Learn · Glossary
The HOA & condo glossary
64 plain-English, owner-framed definitions for the terms your declaration, your statute, and your notices actually use. Every entry links back to the rights topic or tool where it matters.
A
Amendment
A formal change to the declaration, bylaws, or articles of incorporation, adopted through whatever vote threshold those documents (or your state's statute, whichever is stricter) require, and then recorded against the property the same way the original document was. An amendment isn't valid the moment the board discusses it; it's valid once it clears the required vote and, for changes to the declaration, gets properly recorded at the county recorder's office. A board that starts enforcing a 'rule' that was never actually adopted this way is enforcing something that isn't real yet.
Annual meeting
The yearly, formally noticed gathering of the membership where the board is elected (or re-elected), the budget is presented, and other business requiring a member vote gets handled. Most states and bylaws set minimum notice requirements (often 10-30 days) and specify what must be on the agenda. Skipping the annual meeting, or holding it without proper notice, is a procedural defect worth raising if you're challenging a board decision or an election result.
Architectural Review Committee (ARC)
The committee (sometimes just the board itself) with authority under the declaration to approve or deny exterior changes to your property: paint colors, fences, additions, solar panels, landscaping. Its power is real but bounded, standards have to come from the recorded documents, decisions generally have to be applied consistently across owners, and several states specifically protect certain projects (solar, flags, some antennas) from an outright ARC ban regardless of what the documents say.
Articles of incorporation
The founding document that creates the association as a legal corporation (almost always nonprofit) under state law, filed with the state, not the county recorder. It's a different document from the declaration: the articles establish the association's existence as an entity; the declaration establishes its authority over your property. Both usually have to be consulted to fully understand how the association was formed and what it's allowed to do.
Assessment
The regular, recurring charge every owner pays to fund the association's operating budget and reserves, commonly called 'dues.' Assessments are the association's core funding mechanism and are typically secured by a lien against your property if unpaid, separate from and enforceable independently of your mortgage. Contrast with a special assessment, a one-time charge for an unbudgeted or major expense.
Assessment lien
The legal claim an association can place against your property once assessments go unpaid, created automatically or by recording, depending on the state. It functions much like a mortgage lender's lien and, in most states, can eventually be foreclosed, separately from your mortgage, if the notice sequence your state requires is followed and the debt isn't cured.
Audit
An independent review of the association's financial records, sometimes required annually by statute or bylaws once the association's revenue crosses a threshold, sometimes triggerable by a petition from a minimum percentage of owners. An audit is a stronger check than an ordinary records request because it's performed by an outside party specifically evaluating whether the books are accurate, not just whether they exist.
B
Bylaws
The document that governs how the association itself operates: board size and terms, election and meeting procedures, officer duties, quorum and voting rules. Bylaws sit alongside the declaration (which governs the property) as one of the association's two foundational documents, and, like the declaration, can generally only be changed through a formal amendment process, not a board vote alone.
C
CC&Rs (Declaration)
Short for 'covenants, conditions, and restrictions,' the CC&Rs (formally, the declaration) are the master document recorded against every property in the community before the first home is sold. This is what actually creates the association's authority: it establishes the assessment obligation, the architectural-review power, and the use restrictions that bind every current and future owner because the covenant is recorded and 'runs with the land.' Nearly everything else, bylaws, rules, board authority, ultimately traces back to what the declaration allows.
Common elements
In a condominium, the parts of the property owned collectively by all unit owners as an undivided interest, structure, roof, hallways, often exterior walls, as opposed to your individually-owned unit. The association is generally responsible for maintaining common elements and typically insures them under the master policy, a major difference from a standalone-house HOA where each owner's structure is usually their own responsibility.
Cooperative (co-op)
An ownership structure where a corporation owns the entire building and you own shares in that corporation, paired with a proprietary lease granting your right to occupy a specific unit. Because you're a shareholder-tenant rather than a real-property owner, co-op boards typically have far more discretion, including the power to reject a prospective buyer, than an HOA or condo board has.
