Every year, homeowners in common-interest communities receive an envelope or email from their HOA: next year’s budget.
In theory, these documents determine how assessments will be spent, how reserves will be funded, and whether future assessments or special fees might be avoided—or triggered. But the people footing the bill are usually given little notice and have no real opportunity to shape the spending plan before it’s set in stone.
Boards can adopt budgets with only nominal owner notice and effectively no meaningful input. Technically, the budget isn’t final until after a brief period in which owners may vote to reject it. In practice, this post-adoption challenge window is so difficult to use that it serves more as a formality than a safeguard.
The Legal Mirage of Owner Control In Nevada
Under Nevada law, owner approval is a mirage. This blog asks the core question: if the law gives owners no real say in shaping their HOA’s budget, is that appropriate in a system funded entirely by those same owners? And if the answer is no, what reforms—through regulation or legislation—can ensure owners have a genuine role before the numbers are locked in?
You can read more on this governance problem in our post Unchecked and Unaccountable: Nevada’s HOA System Failing Those It Was Meant to Protect.
How Nevada’s Budget Ratification Process Works
NRS 116.31151 requires boards to send next year’s budget to all owners 30–60 days before the new fiscal year begins and within 60 days of adoption by the board it must "set a [meeting] date... to consider ratification".
Budget rejection requires a majority of all owners -not only those that attend this meeting- and to vote “no.” In most communities, that threshold is unattainable.
To be clear the executive board does not require approval from the unit owners and the budget adopted will be deemed approved by the unit owners in the absence of a veto at the noticed meeting by a majority of all unit owners.
Silence counts as consent.
Why Owner “Approval” Is a Post-Adoption Formality
Nevada statutes do not require any pre-adoption distribution or input period, meaning boards can—and often do—adopt next year's budget before owners ever see it. By the time it’s mailed out, it’s already a done deal.
This gap is one of several areas we’ve identified for reform in HOA Law Changes – Remedies for Consideration.
The Timing Trap in Nevada HOA Budget Law
Other statutes compound the problem. Budgets must be placed on a meeting agenda and related documents made available upon request. But agendas must be posted at least 10 days before a meeting (NRS 116.31083), while HOAs have up to 21 days to respond to a records request (NRS 116.31175). That means boards can vote on a budget before owners have even received the backup documents needed to evaluate it.
Oversight in Name Only: NRED and CICCH Commission
Nevada HOA boards that adopt budgets without meaningful owner input aren’t breaking the law—they’re following it. The problem is that the law itself leaves owners without a genuine role in shaping the spending plan.
This is exactly where we would expect the Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED) and the Commission for Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels (CICCH Commission) to step in—using their regulatory authority to close the gap between what is legal and what is fair. Yet they do not.
NRED controls all access to the Commission, handles complaints behind closed doors, rarely advances issues for public hearing, and even constructs the Commission’s quarterly agenda. There is no public complaint database, no visibility into the consistency of enforcement, and no proactive review of HOA budget practices is made public—even to the Commission itself. As a result, budget decisions that ignore owner participation proceed unchecked—not because they comply with the spirit of the law, but because they avoid violating its narrow letter, at least as enforced by NRED.
And while NRS 233B gives the public the right to petition for new regulations, NRED is also the gatekeeper for these petitions. That means the very agency whose inaction fuels the problem has the power to block—or quietly bury—efforts to reform it. In theory, the CICCH Commission is charged to act in an advisory capacity to NRED and adopt regulations. In practice, this oversight role and adoption duties appear to have been largely abdicated, with the Commission deferring to NRED’s discretion rather than actively advising.
Read more about why the Commission needs a rest in Nevada CICCH Commission- A Hard Reset Is Needed.
Why This Matters
The flaws in Nevada’s HOA budget process aren’t just procedural—they have real financial consequences for the people paying the bills. HOA members aren’t just “residents”—they’re owners. They are financially obligated to pay whatever the board sets, enforceable by lien and foreclosure. They can’t shop for a new provider or move to another “service district” without selling their home.
Public entities don’t operate this way. Governments must hold budget hearings, publish line-item details, and provide defined public comment periods. Corporations answer to shareholders who can sell their stock if they disagree. HOA owners have neither of those safety valves—which makes pre-adoption owner input not just fair, but essential.
What Needs to Change in Nevada HOA Budget Law
Through NRS 233B rulemaking, Nevada regulators could immediately fix the structural denial of owner input by requiring:
Pre-Adoption Distribution – Draft budget and supporting documents sent to owners or available on line at least 30 days before board adoption.
Owner Input Period – A defined window for owners to review, ask questions, and suggest adjustments.
Transparency Portal – Budgets and supporting documents timely posted online for all owners to access.
Key Difference:
Under current law, “owner approval” happens after the board’s decision, making it nearly impossible to change. Under the proposed system, owners are part of the process before adoption—when their input can actually shape the outcome
Take Action
The Nevada Real Estate Division and CICCH Commission have the authority—right now—to fix this through NRS 233B rulemaking. By clearly defining a pre-adoption budget process with meaningful owner input, they could close one of the biggest gaps in HOA governance. But they won’t act unless owners demand it.
If you believe you should have a real voice in how your money is spent, speak up: contact NRED, your state legislators, and the Governor’s office to support a petition for budget transparency and owner participation. Together, we can turn “budget approval” from a hollow formality into a real safeguard for homeowners.
