Condo Association Management Blog

I would first of all ask if the cost to he Association is a rea cost. If the Associaton has incurred additiona costs related to the installation of the roof, the money to pay the debt has to come from somewhere. If there is no balance in a fund to pay the bill, they will be obligated to assess the owners. Most by-aws have language indicating the power and authority of the Board to Assess. I woud bet they have the right to do this to enable them to pay the Association's indebtedness. This obigation is a real one that the Association owns. Read the By-laws and you wil most likely find the answer.

From the inquiry statement, it appears that the condo financed the roof repairs through two means: a) special assessment and b) loan. This would have been a good business decision to avoid an unbearably large assessment for the owners. Now apparently the loan to the CONDO (not HOA) has come due and the owners have to raise the funds through another special assessment.  
The purchaser can and absolutely has the right to inquire. If an audit has been done for 2008 or 2009, it should be identified on the audit as an obligation of the condo.

This happened to me too. The same exact thing. In order to spend more than necessary they will have a smaller assessment and then need a loan later. 
We got a very fancy roof where the shingles cost 80.00 per bundle. The owner/ contractor slipped it right on through. It helps when your wife is a board membef and nobody on the board knows a thing about construction costs. The shingles we needed shouldnt have cost more than 25-30 per bundle. The cost really builds up when you buy 4000 bundles. 
Anyway, they didnt have enough money from the assessment 3 years earlier and they got a balloon loan that came due 4 years later. We had to raise our dues 100.00 per month to pay for it.