Be clear-eyed about this: yes, a Louisiana condominium association can secure a real claim against your unit over unpaid assessments. La. R.S. § 9:1123.115(A)(1) gives the association "a privilege on a condominium parcel for all unpaid or accelerated sums assessed by the association, any fines or late fees in excess of two hundred fifty dollars, and interest thereon," plus reasonable attorney fees incurred collecting the debt or enforcing the privilege. There's also an acceleration mechanic: if you fail to timely pay assessments for common elements for three months or more during any eight-month period, and the association gives you the notice the statute requires, it can accelerate a full twelve months of common-element assessments and file a privilege for that accelerated sum, rather than waiting for each month to come due separately.
That privilege isn't automatic or paperwork-free. To preserve it, § 9:1123.115(A)(2) requires a claim of privilege signed and verified by affidavit of an officer or agent of the association, filed for registry in the mortgage records of the parish where the condominium sits, describing the unit, naming the record owner, and stating the delinquent or accelerated amount, the date it became delinquent, and any fines or late fees over $250. Before that filing, § 9:1123.115(A)(3) requires the association to serve you, at least seven days in advance, with a sworn, detailed statement of its claim, including the date the assessment became delinquent, delivered by personal service or by registered or certified mail. Skip that notice, and the privilege is vulnerable.
No mortgage-jumping super-priority, but a real five-year clock
Here's where Louisiana differs from states that give the association's lien a several-month head start ahead of your own mortgage. Under § 9:1123.115(C), the privilege is superior to other liens and encumbrances on the unit, except for privileges, mortgages, or encumbrances recorded before the condominium declaration itself, privileges, mortgages, or encumbrances on the unit recorded before the privilege was recorded, immovable property taxes, and governmental assessments specifically described against the unit. In plain terms, the association doesn't get to leapfrog a mortgage that was already on record before its privilege was; it's an ordinary priority scheme, not a super-priority one.
The privilege also isn't permanent. Section 9:1123.115(B) preserves it for five years from recordation, and it perempts, meaning it expires outright, unless a notice of filing suit is recorded within that five-year window, naming the court, the case number, the filing date, the unit, and the owner. Separately, § 9:1123.116 gives the association a distinct privilege for the utility portion (water, sewerage, electrical, or natural gas) of an unpaid assessment, conditioned on the association acting in good faith about managing the property, and § 9:1121.105 protects the building as a whole: taxes and special assessments attach to each individual condominium parcel, and "there shall be no forfeiture or sale of a multi-unit building or the common elements as a whole for delinquent taxes or assessments on individual units." A separate, narrower category, mechanics' and materialmen's liens for repairs or improvements under § 9:1124.109, is apportioned by each owner's percentage obligation for common expenses rather than filed jointly against the whole building, and an owner can release their own unit by paying their proportionate share.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
La. R.S. § 9:1123.115
Establishes the association's privilege for unpaid or accelerated assessments and fines or late fees over $250, the notice-and-recordation process to preserve it, its five-year life span, and its priority against other liens.
La. R.S. § 9:1123.116
Creates a separate privilege for the utility-assessment portion (water, sewerage, electrical, natural gas) of an unpaid assessment, conditioned on the association acting in good faith about managing the property.
La. R.S. § 9:1121.105
Ties tax and special-assessment liability to each individual condominium parcel and bars any forfeiture or sale of the whole multi-unit building over one unit's delinquent taxes or assessments.
La. R.S. § 9:1124.109
Apportions mechanics' and materialmen's liens for repairs or improvements by each owner's percentage obligation for common expenses, rather than as a joint claim against the whole building, and lets an owner release their own unit by paying its proportionate share.
Step by step
How to respond to a Louisiana condo privilege (lien) notice
Steps to take when you receive a notice of privilege over unpaid assessments in a Louisiana condominium.
- 01
Confirm the seven-day pre-filing notice actually happened
Check that the association served you, at least seven days before recording the privilege, with a sworn detailed statement by personal service or registered or certified mail, as § 9:1123.115(A)(3) requires.
- 02
Pull the recorded claim of privilege
Request the recorded claim from the parish mortgage records. Section 9:1123.115(A)(2) requires it to correctly describe the unit, name the record owner, and state the amount and date of delinquency, plus any fines or late fees only if they exceed $250.
- 03
Check the acceleration math
If the association accelerated a full year of assessments, confirm you actually missed three or more months of common-element assessments within an eight-month period, and that you received the required notice before acceleration.
- 04
Map the actual priority
Compare what's recorded ahead of the privilege, anything recorded before the declaration, anything recorded on your unit before the privilege itself, property taxes, and specifically described governmental assessments, against what the association or a lender is claiming.
- 05
Get a Louisiana attorney before the five-year clock or a court filing
Because enforcement can proceed to court and a wrongful lien carries fee-shifting under § 9:1123.115(A)(4), it pays to have a licensed Louisiana attorney review a defective notice, a priority dispute, or an aging privilege before you're in front of a judge.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can a Louisiana condo association really put a claim on my unit over unpaid dues?
Yes. La. R.S. § 9:1123.115(A)(1) gives the association a privilege on your condominium parcel for unpaid or accelerated assessments, fines or late fees over $250, and interest, secured through a recorded claim of privilege.
Does the association's privilege jump ahead of my mortgage the way some states allow?
No. Under § 9:1123.115(C), the privilege loses to anything recorded before the condominium declaration, to any lien or mortgage on the unit recorded before the privilege itself, to property taxes, and to specifically described governmental assessments. Louisiana doesn't give the association a several-month head start ahead of an existing mortgage.
How long does the privilege last?
Five years from recordation. Section 9:1123.115(B) says the privilege perempts, expires outright, unless a notice of filing suit is recorded within that five-year window.
Can the whole building be sold if I fall behind on my property taxes?
No. La. R.S. § 9:1121.105 ties tax liability to each individual condominium parcel and specifically bars forfeiture or sale of the multi-unit building or the common elements as a whole for one owner's delinquent taxes or assessments.