The questions
Ask these before the next meeting
Each question is tied to the Delaware rule it's based on. Skim all of them, then skip to the email template below if you want to send them as-is.
- 01
Is our community governed by DUCIOA (25 Del. C. ch. 81) or by the legacy Unit Property Act (25 Del. C. ch. 22)?
This is not a procedural detail. DUCIOA applies to Delaware common interest communities created on or after September 30, 2009, and in part to certain older ones. Many legacy condominiums continue to operate under the Unit Property Act, whose reserve rules — including minimum-percentage floors — are meaningfully different. A board or owner who assumes 'Delaware condos use DUCIOA' is right only some of the time.
25 Del. C. ch. 81; ch. 22
- 02
If DUCIOA applies, when was our current reserve study performed or last updated?
DUCIOA defines 'reserve study' as an analysis performed or updated within the last five years by qualified independent persons. The five-year window is definitional, not aspirational — an older study arguably does not meet the statutory definition at all. If the most recent study is from 2019 or earlier, that is a question worth escalating.
25 Del. C. § 81-103 (definitions)
- 03
Who performed or updated the reserve study, and do they meet DUCIOA's 'qualified independent persons' standard?
A reserve schedule drawn up by the property manager or board treasurer is not the same thing as an engineered study by qualified independents. DUCIOA's definition is specific, and it matters.
- 04
If we are a condominium under the Unit Property Act, how many building systems or components is the council responsible for maintaining, and what is the resulting minimum percentage of the annual budget allocated to the repair-and-replacement reserve?
Under the Unit Property Act's reserve framework, certain condominiums must allocate at least 5%, 10%, or 15% of the annual budget to a repair-and-replacement reserve, depending on component count. This is one of the few places in any US statute where a specific percentage floor exists. Check the component count before taking 'we fund reserves' at face value.
25 Del. C. ch. 22, subch. VIII
- 05
Did the association give owners the required budget summary — including reserves and the basis for calculating them — before ratification?
Under DUCIOA, the executive board prepares the budget annually and, after declarant control, must deliver a summary that includes reserves and the basis for calculating them. That disclosure is the hinge that ties the non-rejection ratification rule to the reserve framework.
25 Del. C. § 81-315
- 06
Do owners understand that the budget is ratified whether or not a quorum is present — unless a majority of all unit owners votes to reject it?
DUCIOA uses a non-rejection ratification model, structurally similar to Connecticut's CIOA, not Florida's Chapter 720. If the board is describing the budget process as 'owners need to vote yes,' that is backwards — and owners who think silence means rejection will be surprised by the outcome.
25 Del. C. § 81-315
- 07
What components are in the reserve schedule, and do the unit costs and useful-life estimates match anything that was observed on-site in the last two years?
A reserve schedule with unit costs from 2018 and a self-prepared useful-life table will show a surplus that does not exist. If the board cannot say when the numbers were last grounded in physical observation, the 'fully funded' figure is not load-bearing.
- 08
Is there deferred maintenance — roofing, siding, paving, structural — that is not reflected in the reserve schedule?
Deferred maintenance moved off the reserve schedule and onto the operating budget is a common way to make reserves look healthier than they are. Ask for a list of everything that the engineer flagged in the last study and whether any of it has since been pulled out of the reserve plan.
- 09
What is our five-year plan if the statutory minimum or the reserve-study contribution is not being met this year?
One year of underfunding is a decision. A decade of it, without a catch-up schedule, is a special assessment that has not been disclosed to owners yet. If the board cannot articulate a recovery path, the gap is going to surface later as a one-time bill.
- 10
If we are a nonresidential condominium that has elected exemption from the repair-and-replacement reserve requirements under the Unit Property Act, when was that election made and how was it voted on?
Nonresidential condominiums under the Unit Property Act may elect exemption from the reserve requirements by declaration or by majority vote. That opt-out is unusual enough that it is worth pinning down whether it happened, who voted, and whether the election is still accurate for the community today.
25 Del. C. ch. 22, subch. VIII
Email template
Send this to your board
Replace the bracketed fields with your community name and your details. The statute citations are deliberate — they move a response from "we'll get back to you" to a real written answer.
Hi [Board / Property Manager name], I own a unit at [Community Name] and I'm trying to understand how our reserves are being handled before the next budget is ratified. I've been reading the Delaware rules — both DUCIOA (25 Del. C. ch. 81) and the Unit Property Act (25 Del. C. ch. 22) — and I have a few questions I'd like answered in writing. 1. Is our community governed by DUCIOA, by the Unit Property Act, or by some combination of both? 2. When was our current reserve study performed or last updated? DUCIOA's definition requires it to be within the last five years by qualified independent persons — I want to make sure the study we are relying on still meets that standard. 3. Who performed the study, and are they qualified independents as DUCIOA uses the term? 4. If we are a condominium under the Unit Property Act, how many building systems is the council responsible for maintaining, and what percentage of the annual budget is allocated to the repair-and-replacement reserve? I understand the statute sets a 5%, 10%, or 15% floor depending on the component count. 5. Was the budget summary — including reserves and the basis for calculating them — delivered to owners before the ratification meeting? 6. Is there deferred maintenance that is not currently reflected in the reserve schedule? I'm not trying to second-guess the board. I just want to make sure the numbers we are ratifying actually meet the statutory definition of a reserve study and that nothing material has been moved off the schedule quietly. I would appreciate written answers or a pointer to where these are documented. Thanks, [Your name] [Unit number]
Why these questions, in this order
Delaware is unusual because it has two overlapping reserve regimes, and the answer to “what does our HOA owe us?” depends entirely on which one governs the community.
DUCIOA — the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act — applies to common interest communities created on or after September 30, 2009, and in part to certain pre-existing ones. DUCIOA’s distinguishing feature for reserves is definitional: the statute defines “reserve study” as an analysis performed or updated within the last five years by qualified independent persons. That five-year window is load-bearing. A study older than five years arguably does not meet the statutory definition for the purposes of sections that reference “the reserve study,” which means a board that is relying on a 2019 study for a 2026 budget is walking a line the statute draws on purpose.
The Unit Property Act — 25 Del. C. ch. 22 — still governs many legacy condominiums. Its reserve subchapter is one of the few places in any US state where the statute mandates a specific percentage floor. Depending on how many building systems the council is responsible for maintaining, the annual budget must allocate at least 5%, 10%, or 15% to a repair-and-replacement reserve. That floor is a real legal rule with a real component-count trigger.
The question list above is built to flush out the chapter question first, then the study-age question, then the percentage-floor question. If you get clean answers to just those three, you will already know more about your community’s statutory posture than most Delaware owners.
How to use the email template
The email below is written to be forwarded as-is to your board or property manager. It cites the chapter and section numbers directly because that is what moves a response from “we’ll get back to you” to “we need to check with our attorney.” You don’t need a lawyer to send it — you just need your unit number and the community name.
If the written response claims DUCIOA applies but cannot produce a reserve study from within the last five years, that is the single most important thing to document and bring to the next meeting. The definitional window is exactly the kind of rule that boards lose track of because nothing immediately visible happens when it lapses.
What this page is not
This is not legal advice and it is not a complete audit of your community’s compliance posture. It is the question list an owner should be able to hand to their board without retaining counsel. If the answers raise more questions than they resolve, the next step is usually pulling the actual budget and the reserve study and running them against the statute — which is where we come in.
The underlying rule
Delaware reserve law, in plain language
These questions come from the actual statute. If you want the full explainer before you send the email, start here.
Next step
Ready to put this against your community?
Send the questions to the board yourself, or pick the option below to share the community context with us so the next step is framed for the right person.