Cure period
The window a violation notice or a lien notice has to give you to fix the problem, or pay the amount owed, before further action (a fine, a lien, a foreclosure filing) can proceed. A cure period is one of the most commonly overlooked owner protections: acting within it can stop an entire enforcement process before it escalates.
D
Declarant
The original developer who created the community, recorded the declaration, and initially controlled the association before turnover to owner control. The declarant typically retains special rights during the declarant-control period (appointing the board, amending documents more easily) that a state's statute limits in duration.
Declarant control
The period during which the original developer, rather than elected owners, controls the association's board, typically while the community is still being built out and sold. Every state that regulates this sets an outer limit, tied to a percentage of units sold, a fixed number of years, or both, on how long declarant control can legally continue, regardless of what the declaration says.
Deed restriction
A restriction on how a property can be used, recorded against the title. In an HOA context, the declaration itself is the primary deed restriction, but individual lots can sometimes carry additional restrictions layered on by a prior owner or the original developer, worth checking for during a title search or before buying.
Deficiency judgment
A court judgment against a former owner for the remaining balance still owed after a foreclosure sale doesn't fully cover the debt (assessments, fees, and foreclosure costs). Whether an association can pursue one, and how, varies by state, and is a real financial exposure that outlasts losing the property itself.
Delinquency
The status of an account with unpaid assessments, fines, or fees past their due date. Delinquency is the trigger for nearly every enforcement escalation covered on this site: late fees, interest, a lien, and eventually foreclosure, so an itemized accounting of exactly what's delinquent and why is always worth requesting before assuming a balance is correct.
Demand letter
A formal written letter, often from an attorney, demanding payment or corrective action before further legal steps (a lawsuit, a lien, foreclosure) are taken. Receiving one is a signal to respond promptly and in writing, not to ignore it; many disputes resolve or de-escalate at exactly this stage.
Dissolution
The formal legal process of ending an association's existence and, separately, releasing the recorded declaration. It requires a supermajority owner vote (the specific threshold set by statute or the declaration, whichever is stricter) and a concrete plan for what happens to common property. Simply stopping dues collection is not dissolution, the declaration stays recorded and binding regardless.
E
Easement
A recorded right for someone (the association, a utility company, a neighboring property) to use a specific part of your property for a specific purpose, without owning it, common examples include utility easements and drainage easements. An easement can restrict what you're allowed to build on that portion of your lot even though you hold title to it.
Encumbrance
Any claim, lien, or restriction recorded against a property that affects its title, mortgages, assessment liens, easements, and recorded covenants are all encumbrances. A title search before buying reveals the encumbrances on a specific property, which is part of why the estoppel/resale certificate and a full title report both matter before closing.
Estoppel certificate
An official, binding statement from the association (or its manager) confirming a specific owner's account status: what's owed, any pending special assessment, and litigation the association is party to. Almost always required before a sale closes, and typically costs $100-$400 or more, sometimes with a rush fee. Requesting it early in a purchase, rather than waiting for your lender to trigger it, gives you time to actually act on what it reveals. Also called a resale certificate in some states.
Executive session
A closed portion of a board meeting, not open to ordinary members, reserved by statute or bylaws for narrow topics like pending litigation, personnel matters, or contract negotiations. States that regulate open meetings typically confine executive session to a specific, enumerated list of topics, using it to decide ordinary business is a procedural red flag.
F
Fidelity bond
A type of insurance that protects the association against loss from theft or fraud by its own board members, officers, or management company, essential given how much cash flows through an HOA's operating and reserve accounts with limited outside oversight. Many statutes and lenders (for condo financing) require a minimum bond amount tied to the association's reserves.
Fine
A monetary penalty the board levies for a rule or covenant violation, distinct from an assessment (which funds operations) and generally requiring its own notice-and-hearing process before it's enforceable. Many states cap the aggregate fine for a continuing violation, and several bar a fine alone from becoming a lien on your property, unlike an unpaid assessment.
