If you own a unit in a Missouri condominium, the state gives your association a genuine lien. Pre-1983 condos: § 448.080 makes any unpaid share of common expenses a lien on your unit once the manager or board records notice of it, and that lien outranks nearly every other claim except pre-existing taxes and certain earlier-recorded encumbrances; it forecloses "in like manner as a mortgage of real property." Post-1983 condos: § 448.3-116 gives an even more detailed lien, covering both unpaid assessments and unpaid fines, with a limited priority over a first mortgage for up to six months of common expense assessments, a three-year window before the lien is automatically extinguished if the association never enforces it, and a mandatory ten-business-day turnaround if you request a written statement of what you owe.
If you own a lot in a subdivision HOA instead, none of that comes from the state. Mo. Rev. Stat. Chapter 355, the Nonprofit Corporation Law your HOA is almost certainly formed under, is silent on assessment liens, on foreclosure, on notice before a sale — all of it. Whatever lien and foreclosure power your association has exists only because your recorded declaration created it as a matter of private contract, not because a legislature wrote a floor under you. That's the single most important fact for a Missouri HOA member facing a lien: you have to read your own declaration to find the process, because there is no statutory backstop waiting behind it.
The six-month superpriority and the payoff-statement deadline
For post-1983 condo owners, two mechanics inside § 448.3-116 are worth knowing cold. First, the lien is generally junior to a mortgage or deed of trust recorded before the assessment came due, except for a slice: up to six months of unpaid common-expense assessments (based on the association's adopted budget) keep priority over that mortgage, unless the association forecloses non-judicially, in which case it loses that limited priority. Second, the association must furnish a recordable statement of unpaid assessments within ten business days of a written request, and that statement then binds the association unless the recipient knows it's false. A missed deadline doesn't erase the debt, but a stale, wrong, or unfurnished statement is real leverage in a sale, refinance, or dispute.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.3-116
The Uniform Condominium Act's lien for assessments and fines, its priority rules including the six-month mortgage superpriority, the 3-year extinguishment, and the 10-business-day payoff-statement deadline.
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.080
The pre-1983 Condominium Property Act's lien for unpaid common expenses, its priority over later encumbrances, and foreclosure "in like manner as a mortgage."
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.090
Governs how a unit owner can remove their unit from a lien affecting multiple units by paying their proportional share, and protects owners from liens for work they didn't authorize.
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 355.316
Confirms that, absent a declaration provision, a subdivision HOA's board acts under only its general nonprofit-corporation powers, with no Chapter 355 lien or foreclosure mechanism behind it.
Step by step
How to respond to a Missouri assessment lien or foreclosure notice
Steps to take the moment you receive a lien or foreclosure notice over unpaid HOA or condo assessments in Missouri.
- 01
Confirm which regime covers your home
Subdivision HOA (Chapter 355, no statutory lien), pre-1983 condo (§ 448.080), or post-1983 condo (§ 448.3-116). The rest of your options depend entirely on this.
- 02
Condo owners: request the statutory payoff statement
Post-1983 condos: demand a written statement of unpaid assessments; the association has ten business days to respond under § 448.3-116. Pre-1983 condos: your bylaws must already provide a similar statement right under § 448.180.
- 03
Get an itemized ledger regardless
Separate real assessments from fines, late fees, interest, and attorney's costs. Foreclosure priority rules, especially the six-month mortgage superpriority in § 448.3-116, turn on what the lien actually secures.
- 04
HOA members: go straight to your declaration
Since Chapter 355 gives you no lien statute at all, the entire lien and foreclosure process, if one exists, is defined in your recorded declaration. Read its assessment and lien clauses before assuming any particular procedure applies.
- 05
Get a Missouri attorney before a sale date is set
Foreclosure of your home is not the place to self-help to the finish line. Consult a licensed Missouri attorney while you still have time to respond.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can a Missouri HOA foreclose on my house over unpaid dues?
It depends entirely on what your declaration says. Mo. Rev. Stat. Chapter 355, the Nonprofit Corporation Law most subdivision HOAs are formed under, contains no assessment-lien or foreclosure statute at all. If your association can lien and foreclose, that power exists only because your recorded declaration created it.
Can a Missouri condo association foreclose over unpaid assessments?
Yes, and this one is statutory. Pre-1983 condos: § 448.080 creates a lien for unpaid common expenses, foreclosable like a mortgage. Post-1983 condos: § 448.3-116 creates a lien covering both unpaid assessments and fines, with detailed priority rules.
What is the six-month superpriority in the condo lien statute?
Under § 448.3-116, a post-1983 condo association's lien is generally junior to an earlier-recorded mortgage, except that up to six months of unpaid common-expense assessments keep priority over that mortgage — unless the association forecloses non-judicially, which drops that limited priority.
How fast must my condo association answer a request for my payoff amount?
Ten business days. Section 448.3-116 requires a recordable statement of unpaid assessments within that window, and the statement then binds the association unless the recipient knows it's false.