HOA and Condo Liens - What You Should Know
“I got a letter that says my HOA is going to foreclose on my house. They can’t do that, it’s already paid off!”
In the years I’ve represented community associations with their collection of unpaid assessments and fees, I’ve often come across the comment above from owners. Usually, they would follow it up with an even more common question: “can they really do that?”
The answer? Yes, they can - and they will.
While Florida law offers a number of protections for homeowners in the general sense, there’s at least one area that’s unfortunately zero-tolerance: HOA and condo fees, which are otherwise properly known as “general assessments” and or “special assessments.” If you live in an HOA neighborhood or condominium complex, you will regularly be charged with at least one of these - and often, both.
An assessment is a fee that a community association charges to the owners, collectively, for use in maintaining or improving the community. General assessments can be levied monthly, quarterly, or annually, and their purpose is to fund the association’s budget for things like landscaping, facilities (pools, clubhouses, etc), and other routine expenses. Special assessments are a little more unique - they can be levied at any time (provided the association follows specific rules to enact them), and are typically used to fund one-off projects like a roof replacement after a hurricane.
A homeowner’s responsibility to pay these assessments are practically absolute. Florida Statutes Chapters 720 (HOAs) and 718 (condos) make it clear that the owner has an obligation to pay all properly levied assessments on the residence, and Florida courts have held there are very few exceptions to that rule. So what happens if you fail, or even refuse, to pay those assessments? Depending on the wording of your community’s rules and bylaws, they could potentially:
Levy fines on your account, in addition to the late assessment;
Charge you interest, late fees, and attorney’s fees and costs for collecting the late assessment;
Prevent you from accessing certain shared facilities or exercising voting rights; and most importantly…
Place a lien on your home, which can later be foreclosed upon and sold at a public auction.
If that’s not scary enough, then here’s the worst part: liens for unpaid assessments are not static. Under Florida law, your balance can (and likely will) increase every month to account for new assessments, interest, late fees, and attorney’s fees and costs. For example, let’s say you received a Notice of Lien and Intent to Foreclose in April, which stated a balance of $2,000.00. If you took no further action, by June that balance could have increased another thousand or so - and it will continue to snowball until it’s either paid in full or resolved in court.
“But Nick,” you might be thinking, “they can’t foreclose my home/condo just because I owe them a few thousand dollars, can they?”
Unfortunately, yes they can; and it happens all the time.
So what do you do if you received a notice of intent to lien or foreclose from your association? Here are a few key first steps:
Read the notice carefully. Note the amount claimed, what it says the debt is for, and any stated deadlines.
Gather your records. Pull bank statements, canceled checks, online payment receipts, closing documents, and any prior correspondence with the association or management company involving your assessments.
Check for disputes or credits. Associations are people, too - it’s possible that you made payments that were mistakenly left off of the ledger. Always keep receipts!
Avoid partial or informal "quick fixes" without a plan. While there are always exceptions, partial payments usually do not stop the foreclosure process. If you’re going to make partial payments, make sure it’s part of a signed and agreed upon payment plan.
Keep communications in writing. If you speak by phone, follow up with an email summarizing what was discussed.
If you received a notice of late assessment, intent to lien, or intent to foreclose from your association, do not ignore it. Consult with a legal professional immediately to find out what your options are. At Pizanias Law, our office is always available to provide guidance and representation, so please feel free to contact us for more information.
~ Nicholaos Pizanias, Esq.
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Note: This article is intended to provide general information and should not be considered a replacement for legal advice. If you are facing a legal issue pertaining to the information presented above, we encourage you to seek guidance from competent legal counsel. If you would like to schedule a consultation with our office, please visit our website at: https://www.pizaniaslaw.com/