Foreclosure
The legal process by which an association enforces its assessment lien by forcing a sale of the property (judicial or non-judicial, depending on the state) to recover unpaid assessments. It's a separate process from your mortgage lender's foreclosure and can proceed even while your mortgage is current, which is exactly why the pre-lien and pre-foreclosure notice windows most states require matter.
G
Governing documents
The umbrella term for the full stack of documents that control an association: the declaration (CC&Rs), articles of incorporation, bylaws, and any board-adopted rules and regulations, read together with the applicable state statute. When someone says 'check your governing documents,' they mean all of these, not just one.
Grandfather clause
A provision that exempts existing conditions or owners from a newly adopted rule, so a structure, use, or arrangement that was compliant when built or established stays compliant even after the rule changes. Whether a grandfather clause actually applies to your situation depends entirely on the specific document language and the date something was established.
H
Hearing
The formal opportunity to contest a fine or violation notice before an independent committee or the board itself, generally required by statute before a fine becomes enforceable. Requesting the hearing in writing, within the notice window, and documenting who actually sits on the deciding body (are they truly independent of the board?) are the two most important moves at this stage.
J
Judicial foreclosure
A foreclosure process that requires the association to file and win a lawsuit before the property can be sold, as opposed to a non-judicial 'power of sale' foreclosure that can proceed without a court case. Judicial foreclosure generally gives owners more procedural opportunity to raise defenses, but also takes longer and costs the association more, which changes the incentives on both sides.
L
Lien
A legal claim against a property securing a debt, so the property itself can't be sold or refinanced (in practice) without the lien being paid or resolved. An association's assessment lien is one of several kinds of lien a property can carry, alongside a mortgage lien and, in some states, a tax lien, each with its own priority rules.
Lien priority
The order in which competing liens on the same property get paid if it's sold or foreclosed, generally 'first recorded, first paid,' with a first mortgage usually ranking ahead of an association's assessment lien. Priority is what a 'super-lien' or 'super-priority' rule changes: it lets a defined slice of an association's lien jump ahead of an already-recorded first mortgage.
Limited common elements
In a condominium, common elements reserved for the exclusive use of one or a few units, a balcony, a designated parking space, a storage locker, even though title to them technically remains with the association or all owners collectively. Maintenance responsibility for limited common elements is a frequent source of dispute, since it isn't always obvious from ordinary use who's actually on the hook.
Lot
In a typical (non-condo) HOA, the individually-owned parcel of land, house included, that you hold title to, as distinct from the association's commonly-owned property (roads, a clubhouse, retention ponds). The declaration attaches its restrictions to your lot specifically, running with it to future owners.
M
Master insurance policy
The insurance policy an association (typically a condo association) carries covering the building's common elements and structure, as opposed to an individual owner's own policy (usually an 'HO-6' policy) covering their unit's interior and personal property. Understanding exactly where the master policy's coverage ends and your own responsibility begins matters enormously after any damage event.
Mediation
A voluntary or (in some states) statutorily-required process where a neutral third party helps the association and an owner try to resolve a dispute without going to court. Mediation is typically faster and cheaper than litigation and doesn't bind either side to an outcome the way arbitration or a lawsuit does, unless both parties agree to a settlement.
N
Non-judicial foreclosure (power of sale)
A foreclosure process that lets an association sell the property without first filing and winning a lawsuit, generally faster and cheaper than judicial foreclosure, available in states whose statutes authorize a 'power of sale.' It typically still requires specific recorded notices and a waiting period, but with fewer built-in opportunities to contest it in court before the sale happens.
O
Official records
The category of association documents (financial reports, meeting minutes, contracts, the budget, membership rolls, the declaration and bylaws) that owners generally have a statutory right to inspect on written request, subject to a handful of protected categories like personnel files and privileged legal communications.
