Under A.R.S. § 33-1807, unpaid assessments in an Arizona planned community become an automatic lien on the lot, and the association may charge late fees and interest if the declaration allows. The lien may be foreclosed like a mortgage, but only once the owner is delinquent 18 months or owes $10,000 or more.
A.R.S. § 33-1807 gives the association a lien for any assessment 'from the time the assessment becomes due,' along with charges for late payment, reasonable collection costs, interest, and attorney fees if authorized in the declaration. The statute sharply limits foreclosure: the lien 'may be foreclosed only if the owner has been and remains delinquent in the payment of any assessment or portion of the assessment for a period of eighteen months or in the amount of $10,000 or more, whichever occurs first.' These 2025 thresholds (SB 1494) replaced the prior one-year / $1,200 trigger. Payments are applied first to principal, then interest, then late charges. A lien is unenforceable if foreclosure is not started within six years after the full amount becomes due.
No specific statutory penalty on the owner beyond the debt. A delinquent owner faces late fees, interest, collection costs, and attorney fees as allowed by the declaration, and ultimately judicial foreclosure of the lien once the 18-month or $10,000 threshold is met.
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