Ohio HOA Assessments, Liens & Foreclosure (Planned Community Law, R.C. Ch. 5312)

Under R.C. 5312.11 an association may assess lots for enforcement assessments, utility service, damage caused by an owner's willful or negligent act, and the costs of enforcing the declaration, including attorney's fees. R.C. 5312.12 gives the association a lien for any unpaid assessment plus "related interest, administrative late fees, enforcement assessments, collection costs, attorney's fees, and paralegal fees" that remain unpaid ten days after becoming due. The lien is effective when a certificate of lien is recorded with the county recorder and is "prior to any lien or encumbrance subsequently arising," except real-estate taxes, political-subdivision assessments, and earlier-recorded first mortgages. It "may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage on real property."

A delinquent owner faces interest, late fees, collection costs, attorney's and paralegal fees, a recorded certificate of lien, and foreclosure of the lien like a mortgage, which can force a sheriff's sale of the home (R.C. 5312.12).