1. Overview

Rhode Island sets no percentage cap on assessment increases. Condominium associations operate under a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) framework that requires a budget-ratification meeting and backs unpaid assessments with a six-month super-priority lien. Planned communities run almost entirely on what their recorded declarations say.¹

Condominiums formed after July 1, 1982, fall under the Rhode Island Condominium Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.01 et seq., which draws from the 1982 UCIOA model. Condominiums created before that date continue under the older Condominium Ownership Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.²

Planned-community associations have no dedicated Rhode Island statute. Their authority to levy assessments and set limits comes from the recorded declaration and bylaws. Associations organized as nonprofit corporations follow the Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-6.³

For condominiums, the board adopts the budget, owners vote at a ratification meeting under § 34-36.1-3.03, and unpaid assessments attach as a lien under § 34-36.1-3.16. That lien holds priority over a prior first mortgage for six months of common-expense assessments.⁴

Rhode Island sits in the middle of the national assessment-limit spectrum — no statutory ceiling like California's, but a structured owner check for condominiums and pure declaration control for everything else. The sections that follow detail the framework, the procedures in practice, recent legislative and judicial activity, and Rhode Island's national position.

2. The assessment framework

2A. Authority to levy and allocate assessments

Condominium associations levy assessments under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.15. Until the association makes its first common-expense assessment, the declarant pays all common expenses. After that, assessments run at least annually, based on a budget the association adopts at least annually.⁵

The declaration allocates common expenses to units under § 34-36.1-2.07(a) and must state the formula that establishes each unit's share.⁶ The statute also permits targeted allocation: limited-common-element costs can go to the units served, expenses benefiting fewer than all units can go only to those units, and insurance and utility costs can follow risk and usage where the declaration allows.⁷

For condominiums created before July 1, 1982, the predecessor Condominium Ownership Act (§ 34-36) controls. That older statute leaves common-expense assessment and collection largely to the declaration and bylaws.⁸

For planned communities, there is no Rhode Island statute that grants or defines assessment authority. The power to levy and allocate comes entirely from the recorded declaration and the bylaws. Nonprofit associations follow the governance and recordkeeping formalities of the Nonprofit Corporation Act (§ 7-6).⁹

In both settings, the board holds the operative power to set the assessment through the budget. A condominium board's budget faces the statutory owner-ratification step described below. A planned-community board answers only to its governing documents.

1. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16, Lien for assessments ↩
2. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.02, Applicability ↩
3. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 7-6, Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act ↩
4. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.03(c), Budget ratification ↩
5. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.15(a), Assessments for common expenses ↩
6. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-2.07(a), Allocation of common expense liability ↩
7. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.15(c), Targeted allocation provisions ↩
8. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 34-36, Condominium Ownership Act ↩
9. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 7-6, Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act ↩
10. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.03(c), Budget ratification meeting procedure ↩
11. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.03(c), Ratification default rule ↩
12. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.03(c), Prior budget continuation on rejection ↩
13. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(a), (d), Lien attachment and perfection ↩
14. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(b)(2), Six-month super-priority lien ↩
15. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(b)(3), Exclusions from priority amount ↩
16. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.21, Foreclosure of condominium lien ↩
17. Twenty-Eleven, LLC v. Botelho, No. 2014-10-Appeal, 127 A.3d 897 (R.I. 2015) ↩
18. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.03(c), Annual budget ratification procedure ↩
19. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 34-36, Condominium Ownership Act ↩
20. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 7-6, Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act ↩
21. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.15, Assessments for common expenses ↩
22. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 7-6, Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act ↩
23. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 34-36.1, Condominium Law (no statutory percentage cap on assessments) ↩
24. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.03(c), Ratification meeting as functional check ↩
25. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(b)(4), Delinquency notice requirement ↩
26. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(h), Statement of unpaid assessments ↩
27. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-6-30, Books and records ↩
28. Rhode Island S 0724 (2025), bill summary and text ↩
29. Rhode Island S 0724 (2025), legislative history (held for further study) ↩
30. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.08 (P.L. 2025, ch. 136, eff. June 24, 2025), Electronic and remote meetings ↩
31. Song v. Lemoine, No. 2024-34 (R.I. May 19, 2025) ↩
32. Rhode Island Supreme Court Published Opinions ↩
33. Rhode Island Condominium Association testimony on H5330 (2025), defining "special assessment" ↩
34. 2026 H 7853 (condominium assessment increases, substitute budget and payment plans; not enacted), Rhode Island General Assembly ↩