Arkansas guide
Arkansas special assessments
Special assessments are how deferred costs and storm losses in an Arkansas association arrive at your door, and they are especially likely here for two reasons. First, Arkansas mandates no reserve study or funding, so many communities run thin against roofs, decks, and envelopes that the state's hail and wind accelerate.
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Second, the Horizontal Property Act does not separately define or cap special assessments — authority and any owner-approval threshold come entirely from the bylaws or declaration, so there is no statutory ceiling. The Act's one mandatory mechanism is the reconstruction cost-sharing in § 18-13-119, which functions as a special-assessment-by-statute when a building is uninsured or underinsured after a casualty. Two further wrinkles matter: § 18-13-116(a)(2) authorizes a rental surcharge on units made available for rent (relevant in resort and NWA investor buildings), and Act 516 of 2025 added interest on past-due assessments (§ 18-13-116(b)(4)) for regimes under the amended Act. Because there is no statutory budget-ratification or owner-veto process, read the declaration and the minutes closely.
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No statutory cap; the declaration controls
The Horizontal Property Act does not separately define or cap special assessments, and it imposes no budget-ratification or owner-veto process. Co-owners must pay pro rata per the master-deed percentages toward common expenses and any other expense lawfully agreed upon (§ 18-13-116(a)), and the bylaws must specify the manner of collecting common expenses and require at least a 51 percent majority-of-value vote to adopt decisions (§ 18-13-108). Any cap or owner-approval threshold for specials comes from the bylaws or declaration, so read those for the authority, threshold, and any limit before assuming a special needs an owner vote.
The statutory reconstruction assessment
The one mandatory special-assessment mechanism in the Act is § 18-13-119: when a building is uninsured or underinsured after a casualty, affected co-owners must fund reconstruction pro rata, or a majority can resolve to rebuild at all owners' expense. In a tornado-and-hail state where master coverage is permissive (§ 18-13-117) and reserves are voluntary, this is a real, immediate exposure. Read the master policy's deductible and the reserve balance together to gauge how large a post-loss assessment could be.
Rental surcharge and post-2025 interest
Two Act-specific levers shape assessments. Section 18-13-116(a)(2) authorizes an additional assessment — a rental surcharge — on units made available for rent or lease, capped at amounts reasonably calculated for extra security, wear-and-tear, trash, and similar costs, a built-in cost on investors that matters in resort and NWA buildings. And Act 516 of 2025 added § 18-13-116(b)(4), under which a past-due assessment may bear interest at a lawful rate set by the association for regimes under the amended Act. Confirm which version of the law governs, and read the declaration for any rental surcharge or STR rule.
Delinquency, survival, and the no-super-lien picture
Arkansas grants no super-lien — under § 18-13-116(c) the assessment claim is subordinate to property taxes and a duly recorded mortgage — but the debt survives foreclosure and binds the purchaser under § 18-13-116(d) (First State Bank v. Metro District Condominiums, 2014 Ark. 48). High community delinquency therefore signals both financial distress and the risk that a buyer of a distressed unit inherits unpaid dues. Read the delinquency picture, search recorded liens and lis pendens, and obtain a written statement of unpaid assessments before closing.
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Arkansas legal references
- Ark. Code § 18-13-116 — Assessments; rental surcharge; lien priority; survival
- Act 516 of 2025 (SB 323) — interest on past-due assessments; declarant funding
- First State Bank v. Metro District Condominiums, 2014 Ark. 48
Informational only. Not legal advice. Always confirm against current statute and counsel.
Need help applying these Arkansas statutes to your specific situation? We can connect you with state-licensed counsel and specialists familiar with this exact regulatory environment.
Find a Arkansas specialist →Reviewer's checklist
- Request the special-assessment history for the last several years
- Ask directly about any approved or pending special assessment
- Read the bylaws or declaration for any owner-approval threshold or cap on specials
- Assess § 18-13-119 reconstruction-assessment exposure on an underinsured building
- Read the master-policy wind/hail deductible that could drive a storm assessment
- Check the declaration for any rental surcharge (§ 18-13-116(a)(2)) or STR rule
- Confirm whether the regime is under the pre-2025 Act or Act 516 (past-due interest)
- Check the community delinquency rate and recorded liens (Arkansas is not a super-lien state)
- Obtain a written statement of unpaid assessments (survival risk, § 18-13-116(d))
- Weigh the cumulative special-assessment risk against your budget
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Source documents
- Declaration & bylawsthe rules
- Budget & financialsthe money
- Reserve studythe big repairs
- Meeting minuteswhat the board fears
Cross-reference
The risk lives in the contradiction between documents.
An assessment in the minutes but not the estoppel; a reserve the budget never funds.
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We read the reserve study, operating budget, and 24 months of meeting minutes together — arkansas special assessments risk usually lives in the contradiction between documents, not in any single one of them. Every finding cites the source document, the page number, and the quoted text behind it.
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Related risk areas
Read these next to round out your due diligence
Reserve studies
A reserve study tells you what the association expects to spend on long-term capital repairs and replacements, and whether it is funding those obligations adequately.
Insurance risk
The association's master insurance policy determines what your personal HO-6 policy needs to cover — and what it does not.
Condo document review
A condo document review is the structured analysis of every disclosure document your seller or association has provided — declaration, bylaws, rules, reserve study, budgets, financials, meeting minutes, insurance summary, estoppel or resale certificate, and any pending special assessment notices.
Related reading
Guides for Arkansas buyers and owners
Special Assessment Red Flags: How to Spot One Before You Buy
A special assessment rarely arrives without warning. The clues show up in the reserve study, budget, and meeting minutes months before the vote — here are the red flags to check before you buy.
How to Read a Reserve Study Before Buying: Is the Funding a Red Flag?
Reserve studies are dense engineering-financial documents. Learn what percent funded and baseline funding mean, how to spot unfunded repairs, and when the numbers are a special-assessment red flag — before you buy.
Condo Master Insurance Red Flags: What to Check Before Closing
Master-policy gaps, large deductibles, exclusions, and loss assessments can become the buyer's problem after closing. Learn what each section of the master insurance certificate discloses — and the red flags to check before you close.
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Reviewed by Kirk Hasley, Founder. Every claim here is checked against current Arkansas statute and primary sources, using the same documented review framework we run on every file. Last reviewed June 13, 2026.
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“The board approved a $15,000-per-unit special assessment for façade repairs, payable over 12 months.”
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A special assessment, an insurance non-renewal, a thin reserve study — find out whether it signals real risk, checked against your state's rules, with page citations you can verify. No cost, no obligation.
Expert Matching
Want help acting on what you found?
We can connect you with insurance brokers, realtors, and mortgage brokers who can help you respond to what your documents reveal.
- Reserve fund engineer
- HOA lawyer