respective percentages of undivided interest in the common areas and facilities — or, if the master deed so states, in approximate relation to each unit's area compared to the aggregate area of all units.¹ The statute requires at least annual assessments, based on a budget the trustees or board adopt at least annually under whatever procedure the master deed, trust, or by-laws prescribe.¹

Under § 10, the organization of unit owners holds broader management powers — including the authority to collect assessments, manage common areas, and impose late charges, interest, and reasonable fines.³ Most Massachusetts condominiums are organized as condominium trusts, which means the people setting the budget and levying assessments are trustees, not a corporate board. Section 10 expressly contemplates a corporation, trust, or unincorporated association and permits self-management by elected trustees, a managing board, or an appointed manager.³

The allocation by percentage interest is fixed in the master deed. No one may alter a unit's percentage without that owner's consent.¹

Communities that are not condominiums fall outside Chapter 183A entirely. Planned-community homeowners associations in Massachusetts rely on their recorded covenants and on the nonprofit corporation law, M.G.L. c. 180, for their corporate structure. They receive no statutory priority lien.⁴

2B. Limits on regular assessment increases

Massachusetts imposes no percentage cap on regular assessment increases and provides owners with no budget-veto or rejection mechanism. The limit on an increase comes from the master deed, the declaration of trust, and the by-laws, which under § 11 must at all times provide for how the association will collect each unit's share of common expenses and how it will maintain, repair, and replace common areas.⁵ Those documents — not the statute — set any voting threshold, notice period, or ceiling on a regular increase. Many documents are silent on a numeric limit, leaving the trustees broad discretion to set the budget.

When an owner believes an increase was improperly adopted or otherwise unlawful, the remedy is not to withhold payment. Under the pay-first rule: "a unit owner is not allowed to withhold payment even if he disputes the charges. There is no right to set-off ... He must pay the fees under protest, and file a suit challenging the legality of the assessment." That principle comes from Blood v. Edgar's, Inc. and Trustees of the Prince Condominium Trust v. Prosser.⁶ Section 7 separately prohibits any offset, deduction, or waiver of the obligation to contribute toward common expenses.⁷ The owner must pay the assessment — generally under protest — and then seek a judicial determination of its legality, recovering any improperly charged amount afterward.⁶

The practical consequence: a defective adoption does not entitle an owner to stop paying. The challenge proceeds in court after payment, and self-help carries the risk of collection costs and attorney's fees.

2C. Special assessments, the priority lien, and emergency assessments

Special assessments get their authorization and their limits from the organizational documents — not a statutory ceiling. Any member-approval requirement for a special assessment is whatever the master deed, trust, or by-laws specify. Work that amounts to an improvement rather than a repair can trigger the separate owner-vote requirements of § 18.⁸

The collection backstop is the lien under § 6, which arises automatically on a unit from the moment an assessment becomes due. The lien is perfected by the recording of the master deed, so no separate lien filing is required.¹ That lien takes priority over a unit's first mortgage for the common expense assessments that would have become due during the six months immediately preceding the institution of an action to enforce the lien, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.¹

To preserve that priority, once an amount has been delinquent for at least 60 days, the association must send a notice of delinquency to the unit owner and to the first mortgagee. The association must also send a further notice of intent to file an action to the first mortgagee at least 30 days before filing.¹ The priority amount excludes special assessments, late charges, fines, penalties, and interest.¹

Emergency handling follows the same rule: the documents control. Operationally, the documents set the limit while the six-month priority lien gives the association strong collection leverage.

Section 3: Assessment limits and procedures in practice

A. Regular assessment increase procedure

The trustees or board adopt an annual budget and levy the resulting common expense assessment at least annually, following whatever notice and effective-date procedure the master deed, trust, and by-laws prescribe (M.G.L. c. 183A, §§ 6, 11).¹ This applies to condominiums. Non-condominium HOAs follow their covenants and by-laws — Chapter 183A does not apply to them.

B. Special assessment procedure

Authority for a special assessment, the notice required, and any member-approval threshold are all document-defined. No statutory percentage trigger applies, though an assessment for an improvement rather than a repair may require an owner vote under § 18.⁸ This applies to condominiums. Non-condominium HOAs rely entirely on their covenants.

