Tennessee HOA & Condo Assessments, Liens & Foreclosure (T.C.A. § 66-27-415)

For condominiums under the Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008, § 66-27-415(a) provides that "the association has a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or fines imposed against its unit owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due," foreclosable by judicial action. Under § 66-27-415(b), the lien is prior to a first mortgage to the extent of common-expense assessments that would have come due during the six months immediately preceding an enforcement action, capped at 1% of the mortgage's principal. The lien up to that priority is "perfected without recording," and is extinguished unless enforced within six years. Tennessee has no equivalent statute for standard subdivision HOAs: those liens and any power of sale arise only from the recorded declaration, enforced as a nonprofit corporation.

No flat statutory penalty. A delinquent owner owes the unpaid assessments, fines, interest, and costs. A condominium lien under § 66-27-415 can be judicially foreclosed and carries a six-month super-priority over a first mortgage; a subdivision HOA's lien and any foreclosure power depend entirely on its recorded declaration.