Lien & Foreclosure Limits

An Alabama homeowners' association governed by the Alabama Homeowners' Association Act cannot foreclose on its own. Ala. Code § 35-20-12 requires it to give the lot owner 30 days'…

Alaska associations get a powerful automatic lien and a narrow window in which to use it. Under AS 34.08.470 the lien attaches the moment an assessment or fine falls due, needs no…

Arizona bars an association from foreclosing an assessment lien until the owner passes a dollar figure or a time period, and the trigger is not the same in every community. In a…

Arkansas has no homeowners association act and no assessment lien statute of any kind. A full-text search of the Arkansas Code returns no section creating a lien for community…

A California homeowners association cannot foreclose on a member’s home over unpaid dues until the delinquent assessments alone reach $1,800, or until the assessments secured by the…

A Colorado association's assessment lien attaches automatically the moment the declaration is recorded, but foreclosing it has become the hardest remedy in the association's toolkit…

A Connecticut association cannot file a foreclosure action on its assessment lien until the owner is at least two months of common expense assessments behind, the association has…

A Delaware community association cannot start a foreclosure on a whim. Under 25 Del. C. Section 81-316(m)(1) no foreclosure action may be commenced unless the owner owes at least 3…

A District of Columbia condominium association may foreclose on a unit without going to court, but D.C. Code § 42-1903.13(c) hedges that power with several hard limits. No sale may be…

A Florida association can foreclose an assessment lien in the same manner a mortgage is foreclosed, but only after two separate 45-day notices, and fines are largely off limits: a…

A Georgia property owners' association whose neighborhood has been submitted to Article 6 of Chapter 3 of Title 44 may record a lien for unpaid assessments and foreclose it in court…

Hawaii condominiums run on HRS chapter 514B, not on the planned community law in chapter 421J, and section 514B-146 gives the association a broad lien with narrow but real limits. An…

Idaho runs two separate assessment-lien regimes and only one of them carries a power of sale. In a condominium governed by the Condominium Property Act, Idaho Code section 55-1518…

Unpaid assessments on an Illinois condominium unit become a statutory lien under 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1), and once the board of managers records notice of that lien it may foreclose it in…

Indiana runs two different association liens. A condominium association's unpaid assessments become a lien on the unit at the time of assessment under Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(a), with…

Iowa gives an association a statutory assessment lien only where the community is a condominium under the Horizontal Property Act or a multiple housing cooperative under chapter 499A…

Kansas gives an association a judicial foreclosure remedy, but a narrow one. Under K.S.A. 58-3710 for townhouses and K.S.A. 58-3123 for condominiums, unpaid common expenses become a…

Kentucky splits association liens three ways. A planned community governed by KRS 381.785 to 381.801 gets a continuing lien under KRS 381.799 once any assessment sits unpaid for 30…

Before a Louisiana association can put a privilege on a lot, La. R.S. 9:1146(A) requires a written demand delivered by one of five listed methods, and R.S. 9:1146(B)(1) gives the owner…

Maine gives a condominium association an automatic lien on a unit from the moment an assessment or fine falls due, and 33 M.R.S. § 1603-116(a) lets that lien be foreclosed in like…

A Maryland homeowners association has no lien of its own. Real Property § 11B-117(b) sends it out to the Maryland Contract Lien Act at Real Property Title 14, Subtitle 2, and…

Massachusetts is not a UCIOA state, and its condominium lien rules sit in a home-grown statute, G.L. c. 183A, § 6. The lien attaches automatically when an assessment falls due and is…

A Michigan condominium association can foreclose its assessment lien by advertisement, meaning it never has to file a lawsuit, but MCL 559.208(3) bars it from starting until it records…

A Minnesota common interest community association can foreclose on your home without ever going to court. Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-116(h)(1) gives the association a power of sale to…

Mississippi has exactly one statutory assessment lien, and it belongs to condominiums. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-21 lets a condominium management body turn unpaid assessments into a lien…

Missouri regulates association lien foreclosure only for condominiums. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.3-116 gives a condominium association a lien for unpaid assessments and for fines, lets it…

Only Montana condominiums get a statutory assessment lien, and only the Unit Ownership Act says how it is foreclosed. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-23-608(1) requires the proceedings to conform…

A Nevada association gets a lien the moment an assessment, fine or construction penalty falls due, and NRS 116.3116(3) puts part of that lien ahead of the first mortgage: nine months…

New Hampshire runs two condominium lien regimes at once, split by the date September 10, 1977, and only one of them lets an association foreclose like a mortgage. Under RSA 356-B:46…

A New Jersey condominium or homeowners association can record a lien on a unit for unpaid assessments and foreclose it by suit in the same manner as a mortgage foreclosure. The lien…

New York creates an assessment lien by statute only for condominiums. Real Property Law § 339-z gives the board of managers a lien on each unit for unpaid common charges that outranks…

North Carolina lets a homeowners association foreclose on a house without ever filing a lawsuit. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-116, an assessment unpaid for 30 days can be turned into…

North Dakota has no homeowners association act and no statute that lets an association foreclose on a home for unpaid dues. Title 47 contains exactly one common-interest chapter…

Ohio runs condominiums under a separate lien statute from the one that governs planned communities, and the condominium version is the weaker of the two on paper. R.C. 5311.18(A)(1)…

Oklahoma gives a condominium association a real assessment lien and a real foreclosure remedy, then subordinates the lien to four earlier claims. Under 60 O.S. Section 524(a) unpaid…

An Oregon condominium association gets an automatic lien on a unit the moment it levies an assessment, but ORS 100.450 hedges collection with limits an owner can use. It must record a…

A Pennsylvania planned community association gets a lien on a lot the moment an assessment or fine falls due, and 68 Pa.C.S. § 5315(a) lets it foreclose that lien in a like manner as a…

Rhode Island gives a condominium association a statutory power of sale. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.21 the executive board may sell a defaulting unit at public auction without…

South Carolina gives condominium associations a statutory assessment lien but denies it any priority over a mortgage. S.C. Code Section 27-31-210(a) makes unpaid common-expense…

South Dakota has never enacted an HOA assessment lien. No statute creates one, gives it priority, sets a maximum, or supplies a foreclosure procedure. An association's lien exists only…

A Tennessee condominium association has an automatic lien on a unit from the moment an assessment or a fine falls due, and T.C.A. § 66-27-415(a)(1) lets it foreclose that lien by…

A Texas property owners' association cannot sell your home at a trustee's sale the way a mortgage lender can. Tex. Prop. Code Section 209.0092 requires the association to obtain a…

A Utah association can sell your home without a lawsuit, but Utah Code 57-8a-303 puts four separate locks on that power. It must deliver notice at least 30 calendar days before…

Vermont puts three hard preconditions in front of an association foreclosure. Under 27A V.S.A. § 3-116(m) an association may not commence a foreclosure action unless the owner owes at…

Washington associations do hold a super-lien. Under RCW 64.90.485(3)(a)(i) of the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, an association's lien jumps ahead of a first…

A West Virginia association's assessment lien does not last indefinitely. W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(d) extinguishes it unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within three…

Only Wisconsin condominium associations hold a statutory collection lien. Wis. Stat. § 703.165(3) gives the association a lien for unpaid assessments if it files a statement of…

Wyoming has no homeowners association act, no common interest ownership act and no statutory assessment lien. The only association statute touching real property is the four-section…