Operating budget
The association's annual plan for ordinary income and expenses, landscaping, insurance, management fees, utilities, routine repairs, distinct from the reserve fund, which is set aside specifically for large, infrequent future expenses. Assessments are set based on the operating budget plus whatever the association is contributing to reserves that year.
P
Planned community
The legal term many states use for a standalone-house HOA community, as distinct from a condominium, where owners hold title to individual lots subject to the declaration, rather than an undivided interest in common elements. 'Planned community act' or 'planned unit development' in a statute's title usually signals this is the HOA-specific law, separate from the state's condominium act.
Proprietary lease
In a housing cooperative, the lease that comes attached to your shares in the co-op corporation, granting your right to occupy a specific unit. It functions like the deed does in a condo or HOA, it's the document that actually defines your occupancy rights and many of the restrictions on them.
Proxy
A written authorization letting another person (often another owner) cast your vote on your behalf at a meeting you can't attend. Proxy rules, who can hold one, how many, whether it must be limited to specific agenda items, are often tightly regulated because a small number of proxies can otherwise swing a vote far more than the owners physically present.
Q
Quorum
The minimum number (or percentage) of voting interests that must be present, in person or by proxy, before a meeting can legally conduct business or hold a valid vote. A meeting held without quorum, and any decision made at it, is generally invalid regardless of how the vote count would have come out, which makes quorum failures a real, if underused, procedural defense.
R
Recall
The statutory right, in most states, for owners to remove one or more board directors, with or without stated cause, once a defined threshold of the voting interests agrees, sometimes by written petition without a meeting, sometimes only through a formal meeting vote. Recall is one of the most underused tools owners have; the biggest practical obstacle is usually reaching the required vote threshold, not any legal complexity.
Records request
A written request to inspect the association's official records, which starts a statutory response clock in most states, ranging from roughly a week's worth of business days to 30 calendar days or a 'reasonable time' standard, depending on the state. Putting the request in writing, naming specific documents, and keeping proof of delivery are what actually make the clock (and any penalty for ignoring it) enforceable.
Resale certificate
The term some states, and many condo statutes specifically, use for what's elsewhere called an estoppel certificate: the association's official, binding pre-sale disclosure of the seller's account status, any pending special assessment, and litigation the association is a party to. Some states set a maximum fee the association can charge for producing it and a deadline for delivering it once requested, both worth confirming early in a purchase so the document doesn't become a late surprise before closing.
Reserve fund
Money set aside specifically to cover major, infrequent future expenses, roof replacement, repaving, elevator overhaul, structural repair, as opposed to the operating budget's day-to-day expenses. A reserve fund significantly underfunded relative to what a reserve study says it needs is one of the clearest forward-looking signals of a special assessment on the horizon.
Reserve study
A professional assessment estimating the remaining useful life and future replacement cost of the association's major common assets, and how well-funded the reserve account is against that projected need, usually expressed as a 'percent funded' figure. A reserve study below roughly 70% funded is a widely used rule of thumb for elevated special-assessment risk.
Right of first refusal
A provision, more common in co-ops and some condos than standalone HOAs, giving the association the option to purchase a unit on the same terms before it can be sold to an outside buyer. It's a real constraint on resale timing and marketing, worth confirming before you list, or before you count on a specific closing date as a buyer.
Rules and regulations
Narrower operating rules the board can generally adopt on its own authority (without a full amendment vote) under the power the declaration grants it, pet limits, parking, pool hours, rental restrictions in some communities. Rules sit below the declaration and bylaws in the document hierarchy, a rule that contradicts the declaration is generally invalid.
S
Secret ballot
A voting method, required by many states for board elections and certain other votes, where an independent inspector of elections handles and tallies ballots so no one, including the board, can see how a specific owner voted. It's designed specifically to prevent retaliation against owners who vote against the sitting board.
