Why this squeeze gets worse, not better

Three trends are all pushing the same way, and each one lands hardest on the owner whose upside is capped.

Insurance. Massachusetts condominium master policy premiums have been rising sharply, and premium is a common expense allocated by percentage interest.

Reserves. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raise the minimum reserve contribution from 10 percent to 15 percent of budgeted assessment income effective 4 January 2027. For an association that has to close that gap, the increase is a fee increase, borne proportionally.

Capital work. An ageing condominium stock, deferred maintenance, and rising construction costs mean special assessments. A $15,000 special assessment on a market-rate unit that has appreciated substantially is painful; on a deed-restricted unit whose resale price is capped, it may exceed the owner's entire realisable equity gain since purchase.

The last case is the one that ends in a lien and a forced sale — which converts an affordable housing unit into a distressed sale, defeating the purpose of creating it.

What an association can and cannot do

Cannot: assess a 40B unit at a reduced rate on its own initiative. M.G.L. c. 183A §6(a)(i) requires common expenses to be assessed against all units in accordance with their respective percentages of undivided interest. That obligation is not discretionary, and the Appeals Court reaffirmed how strictly it reads in Trustees of the 549-551 Boylston Street Condominium Trust v. Chamberlain, decided 6 April 2026, where trustees who departed from percentage-interest allocation were reversed and sanctioned.

Can:

• Set the percentage interests correctly at creation. This is the real fix, and it belongs to the declarant, not the association. Percentage interests in a Massachusetts condominium are conventionally set by relative value; a deed-restricted unit has a lower value than an identical market-rate unit, and a master deed that reflects that produces a lower assessment lawfully and permanently. Once recorded, changing them requires an amendment with whatever threshold the instrument sets — frequently unanimity.
• Offer payment plans on special assessments. Not a reduction — a schedule. Associations do this routinely for owners in hardship, and the alternative is a collection action that recovers less.
• Budget with the whole community in mind. A board that knows several units are deed-restricted, and that a large one-off assessment will push those owners into delinquency, can weigh a smaller assessment over a longer period against the reserve consequences.

A note for anyone buying one

The affordability restriction caps resale price. It does not cap condominium fees, special assessments, or insurance. A buyer evaluating a 40B unit in a market-rate condominium should read the association's budget, reserve position and recent assessment history with more care than a market-rate buyer, not less — because the capped upside means there is less room to absorb a surprise.

What to watch next

Nothing immediate. The bill died in a bulk study order in December 2025, the Legislature's formal sessions ended on 31 July 2026, and the 195th General Court convenes in January 2027.

The more likely route than a reimbursement programme is administrative: the affordability restrictions themselves are drafted by monitoring agents, and a restriction that accounted for common expense growth — or a percentage-interest convention applied at the comprehensive permit stage — would address the problem where it is created rather than subsidising it afterwards. No such change has been proposed.