Short Answer
A Florida condominium unit owner may have grounds to challenge a special assessment if the association lacked authority, failed to follow required notice or meeting procedures, allocated the assessment improperly, used funds outside the approved purpose, withheld required records, or otherwise violated the declaration, bylaws, or chapter 718, Florida Statutes. Disagreeing with the amount alone is not necessarily enough.
Tell Aaron what happened. What the association is charging, how it was approved, and what you have already paid.
When Does This Become Urgent?
Assessment disputes can also create lien and foreclosure risk, so owners should not simply stop paying without understanding the consequences and available procedures.
- The payment date, lien notice, collection letter, election, or meeting is approaching.
- The assessment is material, tied to a major repair, or affects a sale, refinance, or closing.
- Records, engineering reports, reserve studies, bids, insurance proceeds, or contracts are missing.
What Usually Goes Wrong?
- Withholding payment without evaluating lien, interest, fees, and foreclosure exposure.
- Focusing only on the board's wisdom instead of authority, procedure, records, and allocation.
- Waiting until after contracts are signed and funds are committed to request the underlying documents.
Why Miami Experience Matters
Aaron Resnick, a Miami condominium litigation attorney with the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, reviews assessment challenges for unit owners. Miami condo assessments can involve major structural work, insurance, reserves, recertification, waterfront conditions, and projects with large budgets.
Proof. Aaron Resnick served as co-lead class counsel for renters and buyers at Icon Brickell Tower 1 in a case over move-in, move-out and application fees that settled for $762,500 in 2020. It was a fee case, not an assessment case; both turn on what chapter 718, Florida Statutes, and the association's documents allow it to charge.
The Real Deal reported the settlement on April 28, 2020. The Miami Herald quoted Aaron as counsel for the Plaza 851 Brickell plaintiffs in its September 17, 2019 report on condominium transfer fees; the same article reported the related Icon Brickell litigation. Read the Icon Brickell case and the condominium transfer fee class actions.
What Should You Have Ready?
- The declaration, bylaws, rules, amendments, and recent budgets.
- Meeting notices, agendas, minutes, ballots, proxies, and assessment resolutions.
- Reserve studies, engineering reports, bids, contracts, and insurance information.
- Owner ledgers, invoices, payment schedules, and lien or collection notices.
- Records requests, association responses, and communications with management or the board.
What Typically Happens Next?
Counsel reviews authority, notice, meeting procedure, allocation, records, and collection status. A targeted records request or written objection may clarify the issue. Depending on the facts and applicable presuit requirements, the matter may proceed through negotiation, statutory dispute processes, injunction, declaratory relief, or other litigation. The strategy must protect the unit owner's rights while managing the financial risk of unpaid assessments and a pending lien.
Send the parties, the problem and the next date; the firm reviews every inquiry and tells you whether it can help.
We Don't Make Promises. We Have Results to Prove It.
Aaron Resnick has handled business disputes in Miami since 1998 and is a fourth generation Miami attorney. He works hands-on on every case; the client gets Aaron on every major litigation issue, not a junior partner. The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick represents condominium associations, boards, managers, developers and unit owners in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and across Florida in condominium governance, assessments, records, inspections and disputes. Call 305-672-7495 or request a consultation.
This page provides general information and is not legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.
Related Questions and Reading
- What If My Condo Association Is Charging Illegal Fees?
- What If My HOA or Condo Board Is Acting Against the Rules?
- Aaron Resnick's Condominium Record
- What If Your Co-Owner Wants to Sell the Property and You Do Not?
- Real Estate Litigation in Miami
- What Did Florida's 2024 Condo Law Changes Actually Do?
- Browse all Ask Aaron answers
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