What You Owe, and When

An association assesses common expenses against unit owners according to each owner's respective percentage or fractional undivided interest in the common areas and facilities, unless the declaration provides otherwise for unconstructed units. 

That allocation is the starting point for every figure on this page. Your share is set by your undivided interest, not by square footage, occupancy, or how much of the common area you personally use.

The Late Fee Ceiling

An association may, by rule, impose for late payment of an assessment 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 an association may not exceed. It does not set a fee, and it does not require your association to charge one. What you actually owe comes from your association's own rule, capped by these numbers.

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

The Fee Schedule Requirement, Which Applies Before Any Fee

Before imposing a fee under Subsection (4), an association must adopt a fee schedule by rule that describes the amount of each fee it will impose, and provide a copy of that fee schedule to each unit owner.

The requirement is broader than the late fee. Subsection (4) is the association's whole rulemaking power over money: it covers the late fee and interest, and also any payment, fee, or charge for the use, rental, or operation of the common areas, or for a service provided to a unit owner. A fee schedule is a precondition to all of it.

Two practical consequences. If you have never received a fee schedule, ask for one; it is also among the records the association must keep and produce. And a fee that appears on your account without ever having appeared on a fee schedule is worth questioning before you pay it.

Rules Have To Be Reasonable and Even-Handed

A fee comes from a rule, and rules carry their own limits. A rule shall be reasonable. A rule shall treat similarly situated unit owners similarly. And this section applies to an association regardless of when the association was created.

A declaration or an amendment to a declaration may not vary the requirement in Subsection (1)(b)(ii). Where this section and your documents disagree on that point, the statute governs.

Rental Units Cannot Be Charged Differently Just for Being Rentals

A rule may not treat a unit owner differently because the owner owns a rental unit. There are narrow exceptions: a rule may limit or prohibit a rental owner's use of the common areas for purposes other than attending an association meeting or managing the unit, may charge a fee for common area use if the rental owner keeps the right to use them even occasionally, and may impose a reasonable guest limit for units leased for terms under 30 days.

A rule may also require every tenant to abide by the governing documents and hold the tenant and the owner jointly and severally liable for a violation. For rental restrictions and the separate $200 annual rental fee, see Rental Restrictions.

An Unpaid Assessment Becomes a Debt, Then a Lien

Falling behind has consequences beyond the fee itself. An unpaid assessment can support a lien under Section 57-8-44, 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 receiving it to request an informal hearing.

A Fine Is Not a Late Fee

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 at the amount 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.

The distinction matters for collections, too, because a lien that includes a fine cannot be enforced by nonjudicial foreclosure.

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 commingle 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.