What does the association cover in a Scottsdale condo or townhome?

If you're asking what the association covers in a Scottsdale condo or townhome, the short answer is that the association takes care of the shared parts and you take care of your own unit, but the recorded declaration for that address can move the line, so what's covered in one building can be different in the next. Which items sit on which side, who insures them and what you can be charged for are all in documents you can ask for before you make an offer.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, helping people buy and sell homes. This is general information and not legal or insurance advice, and I'm not an attorney. The statute wording below is how the sections read on azleg.gov on November 4, 2026, and the laws change from time to time, so read the current text for yours.

A condominium falls under the Arizona Condominium Act, which starts at A.R.S. 33-1201. A townhome can be either one, depending on how the community was set up: a planned community falls under the Planned Communities Act, which starts at A.R.S. 33-1801, and a community recorded as a condominium falls under the Condominium Act even if the homes look like townhomes. The recorded declaration says which one it is, so that's the first page I look at. Here's the side-by-side of the two Arizona HOA laws.

The Condominium Act defines the common elements as every part of the condominium that isn't a unit, and a limited common element as a common element the declaration assigns to one or more units but fewer than all of them (A.R.S. 33-1202). A.R.S. 33-1247 then sets the starting point: the association is responsible for maintaining, repairing and replacing the common elements, and each owner takes care of the unit, unless the declaration provides otherwise. That's why the roof, the exterior walls and the grounds are normally the association's job in a condo, and why I read the declaration before telling anyone it's true for a particular building.

Limited common elements are where the surprises tend to be, such as a patio, a balcony, a storage room or a garage space that belongs to one unit. Unless the declaration says something different, A.R.S. 33-1255(C) says the cost of maintaining, repairing or replacing a limited common element is charged equally to the units it's assigned to. A Goodman Law Group article on the same section reads it the same way. So the association may do the work and bill only the units it serves. FirstService Residential's explanation of limited common elements adds that the association usually handles major repairs to the structural parts, while the owner with exclusive use usually handles routine upkeep, and that the founding documents are the final word on what counts as a limited common element in your building.

In a planned community, the Planned Communities Act describes an association that owns and operates property for the community, or holds an easement to maintain roadways, and that is allowed under its declaration to charge owners for its costs (A.R.S. 33-1802). What it actually maintains is written in that declaration. FirstService Residential's page on Arizona HOA CC&Rs says the same: each community's declaration sets the split between what the association maintains and what the owner does, and the provisions differ from one community to the next.

That means two townhome communities a mile apart can have different answers. In one, the association may take care of the front landscaping and the exterior paint, and in another the owner may have all of that. So before I tell a buyer what an association covers, I find the maintenance section of the declaration and go item by item: roof, exterior paint and stucco, front and back landscaping, irrigation, fences and walls, driveways, the pool if there is one, private streets and the gate. If an item isn't named, ask the association in writing and get the answer back in writing.

Some townhomes also belong to two associations, a master association and a smaller one for the group of homes, and each one maintains different things and charges its own assessment. Here's how gates and HOAs work across Scottsdale.

For a condominium, A.R.S. 33-1253 requires the association to carry property insurance on the common elements, and on the units too if the condominium documents require it. The same section says you can buy insurance for your own benefit, and that the association has to tell each owner in writing every year what the owner's responsibility is for its deductibles and the amount of each. Insurance companies describe the two policies the same way: the association's master policy insures the building and the shared property, and the owner's condo policy, called an HO-6, covers your belongings, your liability and whatever inside the unit the master policy leaves out (Hippo's explainer, and FirstService Residential's).

What the master policy leaves out varies. Hippo describes two kinds, one that covers only the bare building shell and one that also covers original fixtures and improvements inside the unit, and says to ask the association for the master policy's declarations page before you pick your own limits. Hippo also points out that a large deductible on the master policy can be passed on to owners as an assessment, so I'd ask what the deductible is and whether your own policy has loss assessment coverage. Those are questions for your insurance agent, and I can't answer them for you.

Those insurance rules are in the Condominium Act, so for a townhome in a planned community, the declaration says whether the association insures the exterior of your home or whether you insure the whole structure, so ask for the association's certificate of insurance and give it to your insurance agent before you choose a policy. Here's what I wrote about who maintains, insures and can get into a lock-and-leave home.

Reserves are the money an association sets aside for big repairs like roofs, paving and pool equipment. The resale package for both a condo (A.R.S. 33-1260) and a planned community (A.R.S. 33-1806) has to include a copy of the most recent reserve study, if any. The words “if any” matter. A Clark Simson Miller page on state reserve laws says there is no legal obligation in Arizona to perform a reserve study or set aside funds for reserves. So some associations have a current study, some have an old one and some have none, and the one you're buying into is something you find out by asking.

A special assessment is a one-time charge on top of regular dues. The resale package has to tell you about the remaining installments on any special assessment already approved and charged, and about any special assessment approved but not yet charged or put to the owners in the previous four months. That's in both statutes. Harper Hall's article on special assessments says neither the Condominium Act nor the Planned Communities Act has provisions specifically governing them, so what a board can charge, and whether owners get a vote, depends on the declaration.

Regular dues have one limit I can point you to. For a planned community, A.R.S. 33-1803 says a regular assessment can't go up more than 20% over the previous year without a majority of the members approving it, and the community's documents may set a lower limit. The HOA Management site describes it the same way. I haven't confirmed a matching rule for condominiums, so for a condo, read the declaration and the budget. The resale package also has to include the current operating budget, and I read that next to the reserve study. Here's what's in the HOA resale package and who pays the transfer fee.

Ask for these early: the recorded declaration and any amendments, the bylaws and rules, the current operating budget, the most recent reserve study if there is one, the minutes of the recent board meetings, and the association's certificate of insurance. In a condo, ask for the insurance statement and the master policy's deductible too. The resale package gives you most of that, but it arrives after you have a contract, so if the home is one you're serious about, you can ask the listing agent for the declaration and the budget before you write the offer, and I'll do that with you.

Then read the maintenance section line by line with the list of what you care about next to it: roof, exterior, landscaping, windows and doors, patio or balcony, garage, pool. Mark each as the association's, yours or unclear. Whatever is unclear, send to the association in writing. Read it all inside your inspection period so you can still act on what you find, and here's how the inspection period works in Arizona.

The first is taking the monthly dues as the answer to what's covered. The dues pay for what the association is responsible for in that community, and what's included in one is not included in the next. The second is assuming a townhome follows the condo rules, when the maintenance default in A.R.S. 33-1247 is part of the Condominium Act and a townhome in a planned community follows its declaration.

The third is skipping the reserve study and the budget, and the fourth is buying a condo policy before seeing what the master policy covers and what your share of its deductible could be. If you'd like me to go through a declaration with you for a specific address, call me at (480) 203-6605 or get in touch, and here's how buying works in Arizona, including what you sign before you tour a house.