A Special Assessment on the Horizon: The Signals in the Documents

Few things upset a condo buyer more than a special assessment (cotisation spéciale) that arrives a few months after they move in. And few things surprise the people who already live in the building less. The decision is almost never sudden: the work has usually been discussed, quoted and postponed for years, and the money has usually been short for just as long.

The signals are in the file. They are spread across four documents, and none of them says "special assessment coming" on its own. This article puts them together.

How a special assessment happens

A special assessment is a contribution the syndicate asks for on top of the regular charges, usually to pay for work the contingency fund (fonds de prévoyance) can't cover. The board of directors (conseil d'administration) must consult the general meeting of the co-owners (assemblée des copropriétaires) before deciding on one (art. 1072.1). Like other contributions, it is shared according to each unit's relative value (valeur relative) (art. 1064).

Two things follow. An assessment usually leaves a trace in the minutes before it is decided. And because it comes from a fund that is short, its size can usually be estimated before anyone votes.

Why the timing falls on your buyer

A special assessment is billed to whoever owns the unit when it falls due. A buyer also takes on any common expenses already due and unpaid on the unit at the time of the purchase (art. 1069). So an assessment issued the month after closing is your buyer's to pay in full, even though the shortfall it covers built up over years of contributions that were too low, paid by the people who owned the unit before.

That is the real cost of an underfunded building. Previous owners paid less than the building needed, and whoever owns the unit when the bill arrives makes up the difference. It is why the timing of a purchase matters so much, and why the signals below are worth the time.

If an assessment has already been voted, or is payable in instalments that straddle the closing date, who pays what is a question for the promise to purchase (promesse d'achat), and the notary will reflect it in the deed. Settle it in writing.

The signals, document by document

1. The attestation. Compare the major work planned for the next ten years with the contingency fund balance, and the balance with the amount the study recommends. Planned work the fund can't cover is the first signal. Our article on the syndicate's attestation covers what it contains.
2. The contingency fund study (étude du fonds de prévoyance). If there is one, look at the year-by-year projection, not the average. The year in which the fund falls short of the work scheduled is the year to watch. Our article on the contingency fund shows how to read it, with or without a study.
3. The minutes (procès-verbaux). A recurring agenda item, a quote presented and a vote postponed, an expert report ordered, owners raising water infiltration. Closest to the event, a consultation on financing the work. Our article on the meeting minutes shows where to look.
4. The financial statements (états financiers). Repeated deficits, money moved out of the contingency fund, and rising arrears that leave less cash for everything else. Our article on the financial statements covers the lines to check.

One signal is noise, three are a forecast

Any one of these can have an innocent explanation. A postponed vote may be waiting for a better quote; a deficit may come from one bad winter. What matters is several signals pointing at the same item: the roof on the attestation's ten-year list, quoted in the minutes, postponed twice, with a fund the statements show isn't growing. When the documents line up like that, the question is no longer whether an assessment is coming, but when, and how much.

Estimating your buyer's share

Start with the gap: the cost of the work, minus what the fund will hold when it comes due. Then multiply by the unit's relative value. A $400,000 roof against a fund of $250,000 leaves $150,000 to find. For a unit with a 2.8% relative value, that is $4,200.

It is an estimate, not a forecast to the dollar. The board may spread the cost over several years, borrow, or raise regular contributions instead. But it puts a number on the risk, and a number is something your buyer can act on.

One building, four documents

An illustrative example

36 units · built 1992

Fund (attestation)

$260,000

Study recommends

$480,000

Envelope and windows, 2028

$720,000

Latest meeting

consultation on financing announced

Estimated share at 3.1%

about $13,000

A 36-unit building from 1992. The attestation shows a contingency fund of $260,000, with the envelope and windows among the work planned within three years, cost "to be determined". The contingency fund study, obtained in 2024, recommends a fund of $480,000 at the start of the year, and projects that the fund will fall short in 2028, when the envelope and windows are scheduled at $720,000.

The minutes show the windows on the agenda three years running, and an engineer's report tabled last year. At the latest annual meeting, the board presented two quotes and announced a special meeting in the spring to consult the co-owners on financing the work. The financial statements show a deficit in two of the last three years, and contributions to the fund below what the study recommends.

Read together: about $720,000 of work, a fund well short of what the study recommends, and a board that has announced a consultation on financing. A special assessment within the year is likely. If the fund reaches about $300,000 by then, the gap is about $420,000. For a unit with a 3.1% relative value, that is roughly $13,000.

What to do with it

• Check the seller's declarations (déclarations du vendeur), which ask whether the seller has received a notice of special assessment, and ask the seller in writing whether one has been proposed or discussed, and whether a meeting is scheduled before closing.
• Read the attestation, the study, the minutes and the statements for the signals above, and look for the same item in more than one place.
• Estimate your buyer's share from the gap and the unit's relative value.
• Decide how to deal with it before your buyer firms up: in the price, in a condition, or in a clause of the promise to purchase that says who pays an assessment voted before closing but payable after it.

Sources

• Civil Code of Québec, art. 1072.1
• Civil Code of Québec, art. 1064
• Civil Code of Québec, art. 1069