Why did your common charges go up?
By Synclair · Updated November 9, 2026
Your common charges are your unit's share of the condominium's yearly budget: the condominium's declaration gives each unit a percentage, its common interest, and what the budget needs from unit owners is shared by those percentages. So when the budget asks for more, your charges rise with it. Put this year's budget beside last year's, compare them line by line, and take the lines that genuinely rose to the board of managers.
Are your real estate taxes in your common charges?
No. Your unit has its own real estate tax bill, which you pay directly or through your mortgage escrow, so real estate taxes are not part of your common charges. A cooperative is different: there, the building's taxes are part of each owner's monthly maintenance.
Why is the new total not enough to go on?
A higher monthly amount and a note that costs have gone up is not an explanation, and you can reasonably ask for one.
A total that moved tells you only that it moved. The question is which lines moved, by how much, and whether the categories are the same as last year. What looks like a rise can turn out to be a category split in two, two categories merged into one, a cost moved from one section to another, or a one-time cost — as well as a genuine increase in what the condominium pays for something.
Where should you look first?
Payroll, where the building has staff: wages and benefits for the superintendent, porters, doormen and others. Ask whether a new contract, a new position or overtime explains a rise.
Insurance. The condominium's own policies can change sharply at renewal. Ask what the premiums were, what they are now, and whether the cover or the deductible changed.
Fuel, energy and water. Heating fuel or gas, electricity for the common areas, and water and sewer where the condominium pays them.
Repairs, maintenance and contracts. Elevator service, cleaning, pest control and the like. Ask which contracts were renewed, and at what price.
The managing agent's fee — the company that runs the building day to day for the board. If it is folded into other administrative costs, ask for it on its own line.
The reserve contribution — money set aside for future capital work, such as the roof, the facade, the boiler or the elevators.
Anything new, or called miscellaneous or other. A new line is not necessarily wrong. It is always worth a question.
Is an assessment the same as a rise in common charges?
No. An assessment is a separate charge on top of your common charges, for a particular cost — facade or roof work the reserves cannot cover, for example. It may be due at once or spread over a set number of months. Ask what it pays for, how the total was worked out, how it is shared among the units, and whether the reserves could have covered any of it.
What can you ask the board of managers?
Your common charges fund the condominium, so you can reasonably ask how they are spent. Put your questions in writing, and keep them specific:
- which lines rose, and why;
- what changed in payroll, insurance and the main contracts;
- what the managing agent's fee is, and what it covers;
- what capital work the reserves are being built up for, and when;
- how last year's budget compared with what was actually spent — the year-end financial statements show that.
Should you stop paying while you ask?
No. Asking about a charge and not paying it are two different things. Keep paying, and put your questions in writing.
What does Synclair do?
Synclair sets out the condominium's annual budget and year-end financial statement line by line, and shows what the figures say. Each budget line sits beside last year's figure where the budget prints one, and a year-end financial statement for the same fiscal year can be set beside the budget. These are the condominium's own figures, not amounts worked out for your unit. If you're paying for a service you aren't receiving, you can record it, and it stays on record with a date. If something needs raising, Synclair can draft a letter for you to check and send in your own name, and once it's sent you can record the reply and the outcome.
Only owners pay for Synclair: never managers, insurers or suppliers.
One document is enough to start. It is free for three months, for one property, and the three months begin when your first analysis is ready — not when you sign up. There is one free period for each email address.
Analyze my documentsDocuments for a property in California or New York State are uploaded from an account: sign up, then upload the annual budget or the year-end financial statement.