What is an HOA special assessment in Scottsdale, Arizona?

A special assessment is a charge an association levies on its owners in addition to the regular assessment, which most people call the dues. Arizona's resale statutes treat the two as separate items: the information an association gives a buyer has to show the regular assessment and its payment schedule, and then any special assessment that has been approved or is on the way.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, and I'm the agent people call at every stage of their life. When the home you're looking at is in an association, I'll go through its documents with you, because the answer to "could a special assessment be coming?" is in them.

This is general information, not legal advice. The statute text is A.R.S. 33-1806 (planned communities), 33-1260 (condominiums) and 33-1803 and 33-1807 (planned community assessments and liens) as they read on azleg.gov on November 7, 2026, and the rules for your own association are in its recorded documents. A licensed Arizona attorney can tell you how they apply to your home.

Regular dues are the association's ongoing assessment, set as part of its budget and billed on a schedule. A special assessment is an extra charge on top of that. The statute shows the difference in how the resale information is organized: the dated statement lists the annual regular assessment and its payment schedule in one place, and the remaining installments of any special assessment already approved and assessed in another.

There is also a rule that applies to the regular assessment specifically. For a planned community, A.R.S. 33-1803 says the association can't impose a regular assessment more than twenty percent greater than the prior fiscal year's without the approval of a majority of the members, unless the community's documents set a lower limit, and Clark Simson Miller, a community management company, gives the same twenty percent figure. That sentence is about regular assessments. How a special assessment gets approved is a separate question, and the next section takes it up.

It depends on the association's own documents, so I can't give you one answer for every community. A community management company, FirstService Residential, lists regular and special assessments among the topics a community's CC&Rs typically cover. The resale statute points the same direction, because it asks for two different situations to be shown to a buyer: a special assessment the board has approved but not yet assessed, and one the board has submitted to the members for approval. In some associations the board decides, and in others the members vote.

That is why I would read the recorded declaration and the bylaws for the specific association, and not rely on what a neighbor, a listing or a general article says about how it works. If the documents say something you don't understand, a licensed Arizona attorney is the person to ask.

Two places. The first is the association's recorded documents. The Arizona Department of Real Estate's Buyer Advisory (January 2025) says the CC&Rs are recorded against the property, that by buying in the community you agree to be bound by them, and that an HOA may also be governed by articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules and regulations. FirstService describes CC&Rs the same way, as recorded covenants that bind the properties in the community, and notes that Arizona statutes call the document a declaration.

The second is Arizona law. Condominiums are governed by Title 33, Chapter 9 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, and planned communities by Title 33, Chapter 16, and the Department of Real Estate's advisory says both kinds of association are regulated by those statutes and are not under the department's jurisdiction. Here's which HOA law applies to you in Arizona, including where to read the current text.

The dated statement has to show the remaining installments and payment schedules for any special assessment that has been approved and assessed. It also has to show the amount and purpose of any special assessment the board has approved but not yet assessed, or has submitted to the members for approval. A.R.S. 33-1806 says this for planned communities and A.R.S. 33-1260 says it for condominiums.

The same package has to include the association's most recent reserve study, if one exists, and the association may send a summary if the study is longer than ten pages. The statement also asks for the association's income and expenses for its operating and reserve accounts. I read the statute and the 2026 bill that amended it on azleg.gov, and I could not find a second, independent description of these particular items, so treat the statute's wording as the source and read the package you actually receive. Here's what is in an HOA resale package and who pays the transfer fee in Arizona.

Start with the dated statement and look for the special assessment lines: anything still being paid in installments and anything approved but not yet billed. Then read the reserve study next to the operating budget, so you can see what the association has set aside and what repairs it expects, and read the minutes from the last three open board meetings, because the package includes them and they show what the board has been discussing. If a special assessment is mentioned anywhere in those pages, ask the association, in writing, what it is for and where it stands.

If you're buying, do this reading inside your inspection period, while you can still act on what you find. If you're selling, ask your association what it will show a buyer before you list, so nothing in the package is a first look for you either. Here's how the inspection period works in Arizona.

That depends on your purchase contract and the association's documents, so I'm not going to give a rule. I did not find a statute that splits an assessment between a buyer and a seller. What I did find is that, under A.R.S. 33-1807, the association has a lien on the property for an assessment levied against it, starting when the assessment becomes due, and Clark Simson Miller, a community management company, says the same, that associations may place liens on property for overdue fees. So an amount that is owed is attached to the home, and it does not go away because the home changes hands.

The buyer also signs a statement at close of escrow saying they are bound by the recorded declaration and must pay the assessments, and that unpaid assessments can lead to collection action by the association. If a special assessment is approved, being paid in installments or about to be billed when you make or accept an offer, put the question to your agent and your escrow officer before you sign, and have an attorney read the wording if the contract or the documents are unclear.

If you have an association's documents in front of you and want a second set of eyes, get in touch or call me at (480) 203-6605. Here's what a condo or townhome association covers in Scottsdale, here's what is in an HOA resale package, and here's which HOA law applies to you. For anything that turns on what the law or your contract legally requires, a licensed Arizona attorney is the person to ask.