C. Caps, ceilings, and override mechanisms

Massachusetts supplies no percentage cap on regular or special assessments and no owner veto or budget-ratification mechanism. Any ceiling or override is whatever the documents create. Emergency assessments follow the same rule — the documents direct, with no statutory fallback.¹ This applies to condominiums and, in the absence of any applicable statute, to non-condominium HOAs as well.

D. Notice, documentation, and disclosure tied to assessments

Routine assessment notice follows the documents. Two statutory disclosures attach to collection and conveyance, however. The first is the 6(d) certificate under § 6(d) — a recordable statement of unpaid common expenses and other sums due that the association must furnish within ten business days of a written request. It commonly surfaces on a sale or refinance. The second is the priority-lien notices under § 6: the 60-day delinquency notice and the 30-day notice of intent to file, both enforced through M.G.L. c. 254, §§ 5 and 5A.^1,9 This applies to condominiums. Non-condominium HOAs have no 6(d) certificate and no statutory priority lien.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Two acts from the 2024 session directly amended Chapter 183A. One touched the assessment provision itself; the other changed the meeting and voting framework through which budgets and special assessments are adopted.

B. Recent appellate rulings

The Massachusetts Appeals Court's 2024 decision in Geezil v. White Cliffs sharpens how associations allocate costs between the common fund and individual units — and confirms that the master deed's treatment of a given area determines who pays.

C. Active legislative debates

No bill in the 194th General Court imposes a percentage cap on condominium assessments or adds a budget-veto mechanism. Legislative attention to Chapter 183A has centered on meeting and energy provisions — not assessment limits. Massachusetts does not mandate reserve studies, though § 10(i) requires every condominium to maintain an adequate replacement reserve fund.³

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Massachusetts occupies the condominium-statute lane of the national assessment-limit 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 the approval of a majority of a quorum of members."¹⁵

In UCIOA-family ratification states — including Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, and Washington — increases are controlled through an owner veto on the adopted budget. Massachusetts and the District of Columbia maintain a detailed condominium statute but leave the limit on increases to the organizational documents, with Massachusetts distinguished by its strong six-month priority lien.

For a multi-state operator entering Massachusetts, the practical implication is clear: read the limit out of each master deed and trust, not a statute. The priority lien supplies strong collection leverage. Operators should also account for the pay-first rule — an owner must pay a contested assessment before challenging it.

1. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 6, Common profits and expenses; lien ↩
2. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 6, Special assessments and lien priority exclusions ↩
3. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 10, Corporation, trust or unincorporated association; powers and duties; replacement reserve fund ↩
4. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 180, Corporations for Charitable and Certain Other Purposes ↩
5. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 11, By-laws; mandatory provisions ↩
6. Blood v. Edgar's, Inc., 36 Mass. App. Ct. 402 (1994); Trustees of the Prince Condominium Trust v. Prosser, 412 Mass. 723 (1992) ↩
7. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 7, Contribution toward common expenses; offset, deduction, or waiver prohibited ↩
8. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 18, Improvements; costs and owner-vote thresholds ↩
9. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, §§ 5 and 5A, Enforcement of lien; court order authorizing sale ↩
10. Massachusetts Legislature, Bill S.2967, 193rd General Court, An Act Promoting a Clean Energy Grid, Advancing Equity and Protecting Ratepayers (Chapter 239 of the Acts of 2024) ↩
11. 2024 Mass. Acts ch. 239, §§ 84–86, amending Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, §§ 6, 10 and adding § 10A ↩
12. Massachusetts Legislature, Bill H.4977, 193rd General Court, Affordable Homes Act (Chapter 150 of the Acts of 2024) ↩
13. Massachusetts Legislature, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 24, Condominium meetings and voting held electronically (added by St. 2024, c. 150, § 47) ↩
14. Geezil v. White Cliffs Condominium Four Association, 105 Mass. App. Ct. 103 (2024) (No. 23-P-1103, Massing, J.) ↩
15. Cal. Civ. Code § 5605(b), Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act ↩