Oregon HOA Reserve Fund Requirements (2026 Guide)

Overview of Oregon reserve study laws

Oregon reserve study law is built around two core statutes:

1. ORS 94.595, which governs “planned communities” and most homeowners associations.
2. ORS 100.175, which governs condominium associations.

Both statutes require:

• A dedicated reserve account.
• An initial reserve study and written maintenance plan when the community is created.
• An annual process where the board determines reserve account requirements by conducting a new reserve study or reviewing and updating an existing one.

Which Oregon communities must comply?

Planned communities and HOAs

For planned communities that meet the definition under ORS 94.550 and are recorded on or after October 23, 1999, the reserve account, reserve study, and maintenance plan requirements in ORS 94.595 apply automatically.

For older HOAs recorded before that date, the reserve study and maintenance plan rules begin to apply when either:

1. The board adopts a resolution, following the bylaws, to apply the requirements; or
2. A petition signed by a majority of owners is submitted forcing the association to adopt them.(OregonLaws)
   
   

Once triggered, the association has one year to complete the reserve study and maintenance plan and then must keep them current going forward.

Condominium associations

For condominium associations, ORS 100.175 works similarly. Most modern condominiums are subject to the reserve account, reserve study, and maintenance plan requirements from the outset. An exception exists for very small condominiums: the reserve study and maintenance plan requirements generally do not apply to condominiums consisting of only one or two units (ignoring parking, storage, or ancillary units), though flexible and staged condominiums that could grow beyond two units will eventually fall under the rules.

As with HOAs, pre-1999 condominium associations can become subject to the reserve study rules if the board or a majority of unit owners opt in via resolution or petition.

In practice, many older HOAs and condo associations either already fall under these rules via their declarations or have voluntarily adopted them, making “Oregon HOA laws” and “Oregon condominium law” on reserves highly relevant even for legacy communities.

What the Oregon reserve account must cover

Both ORS 94.595 and ORS 100.175 define what your reserve account is supposed to fund. The reserve account must cover:

• Major maintenance, repair, or replacement of common property or common elements that will normally require major work in more than one and less than 30 years.
• Exterior painting, if the association is responsible for exterior painted surfaces.
• Any other items that the declaration or bylaws require to be included in reserves.

Typical examples for Oregon HOAs and condos include:

• Roofs and building exteriors.
• Siding, windows, and doors maintained by the association.
• Roads, sidewalks, parking areas, and storm-water systems.
• Elevators, boilers, and mechanical systems in multifamily buildings.
• Clubhouses, pools, fences, and other shared amenities.

The law also makes clear what can be left out. Items that can reasonably be funded from the operating budget can be excluded, as can limited common elements where maintenance responsibility rests with one or a few owners rather than the whole association.

Initial reserve study and maintenance plan

At creation, the declarant (developer) must:

1. Conduct an initial reserve study.
2. Prepare a written maintenance plan describing what maintenance, repair, and replacement will be done and when.
3. Establish a reserve account and begin funding it through assessments.

The maintenance plan must:

• Describe the maintenance, repair, and replacement activities.
• Include a schedule for that work.
• Be appropriate for the size and complexity of the association’s responsibilities.
• Address issues like warranties and useful life.

For condominiums, Oregon law also ties the reserve study and maintenance plan into the developer’s disclosure obligations. The disclosure statement and filing documents may need to include or reference the reserve study and maintenance plan, ensuring that early buyers see the long-term capital plan before they purchase.

Annual reserve study or update: what “annual” really means

A major source of confusion in Oregon is how often a “reserve study” is required. The statutes are clear that the board “shall annually determine the reserve account requirements by conducting a reserve study or reviewing and updating an existing study.”

In practical terms this means:

• Every year, the board must either commission a new reserve study or formally review and update the prior one.
• The annual review must consider at least: the current reserve account balance, the remaining useful life of each reserve component, updated cost estimates, expected inflation, and investment returns.
• After reviewing the study or update, the board may adjust reserve contributions to keep the plan on track.

Best practice in the industry is to commission a full, on-site study (often called a Level I or Level II reserve study) every few years and do less intensive updates in the intervening years. CAI and leading reserve providers generally recommend a full update with site visit at least every three years, with off-site financial updates annually.

