Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Tennessee’s Condominium Act gives the board unilateral authority to levy special assessments to preserve the building’s physical integrity or meet legal requirements, with no statutory owner vote or veto at all.
Key statute: Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-27-403(g) (reserve study), 66-27-414 (Assessments for common expenses), and 66-27-415 (Lien for assessments), Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-201 et seq.)
How Tennessee lets an association approve it
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-414, “the board of directors makes a common expense assessment,” and “assessments must be made at least annually, based on a budget adopted at least annually by the board of directors.” For assessments aimed at preserving the building or complying with the law, the statute goes further: “the board of directors shall have the power at any time to levy assessments to preserve the physical integrity of the condominium or to comply with governmental requirements.” No unit-owner vote, ratification, or veto threshold appears anywhere in the statute. That is a real difference from Rhode Island’s and Utah’s negative-option budget-ratification models: Tennessee’s board holds unilateral statutory authority to levy special assessments for physical-integrity or legal-compliance purposes.
The notice you’re owed
Tennessee’s assessment statute does not set a pre-assessment notice requirement. The lien statute separately provides that collection notice “shall be deemed sufficient if sent by United States mail, postage prepaid… deemed received three (3) days after deposit,” but that governs delinquency and lien notice after a debt is already owed, not notice before a special assessment is levied.
Paying it: plan, interest, and late fees
Tennessee law lets the board allow “an assessment for reserves to be paid in such installments as shall be determined by the board of directors,” but that is a board-discretion mechanism limited to reserve assessments, not a general right for owners to demand an installment plan on a special assessment. Interest on any past-due assessment is capped: it “bears interest at the rate established by the association not exceeding the maximum effective annual rate [of interest as determined by the department of financial institutions],” a floating ceiling set elsewhere in state law rather than a fixed percentage within the statute itself.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415: “The association has a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or fines imposed against its unit owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due, which lien may be foreclosed by judicial action,” with an optional declaration-authorized power-of-sale foreclosure, priority over most liens except pre-declaration encumbrances and first mortgages recorded before delinquency, and a six-year window to bring enforcement actions.
Does Tennessee require a reserve study?
Yes, once the numbers cross a threshold. If the common elements the board oversees have “an aggregate replacement cost exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000),” the board must have “an updated reserve study conducted within five (5) years after the date the reserve study was conducted, and at least every five (5) years thereafter,” and must “make a copy of the reserve study available to all common interest owners through electronic mail or by posting it on the community website.” This is a funding-and-disclosure study, not a Florida-SIRS-style structural-safety inspection mandate.
Honest gaps
Tennessee’s own state site and several standard legal-research mirrors were unreachable this session; the text above is quoted from a codified mirror of the official Tennessee Code after the state’s own site blocked automated access. The exact current numeric ceiling behind the “maximum effective annual rate” interest cap was not independently confirmed.
Source note. Read from https://codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-66-property/tn-code-sect-66-27-403/, https://codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-66-property/tn-code-sect-66-27-414/, and https://codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-66-property/tn-code-sect-66-27-415/ on September 4, 2026.
Related: HOA rules in a 55+ community · how a special-assessment foreclosure actually works · lump sum vs. a payment plan.
General information drawn from each state’s own statutes as read at its official legislature or code-publisher site (or a verbatim codified mirror where noted), not legal advice. Special-assessment law is state law, and every association’s own declaration and bylaws add rules on top of the statutory floor described here. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.