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Legal reference

Arrears: what happens when owners do not pay in California

Short answer

A regular or special assessment is delinquent 15 days after it becomes due, unless the declaration provides a longer period. The association may then recover reasonable collection costs including attorney's fees, a late charge of no more than 10 percent of the delinquent assessment or ten dollars, whichever is greater, and interest of up to 12 percent a year starting 30 days after the assessment became due.

What the law says

The wording of the law, as published.

Regular and special assessments levied pursuant to the governing documents are delinquent 15 days after they become due, unless the declaration provides a longer time period
Provision: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 5650(b) and 5655(a) · Official text

Last verified:

Also relevant

Any payments made by the owner of a separate interest toward a debt described in subdivision (a) of Section 5650 shall first be applied to the assessments owed, and, only after the assessments owed are paid in full shall the payments be applied to the fees and costs of collection, attorney's fees, late charges, or interest.
Provision: Cal. Civ. Code § 5655(a) · Official text

What this means in practice

Payments must be applied first to the assessments owed, and only after those are paid in full to costs of collection, attorney's fees, late charges or interest. At least 30 days before recording a lien, the association must notify the owner by certified mail, with a prescribed warning, an itemised statement of the charges and a description of the owner's rights, including the right to request a meeting with the board and to dispute the debt. A smaller late charge or interest rate applies if the declaration specifies one.

General information, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer in California before relying on it, and read your building's own documents: they can change how a rule applies.

Where Unitify fits

Unitify records the debt per unit, records payments and sends reminders. Interest, voting limits, liens and enforcement come from the law above and your own rules and are applied by people; Unitify records the debt and the payments.

How this works in Unitify

Questions and answers

What are the consequences of unpaid contributions in California?
A regular or special assessment is delinquent 15 days after it becomes due, unless the declaration provides a longer period. The association may then recover reasonable collection costs including attorney's fees, a late charge of no more than 10 percent of the delinquent assessment or ten dollars, whichever is greater, and interest of up to 12 percent a year starting 30 days after the assessment became due.
Where does this come from, and when was it checked?
The quotation is from Cal. Civ. Code §§ 5650(b) and 5655(a), at the official source linked on this page. It was last checked against that source on September 16, 2026.
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