A special assessment is an amount of money that a condominium trust needs in order to pay for a project or outstanding debt that was not part of the annual budget/assessment.   The trustees of the condominium levy the special assessment against all unit owners and require them to pay their fraction interest of the money being requested.   The payment of the special assessment is divided by each unit owner’s interest in the common area.  The amount may be requested immediately from each unit owner or may be broken into installments depending on how the trustees have decided to handle it.