Not in the USA, but I've lived in apartment buildings my whole life, and I own the apartment I currently live in. While I haven't seen such an extreme number, I have seen the way expensive repairs are dealt with. It's always decided in a condominium assembly, so every apartment owner has its say and it's put to a vote. For least expensive repairs, it's either an extra fee on the monthly condominium payment, or it comes from the condominium "emergency funds" account (which is then gradually recharged through the monthly condominium payments). For more expensive repairs, the extra fee is spread over several months. For really expensive repairs like your example, I'd expect the value to be financed (borrowing from a bank or similar), and gradually paid back through an extra fee on the monthly condominium payments.

Great question. Not a condo, but my neighborhood has 3 docks that go over salt water. They were built properly to code, but even with proper maintenance, after a certain period of time they will need to mostly be replaced. In order to prepare for this eventuality, the HOA raised fees by ~10% and has already started saving for a decade+ out.

It doesn’t have to be a heft fee if planned for. Docks are a known quantity where I live so planning is normal. 40 years ago did the HOA know they need to save for maintenance and repairs? What about 20 years? There is another building nearby that is exactly the same as the building that collapsed, but their HOA kept up with proper maintenance. That other building seems like it’s in great shape for a 40 year old building.

It will be interesting to see what happened here. Was the HOA so negligent over such a long period of time that it was just too hard to catch up (100k assessment is hard for most people)?

Not in the US. In germany, every HOA has something called "Instandhaltungsrücklage", basically a fund earmarked for repairs and maintenance that gets filled by monthly payments separate from the the rest of the fees. The exact payment depends on the age of the building and gets adjusted over time. I pay 1EUR/month/sqm into such a fund. Over 40 years, that would cover at least half of the sum you mentioned. In this case, costs nearly doubled because required maintenance work was pushed off, so that would have worked out just fine.

We call that a reserve fund here in Canada and there are mandatory reserve fund reviews to ensure they are properly funded.

You sort of need a condo savings account that can be invested where the premiums you pay get invested. You need some laws or state regulations to make sure some minimums are maintained. The gains would then offset a potentially lower selling price since the HOA would have enough money to cover repairs.

But at the same time for a single family home, it is not unusual to invest 100k in a remodel if the location supports it on a 40 year old house. A condo should operate similarly although the scope of changes you can make is different obviously.

A friend of mine had this happen at his condo building, I think the assessment was $150k. The HOA offered financing via an "association loan"