Yes, a Michigan condo association can lien your unit for unpaid assessments, interest, late and collection charges, advances it made for taxes or other liens, attorney fees, and fines authorized by the condo documents, and that lien generally outranks everything except tax liens and a first mortgage of record, under MCL § 559.208. There's a sharper wrinkle worth knowing: past-due assessments evidenced by a properly recorded Notice of Lien actually jump ahead of a first mortgage recorded after that notice of lien was recorded. Timing and recording matter enormously here, on both sides.
But Michigan wraps that lien power in a real process. Foreclosure has to proceed the same way a real-estate mortgage is foreclosed, by advertisement or judicial action, and the statute sets your redemption period afterward at 6 months from the sale date, shortened to just 1 month if the unit is abandoned. Critically, a foreclosure proceeding can't even be commenced until the association records a Notice of Lien in the county register of deeds and serves it on you by first-class mail at your last known address at least 10 days before it starts foreclosing, under MCL § 559.208(3). That notice has to state the legal description, your name as co-owner of record, and the amount due.
If you're not in a condo, Michigan's statute goes quiet
None of this is available if you're in an ordinary subdivision HOA. The Nonprofit Corporation Act creates no lien and no foreclosure right at all, that's simply outside what a corporate-governance statute regulates. A subdivision HOA's power to lien and foreclose over unpaid dues, if it has any, comes entirely from the lien language written into its own recorded declaration, layered onto Michigan's general real-property and mortgage-foreclosure law. The specific protections here, the recorded Notice of Lien, the 10-day service window, the 6-month or 1-month redemption period, are a condo-only statutory guarantee. If you're in a subdivision HOA, go find the equivalent language in your own covenants, because the state won't hand it to you.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
MCL 559.208
Establishes the condo assessment lien, its priority against a first mortgage depending on recording order, the foreclosure procedure, the Notice of Lien prerequisite, and the redemption period.
MCL 559.206
Lists foreclosure of the assessment lien among the remedies available to a condo association when a co-owner defaults on payment.
MCL 559.211
Protects a buyer or grantee who requests a written statement of unpaid assessments, interest, late charges, fines, and fees at least 5 days before a sale from liability beyond what that statement discloses.
Step by step
How to respond to a Michigan condo lien or foreclosure notice
Steps to take the moment you receive a Notice of Lien or foreclosure notice over unpaid condo assessments in Michigan.
- 01
Confirm you're actually in a condo
MCL § 559.208's specific lien and foreclosure protections apply to condominiums. A subdivision HOA's lien power, if any, is governed by its own declaration instead.
- 02
Check the Notice of Lien was properly recorded and served
Foreclosure can't begin until the association records a Notice of Lien with the legal description, your name, and the amount due, and serves it on you by mail at least 10 days before commencing, under MCL § 559.208(3).
- 03
Get an itemized ledger
Separate real assessments from late charges, fines, attorney fees, and tax advances. The lien can secure all of these under the condo documents, but you should still see exactly what's driving the balance.
- 04
Know your redemption window
You generally have 6 months from the sale date to redeem, but only 1 month if the unit is treated as abandoned. Confirm which clock applies to you and don't let it lapse.
- 05
Get a Michigan attorney before the deadline runs
Whether you're in a condo working the statutory process or a subdivision HOA relying on the declaration's own lien clause, foreclosure of your home is not the place to go it alone. Talk to counsel while the notice period is still open.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can a Michigan condo association really foreclose on my home over unpaid dues?
Yes. MCL § 559.208 gives the association a lien for unpaid assessments, interest, charges, advances, attorney fees, and fines, and lets it foreclose that lien by advertisement or judicial action the same way a mortgage is foreclosed.
Do I get any notice before a condo association forecloses?
Yes. Under MCL § 559.208(3), the association must record a Notice of Lien stating the legal description, your name, and the amount due, and serve it on you by mail at least 10 days before it can commence foreclosure.
How long do I have to redeem after a foreclosure sale?
Generally 6 months from the sale date. That window shrinks to just 1 month if the unit is considered abandoned, so confirm which redemption period actually applies to your situation.
Can a subdivision HOA that isn't a condo foreclose on my home the same way?
Only if its own recorded declaration creates a lien; Michigan's Nonprofit Corporation Act doesn't establish any lien or foreclosure right. The specific procedural protections in MCL § 559.208, the recorded Notice of Lien, the redemption period, are condo-specific, so a subdivision HOA's process depends entirely on what its covenants and general Michigan property law provide.