A Late Fee Is Not a Fine

Keep the two separate, because they run on different rules and different clocks. A late fee is a charge for paying an assessment late, capped as outlined above. A fine is a sanction for violating the governing documents, and you may request an informal hearing to dispute it within 30 days after receiving notice that it was assessed. For more information on fines, see Fines and Hearings.

What You Owe, and When

An owner shall pay the owner's proportionate share of the common expenses and any other assessment the association levies, in the amount and at the time the board determines in accordance with the declaration or the bylaws.

An assessment levied against a lot is a debt owed by the owner at the time it is levied and is collectible as a debt. That is worth understanding plainly: the obligation attaches when the assessment is made, not when the association gets around to billing or collecting it.

The Late Fee Ceiling

The board may impose, for a late payment, a late fee not to exceed the greater of 10% of the assessment amount or $50, plus interest on the assessment and late fee of up to 1.5% per month.

Read that as a ceiling, not an entitlement. The statute says what the board may not exceed. It does not set a fee, nor does it require your association to charge one. What you actually owe is determined by your association's fee schedule, capped by these numbers.

Note how the cap works: "the greater of" means that on a small assessment, the $50 floor applies, and on a large one, the 10% figure applies. On a $300 monthly assessment, 10% is $30, so the ceiling is $50.

The Fee Schedule Requirement, Which Comes First

Before imposing a fee under this section, the board shall adopt a fee schedule by rule, in accordance with Section 57-8a-217, that describes the amount of the fee and provides a copy of the fee schedule to each lot owner. 

If you have never received a fee schedule, ask for one. It is also among the records the association must keep and produce on request. A fee that appears on your account but isn't on the fee schedule is worth questioning before you pay it.

Adopting That Fee Schedule Is a Rule Change, With Its Own Procedure

Because the fee schedule is adopted by rule, the board must follow the rulemaking procedure in Section 57-8a-217. 

Before adopting, amending, or modifying a rule, the board must:

• Deliver notice to lot owners at least 15 days before the meeting where the change will be considered.
• Provide an open forum at that meeting, giving owners an opportunity to be heard before the board acts. 
• Deliver a copy of the approved change to owners within 15 days after the meeting. 

A board may skip the advance notice only where there is an imminent risk of harm to a common area, a limited common area, an owner, an occupant, a lot, or a dwelling, and it must still give notice afterward.

Owners Can Disapprove a Rule, Including a Fee Schedule

A board action on rules is disapproved if, within 60 days after the board meeting, at least 51% of all allocated voting interests vote to disapprove it at a special meeting called for that purpose by the owners under the declaration, articles, or bylaws. A declarant may also disapprove in writing during the period of administrative control or, for an expandable project, while it retains the right to add real estate.

The board does not have to call that meeting unless owners petition for it. But once a proper petition is submitted, the effect of the board's action is stayed until the meeting is held and is subject to the meeting's outcome. A petition is therefore the practical lever, not the vote alone.

There is a deadline for challenging the procedure. An action against the association or a board member for failure to comply with the notice-and-forum requirements must be commenced no later than 18 months after the date the board took the challenged action.

An Unpaid Assessment Becomes a Debt, Then a Lien

An unpaid assessment can support a lien under Section 57-8a-301, and the association can move to collect.

Two limits are worth knowing now rather than later. Nonjudicial foreclosure is unavailable if the lien includes a fine, and it is unavailable unless the lien includes an assessment more than 180 days delinquent. Both are limits on the association, not on you.

Before your rights are terminated for delinquency, the notice must allow at least 14 days, and you have 14 days from the date you receive it to request an informal hearing.

Where the Money Has To Sit

Whatever the association collects, it must keep all association funds in an account in the association's name and may not comingle them with anyone else's funds. That applies to money a manager holds on the association's behalf.

Every figure on this page also appears in Deadlines and Thresholds. If your association is charging a fee that was never on a fee schedule, read Advisory Opinions and Where To Take a Problem.

Reviewed against the Utah Code, current as of September 8, 2026.