Selective enforcement
A defense arguing that an association can't enforce a rule against you while knowingly tolerating identical violations elsewhere in the community. Depending on the state, it rests on common-law/case-law doctrine, statutory language, or both, but the winning evidence is the same everywhere: documented, comparable uncited violations and the association's own enforcement records.
Small claims court
A simplified, lower-cost court process for disputes below a state-specific dollar threshold, sometimes usable by an owner disputing a fine or a charge without hiring an attorney. Whether it's a practical venue for a specific HOA dispute depends on the amount in controversy and what remedy you're actually seeking (money back, versus stopping an ongoing enforcement action).
Special assessment
A one-time (or defined-term) charge levied outside the regular budget to cover a major, often unbudgeted expense, storm damage, a failed roof, an insurance shortfall. Many states require notice, and some require an owner vote, before a special assessment above a certain size can be levied; a reserve fund that's genuinely well-funded is what special assessments exist specifically to avoid.
Statute of limitations
The deadline, set by state law, after which a legal claim (by the association against you, or by you against the association) can no longer be filed, varying by the type of claim (a contract dispute, a debt, a construction-defect claim all typically have different clocks). Missing it doesn't just weaken a claim, it generally bars it outright.
Super-lien / super-priority lien
In a limited number of states, a defined slice of an association's unpaid-assessment lien (often capped at a fixed number of months of regular assessments) that can take priority ahead of an already-recorded first mortgage in a foreclosure. It doesn't jump the whole debt ahead of the mortgage lender, just that specific slice, but it's unusual leverage most other creditors never get and materially changes incentives for lenders and associations alike.
Suspension of privileges
A board's power to suspend an owner's use of common amenities (a pool, a gym, sometimes voting rights) as a consequence for a violation or a delinquent account, generally requiring the same notice-and-hearing process as a fine. It's a real, separate remedy from a monetary fine and is sometimes used instead of, or alongside, one.
T
Tenancy in common
A form of shared ownership where multiple people each hold an undivided interest in the same property, sometimes proposed as the disposition method for common areas after a full HOA dissolution, since there's no association left to hold title collectively.
Transfer fee
A fee an association charges when a property changes ownership, distinct from the estoppel/resale certificate fee, meant to cover administrative costs of updating records and onboarding a new owner. Some states cap what associations can charge, or require it be disclosed clearly before closing.
Turnover
The transition of board control from the original developer (during declarant control) to the elected owners, triggered by a statutory milestone, a percentage of units sold, a fixed number of years, or both. Turnover is often a pivotal moment for uncovering deferred maintenance, underfunded reserves, or construction-defect issues the developer-controlled board didn't surface.
U
Undivided interest
In a condominium, the percentage share of the common elements that comes attached to your unit, used to allocate assessment responsibility and voting power. It's 'undivided' because no owner holds a specific physical piece of the common elements, everyone's interest overlaps the same shared property.
Unit
In a condominium, the individually-owned space, typically defined as the interior airspace bounded by the unfinished surfaces of walls, floor, and ceiling, as distinct from the common elements owned collectively. What counts as 'your unit' versus a common element is frequently the exact question at the center of a maintenance-responsibility dispute.
V
Violation notice
The written notice a board sends alleging a specific rule or covenant violation, which should cite the exact rule, describe the alleged violation, and state any cure period and hearing rights before a fine attaches. A vague notice, one that doesn't cite a specific recorded rule, is a weak notice worth challenging on that basis alone.
W
Waiver
The argument that an association let a restriction lapse so broadly and consistently, tolerating widespread unaddressed violations community-wide, that it can no longer enforce that restriction at all, even against you. Related to, but broader than, selective enforcement, which argues only that you specifically were singled out while others were tolerated.
Want the state-by-state numbers?
The topic hubs turn these terms into a 50-state comparison: fine caps, foreclosure notice, records deadlines, recall thresholds.
Browse the rights hubBuying into a community?
Estoppel certificate, reserve study, transfer fee — the terms that matter most before you close.
Read the due-diligence checklist