Louisiana HOA Assessments & Privilege: Lien and Ordinary-Process Foreclosure Under La. R.S. 9:1145-1146

Louisiana's Homeowners Association Act (La. R.S. 9:1141.1 et seq.) lets an association use the Chapter's privilege provisions for delinquent owners. Under R.S. 9:1145, "a privilege in favor of the association shall arise on a lot or unit for any assessment attributable to that lot or unit or any fines imposed against the owner." The owner stays personally liable for past-due sums. To preserve the privilege, the association serves a written demand, gives the owner 30 days to pay, then records a sworn detailed statement in the parish mortgage records (R.S. 9:1146). Because that recorded privilege is not an authentic act importing a confession of judgment, the association generally cannot use executory process; it must foreclose by ordinary process, filing suit and obtaining a judgment before a sheriff's sale.

An owner who fails to pay assessments faces a recorded privilege for the unpaid dues, fines, interest, and costs, personal liability for the debt, and ultimately an ordinary-process foreclosure suit and sheriff's sale of the lot under La. R.S. 9:1145-1146.