HOA Liens & Foreclosures

When buying a house, condo, or townhome you will typically be required to pay monthly fees and assessments to an HOA. You’ll also be required to respect and adhere to the rules set forth by the HOA or risk being fined.

All HOAs have the ability to place a lien on a homeowner’s property to enforce the payment of money owed including late charges, fines, interest, and collection costs and dependent upon the laws of the state can eventually lead to foreclosure. As serious as this is, the homeowner does have defenses against this:

• MISAPPLICATION OF PAYMENTS.

  In many HOAs, the bylaws state that payments made by the homeowner must be applied to unpaid fees and not other debts, otherwise the foreclosure may be invalid.

• INCORRECTLY RECORDING THE LIEN.

  If the HOA does not record the liens with the local court system correctly, then the homeowner may have the ability to claim that the lien is not valid.