When reserve funds may be available

Owners and some board members see a pot of gold in the reserve account and want to tap it for various reasons. Depending on what you state you live in, it may be possible or it may be illegal. Jurisdiction matters, state laws matter, and following them is always the best and prudent approach. So if your manager doesn't know the answer to whether those funds can be tapped to make the repairs throughout your community, board members should be asked the manager to find out.

Reserve specialists are experts in preparing reserve studies with those with RS designations from CAI have taken classes and passed exams to get those designations. They've also reviewed your CC &Rs, included what's proper for inclusion in your reserve study. And if the items which require repair are not in the study, then you might be able to take a loan from the reserve account to pay for those repairs. Most financial experts will reflect this loan on your balance sheet so it isn't forgotten.

If your community is in a construction defect dispute and you want to make repairs, ask your defect consultant if the repairs should be made now to minimize your future higher expenditures. And then you may need to ask your HOAs General Representation Lawyer if you can legally use the Reserve Study to make the requisite repairs. Assuming the item is not currently in the Reserve Study. My last comment on using reserves is that you may wish to ask the reserve specialist if they can legally add the item to the reserve study so then you can tap it to make the repairs in the items in question.