Oregon does not currently require that the reserve study be prepared by a specific type of professional (such as an engineer), but using an experienced reserve professional is recommended, especially for larger or more complex communities.

Funding the reserve account and adjusting contributions

The statutes require that the reserve account be funded through assessments and kept separate from operating funds. 

The reserve portion of the initial assessment must be based on the reserve study or other reliable information, and ongoing reserve funding must be reflected in the association’s annual budget.

Key points for boards:

• Separate account: The reserve account must be in the association’s name and separate from other funds.
• Limited use: Reserves may be used only for the purposes for which they were established. Temporary borrowing from reserves for cash-flow purposes is allowed only if the board adopts a formal resolution and a written repayment plan.
• No casual elimination of contributions: The board or owners may not vote to eliminate funding a required reserve account unless the board determines the account will still be adequately funded for the following year. After turnover, a board with unanimous owner approval may elect not to fund reserves for a given year, but this is an exception that should be treated with extreme caution.
• Owner votes to adjust reserves: For many associations, Oregon law permits owners to vote, often by a 75 percent supermajority, to increase, reduce, or in some cases eliminate reserve contributions, provided the statutory requirements and governing documents are followed.

Unlike some states, Oregon does not mandate a specific funding level (such as “fully funded” reserves). However, professional reserve firms often find that healthy associations contribute 15-40 percent of their total budget to reserves, and underfunded reserves are a common cause of special assessments and owner disputes.

Disclosure, records, and resale impacts

Reserve studies and maintenance plans are not just internal planning tools; they also affect disclosure and records obligations.

For condominiums, ORS 100.483 requires the board to adopt an annual budget that includes reserve funding and to provide a budget summary to all owners within 30 days. ORS 100.640 and 100.655 tie reserve studies into the developer’s and association’s obligation to provide disclosure statements and copies of key documents, including reserve studies, to buyers and to the state.

For HOAs, ORS 94.670 requires the association to keep key documents and records, including financial statements and reserve information, available for owner inspection. The widely cited “Official HOA Handbook - Oregon” underscores that failing to follow the reserve account, reserve study, and maintenance plan requirements can expose boards to claims of statutory violation and fiduciary breaches.

Practical best practices for Oregon boards

To stay comfortably within Oregon’s reserve study laws and align with industry standards, boards should:

1. Treat the reserve study as an annual process, not a one-off report. Schedule each year’s review on your governance calendar and document board decisions based on the study.
2. Maintain a detailed component inventory that reflects your actual assets, not a generic template. Include useful life, current condition, and replacement cost estimates for each item.
3. Tie the maintenance plan directly to the reserve study. The plan should explain when work will occur; the reserve study should show how it will be funded.
4. Communicate openly with owners. Share high-level reserve information with the annual budget package and be transparent about why contributions are increasing or staying flat.
5. Avoid using reserves as a crutch for poor operating budgeting. If you need to borrow from reserves for cash-flow, document the reason and adopt a realistic repayment schedule, then adjust your operating budget to prevent repeat borrowing.
6. Review older governing documents. Many pre-1999 communities in Oregon have amended their declarations to adopt the modern reserve study framework; confirming that status with your attorney is critical before assuming you are exempt.

How PropFusion helps Oregon associations comply with ORS 94.595 and ORS 100.175

PropFusion is built to make compliance with state-specific reserve study requirements less of a manual spreadsheet exercise and more of a repeatable, trackable workflow.

For Oregon HOAs and condominium associations, PropFusion can help you:

• Centralize your reserve study, maintenance plan, and all supporting documents in one place, so you can prove compliance with ORS 94.595 and ORS 100.175 at any time.
• Model different reserve contribution levels and funding strategies so the board can see the impact of increasing, reducing, or temporarily pausing contributions before taking a vote.
• Align your annual budget process with your reserve study by pulling key numbers into a clear dashboard for board meetings and owner communications.
• Connect with vetted reserve study providers who understand Oregon law, including ORS 94.595 and ORS 100.175, making it easier to commission full studies and regular updates without starting from scratch each time.

Used correctly, PropFusion becomes the operational layer that keeps your Oregon reserve study requirements, reserve account funding, and long-term maintenance planning aligned year after year, reducing the risk of unpleasant surprises and keeping your community in a stronger financial position.