‘I Will Have to Move’: 81-Year-Old California Condo Owner Says Surprise $26,000 HOA Assessment Could Force Her From Her Home

Eighty-one years old, retired, living on a fixed income — and suddenly staring at a bill for more than $26,000 she never saw coming. That is the reality facing Beverly Albright, who says the condo association running her San Clemente community just handed every single homeowner a five-figure surprise assessment, and now she may have to give up the home she worked her entire life to keep.

Owners at the 198-unit Vilamoura at Rancho San Clemente condominium complex were each slapped with a special assessment of more than $26,000 to fund a major roof replacement project, according to reporting by ABC7. The bill landed like a bombshell in a community full of retirees — and residents are fighting back.

“Retired, single, what, lose my house? I wouldn’t qualify for a loan to refinance. So where do you go?” Albright told ABC7.

Albright, who lives on a fixed income, told the Los Angeles Times that her children have already had to help her financially and that she is considering borrowing money just to cover the charge. But even that may not be enough.

“I will have to move,” she told ABC7. “I’ve worked very hard to make it so that I could be here.”

A Bill Nobody Budgeted For — and a Payment Plan That Stings

Residents say they were given a few options for coughing up the money: pay the more than $26,000 bill outright, split it into two payments, or enter a payment plan that initially adds more than $2,000 to their monthly costs.

That is on top of regular HOA dues, which resident Megan Blanda said already run more than $500 a month. For retirees on fixed incomes, the math simply does not work.

“They can’t throw a $26,000 bill at us because the roof has been neglected all these years,” Blanda, 42, told the Times.

The homeowners are not just fighting the price tag — they are challenging the HOA’s decision to classify the work as an emergency. Residents contend the roofs were a long-known maintenance issue and therefore should not qualify for an emergency assessment that can be imposed without a homeowner vote.

“It was not an emergency; it’s deferred maintenance,” homeowner Noah Martin told ABC7. “And so, then we as members should have a vote on how we want to take care of the roofs.”

Some residents also argue that the roofs are not currently leaking and say they want the association to seek multiple competitive bids before moving ahead with the project.

The HOA Says the Roofs Can’t Wait

The association, however, maintains that replacing the roofs is necessary to prevent potentially severe damage.

James R. McCormick, an attorney representing the association, told the Times that an independent expert found deteriorated waterproofing and problems with the original tile installation, and warned that delaying replacement could lead to serious interior damage.

McCormick acknowledged that roof maintenance “should have been planned for and performed in prior years,” but said the work now needs to be done regardless.

The overall project is expected to cost a combined $5.2 million, including about $500,000 for fire-suppression system repairs, according to the reporting.

Residents who fail to pay could face even bigger consequences. The association has sent lien notices warning delinquent homeowners that the process could ultimately lead to foreclosure.

Now a group of residents is attempting to recall members of the HOA board and take control of the association. Blanda and other homeowners involved in the effort say they obtained an estimate for a temporary weatherproofing plan costing roughly $400 per owner, which they believe could protect the roofs through the winter while a longer-term replacement is planned.

The association disputes that delaying the full replacement is a viable solution.

“The unfortunate reality is that this recall process will not change the status of the roofs or otherwise obviate the need for immediate roof replacement,” McCormick said.

The San Clemente fight comes as steep special assessments become increasingly common at aging California condo developments, where associations are grappling with major maintenance bills, rising insurance costs and new safety requirements. For Albright and her neighbors, though, the debate is not abstract — it is about whether they get to stay in their homes.

For now, the bills stand, the liens loom, and a community of mostly retirees is left doing math that does not add up. Whether the recall effort succeeds or the board holds its ground, one thing is already clear: the fight over these roofs has become a fight over who gets to age in place — and who gets priced out of the home they already paid for.