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Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-21: Liability of owner for assessment upon condominium; lien on assessed condominium; recording, priority, enforcement, etc., of lien · HOA Stories

Mississippi law · Condominiums

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-21

Liability of owner for assessment upon condominium; lien on assessed condominium; recording, priority, enforcement, etc., of lien

Covered in 4 owner guides

What this section does for you

Lets a declaration attach "penalties" to an unpaid assessment alongside interest, costs, and attorneys' fees, all of which can be swept into a single recorded lien against the unit.
Owner guide: Fines & violations in Mississippi
Creates the assessment lien once a notice is recorded at the chancery clerk, sets its priority, expires it after one year (one further one-year extension allowed), and lets it be enforced by a power-of-sale foreclosure or a suit for a money judgment.
Owner guide: Foreclosure & liens in Mississippi
Requires notices of assessment, liens, and their satisfaction and release to be recorded in the county's condominium lien book, public records anyone can request directly from the chancery clerk.
Owner guide: Records & transparency in Mississippi
Recorded notices of assessment, penalties, and liens are public in the county's condominium lien book, a source you can check independent of the board for a pattern of uneven enforcement.
Owner guide: Selective enforcement in Mississippi

A reasonable assessment upon any condominium made in accordance with a recorded declaration of restrictions permitted by Section 89-9-17 shall be a debt of the owner thereof at the time the assessment is made. The amount of any such assessment plus any other charges thereon, such as interest, costs, attorneys' fees, and penalties, as such may be provided for in the declaration of restrictions, shall be and become a lien upon the condominium assessed when the management body causes to be recorded in the office of the chancery clerk of the county in which such condominium is located a notice of assessment, which shall state the amount of such assessment and such other charges thereon as may be authorized by the declaration of restrictions, a description of the condominium against which the same has been assessed, and the name of the record owner thereof. Such notice shall be signed and verified by an authorized representative of the management body or as otherwise provided in the declaration of restrictions. Such lien shall be recorded in a condominium lien book alphabetically by name of the condominium unit owner, and such books need not be obtained until a condominium plat shall have been first recorded in said county. Upon payment of said assessment and charges in connection with which such notice has been so recorded, or other satisfaction thereof, the management body shall cause to be recorded a further notice stating the satisfaction and the release of the lien thereof. Such lien shall be prior to all other liens recorded subsequent to the recordation of said notice of assessment except that the declaration of restrictions may provide for the subordination thereof to any other liens and encumbrances. Unless sooner satisfied and released, or the enforcement thereof initiated as hereafter provided, such lien shall expire and be of no further force or effect one year from the date of recordation of said notice of assessment; provided, however, that said one-year period may be extended by the management body for a time not to exceed one (1) additional year by recording a written extension thereof. Such lien against any unit may be enforced by sale of same by the management body, its attorney or other person authorized to make the sale, after failure of the owner to pay such an assessment in accordance with its terms, such sale to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Section 89-1-55, applicable to the exercise of powers of sale in mortgages and deeds of trust, or in any other manner permitted by law. Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of restrictions, the management body shall have power to bid in the condominium at foreclosure sale and to hold, lease, mortgage and convey the same. Suit to recover a money judgment for unpaid assessments may be maintained without waiving the lien securing the same. Codes, 1942, § 896-11; Laws, 1964, ch. 270, § 11.