Oregon HOA Reserve Study Requirements

First, check whether it applies

Oregon sorts planned communities into classes in ORS 94.550, using the number of lots and the size of the yearly assessment. Under ORS 94.570, the reserve section does not apply to a Class II planned community created on or after January 1, 2002. Class I communities, and communities created before 2002, are covered.

The thresholds are precise and the declaration can matter, for instance when the declarant kept a right to add lots. If the board is unsure which class it is, ask the association's attorney. Even an exempt community may have a reserve duty written into its own declaration, and a lender or buyer may still ask to see a study.

What the reserve has to cover

A covered association must keep a reserve account for major maintenance, repair or replacement of common property that will normally need it in more than one and less than 30 years. Exterior painted surfaces the association is responsible for are included. Items that can reasonably be funded from the general budget are not, and nor are items that only some owners are responsible for.

For a typical Oregon HOA that means private streets and alleys, stormwater facilities, fences and walls, entry monuments, mailbox clusters, play areas, pathways, landscape lighting and any shared building such as a clubhouse or pool house. In townhome communities where the association maintains roofs and siding, those go in too, and they usually dominate the numbers.

Who prepares the first study

As with condominiums, the declarant conducts the first reserve study, prepares the first maintenance plan and sets up the reserve account, all on the association's behalf. A board that took over from a developer without these documents should ask for them, and if they never existed, commission a full study.

The yearly review

Each year the board must determine the reserve requirement by conducting a reserve study or by reviewing and updating an existing study. The factors are the same five the condominium statute lists: the starting balance, the remaining useful life of each item, the estimated cost at the end of that life, the year's inflation rate and the returns on invested reserves.

For a planned community with a short component list, a careful desk update by the manager or treasurer may be enough in some years. Most boards still bring a reserve study firm in for the first full study and for a site-visit update every few years, because paving and drainage are hard to judge from a spreadsheet. See the annual review for a cycle that works.

The maintenance plan

The board must also prepare a maintenance plan covering all property the association maintains. It describes the work, includes a schedule, fits the size and complexity of the community and addresses warranties and useful life. The board reviews and updates it as needed. Our maintenance plan page has an outline.

Stopping or skipping funding

The board or the owners may not vote to stop funding a required reserve unless the board finds, through its yearly review, that the account will be adequately funded the following year. After the turnover meeting under ORS 94.609, the board may elect not to fund the reserve for the next year only with the approval of all owners, and that decision is made a year at a time.

Planned communities that also hold condominiums

Some Oregon communities mix both: a master planned community with one or more condominiums inside it. Each condominium follows ORS 100.175 for its own common elements, while the master association follows ORS 94.595 for the shared property. A firm can prepare both studies at once, which usually costs less than two separate jobs; mention it in the notes on the request form below.