![\"Megan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791019103_60_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nMegan Blanda knew her San Clemente condominium complex was aging, but she assumed monthly fees of more than $500 were keeping up with maintenance and upgrades. <\/p>\n
So when she received a notice this year from the homeowners association that she would have to pay a one-time, $26,000 emergency assessment to replace the roofs, Blanda was shocked \u2014 and angry. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey can\u2019t throw a $26,000 bill at us because the roof has been neglected all these years,\u201d said Blanda, 42, a behavioral therapist for children with autism. <\/p>\n
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Megan Blanda is among some residents at Vilamoura fighting the special assessment. \u201cThey can\u2019t throw a $26,000 bill at us because the roof has been neglected all these years,\u201d she said of the HOA board.<\/p>\n
(Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a situation that experts say is becoming increasingly common as California\u2019s condos age, the state\u2019s insurance crisis worsens and homeowners associations comply with new safety standards for balconies<\/a>, leading to unanticipated costs that many condo owners cannot afford. <\/p>\n The fees may be creating a ripple effect on California\u2019s expensive housing market, where first-time buyers increasingly are being squeezed out, including by recent interest rate hikes. <\/p>\n Some say the possibility of being slapped with the fees is a factor in buyers\u2019 waning interest<\/a> in condos, which have long been a relatively affordable option, at the same time that construction of new condos has continued to lag across the state<\/a>. <\/p>\n Defenders of the emergency fees, which can be levied by HOA boards to address health and safety hazards or unforeseen expenses, say that long-standing infrastructure issues must be addressed, even if residents don\u2019t like the price tag. All homeowners, whether they belong to an HOA or not, are ultimately responsible for the cost of maintenance and upgrades. Some point to the 2021 collapse of a high-rise condo in Florida<\/a> that killed 98 people, caused<\/a> by the building\u2019s flawed structural design and decades of corrosion, as a worst-case scenario of what can happen when needed upgrades are not made.<\/p>\n Many condo owners and HOA boards also are facing higher insurance costs as companies pull out of the state amid increasingly destructive wildfires. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of condo complexes in California which were built during the early 2000s during that building boom \u2026 and those are the ones that are aging right now,\u201d said an attorney specializing in HOA law. Above, the Vilamoura at Rancho San Clemente.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of condo complexes in California which were built during the early 2000s during that building boom \u2026 and those are the ones that are aging right now,\u201d said Michael Kushner, an attorney specializing in HOA law<\/a> who typically represents homeowners. \u201cThe years catch up, and suddenly you\u2019ve got these things falling apart or rotting.\u201d<\/p>\n In the last few years, Kushner said he\u2019s heard about more emergency assessments surpassing $20,000 per unit, often because of long overdue upgrades. Updated balcony inspections, required by state law after a 2015 balcony collapse<\/a> in Berkeley killed six people, have resulted in many expensive repair jobs, he said. <\/p>\n In 2017, Kushner worked with condo owners in another Orange County community facing an $18,000 assessment, which at the time \u201cwas like unheard of.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, \u201cmassive\u201d fees are increasingly common, he said, pointing to the one at Blanda\u2019s community in San Clemente, which was first reported by ABC-7 News,<\/a> as well as another report from the outlet<\/a> about a $49,000 fee at a Torrance condo community.<\/p>\n Kushner often counsels residents<\/a> about how they can fight back and ensure fees are assessed fairly and legally, pointing to concerns that the emergency exemption is overused. <\/p>\n HOAs should plan for maintenance by increasing monthly fees and paying into reserve funds, rather than hitting owners with a huge emergency assessment, he said. He also has seen boards lump together a bunch of costs under one emergency issue, when he argues that the assessment should be used to address only a specific emergency. <\/p>\n But homeowners associations often struggle to find the money for major repairs, especially if monthly fees haven\u2019t kept up with inflation or allowed for saving, said Jacquie Berry, owner and founder of a company that reviews <\/a>HOA documents and finances. <\/p>\n Most HOA board members are homeowners and often avoid raising the monthly fees, which can be unpopular with their neighbors, even as reserves for repairs dwindle, Berry said. <\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t want to be bad guys,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Blanda and a growing group of neighbors at the Vilamoura at Rancho San Clemente have banded together to oppose the surprise fee and initiated a recall election to try to unseat the HOA board.<\/p>\n But James R. McCormick, an attorney representing the homeowners association, said that if the roofs aren\u2019t replaced, leaks could cause major damage, particularly as a strong El Ni\u00f1o<\/a> is expected to bring drenching storms this winter. <\/p>\n McCormick acknowledged in a statement that maintenance on the condo complex\u2019s roofs \u201cshould have been planned for and performed in prior years.\u201d He said a recent report pushed the HOA board to act quickly, in the residents\u2019 best interests. <\/p>\n The report, which McCormick said was written by an independent expert, found that \u201cwithout replacement, the roofs will continue to have leaks that could cause catastrophic interior damage.\u201d The original tile installation was \u201csloppy and several of the tiles are cut short, allowing water to enter\u201d the buildings, and the roofs\u2019 waterproofing membrane is \u201cdeteriorated and no longer watertight,\u201d McCormick said in the statement.<\/p>\n Blanda and others in her community are trying to recall the HOA board and repeal the assessment. <\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Blanda and several neighbors argue that the roof replacement is not an emergency but routine maintenance \u2014 which, they argue, wouldn\u2019t allow for the project to be funded by an emergency assessment. They were told that the condo complex\u2019s roofs would reach the end of their useful life last year, but the HOA board failed to proactively prepare for that, she said. <\/p>\n The 198-unit complex was built in the 1990s, with three-bedroom units recently listed for about $1 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was foreseeable,\u201d said Blanda, who has lived in the community for about 20 years, first with her mom and now with her husband. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791019104_875_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Blanda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791019104_160_.jpeg\")
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