Yes, an Ohio association can lien your home over unpaid dues, even if your mortgage is current. Ohio Rev. Code § 5311.18 gives a condo unit owners association a continuing lien for common expenses, interest, late fees, enforcement assessments, and collection costs that remain unpaid ten days after becoming due; § 5312.12 does the same for planned-community lots. But the lien isn't automatic the moment you're late — it becomes effective only when the association files a certificate of lien with the county recorder, authorized by the board, describing the unit or lot, the owner, and the amount owed. That filing date, not your original delinquency date, is what starts the clock: the lien is valid for five years unless it's released, satisfied, or discharged by a court.
Priority matters here. Both statutes make the association's lien senior to any lien or encumbrance that arises or is recorded after it — except real estate tax liens and a first mortgage that was already filed for record. In practice, that usually means your original purchase mortgage still outranks the association's lien, but a second mortgage, a home equity line, or anything else you record after the association's certificate of lien does not. Once filed, the lien forecloses 'in the same manner as a mortgage on real property' — through the courts, not a private sale.
During foreclosure, and how to fight a bad lien
If either the association or a first-mortgage holder forecloses, you (as the defendant) can be required to pay a reasonable rental for the unit or lot while the case is pending, and the association or lienholder can get a receiver appointed to collect it — money that's applied first to the common expenses accruing during the case. For condo owners, § 5311.18(B)(6) also makes clear that the association's own failure to provide services, goods, work, or material is not a defense, setoff, counterclaim, or crossclaim to a foreclosure action. If the pool's been closed for a year, that's a separate fight (see the fines guide's § 5311.19 civil-action angle) — it won't stop the lien foreclosure by itself.
What can stop it: an owner who believes the common expenses, or a related charge, were improperly assessed can sue in the court of common pleas of the county where the property sits to discharge the lien, under either § 5311.18(C) or § 5312.12(D). For planned-community lots, § 5312.12(D) goes further and lets the court award the owner attorney's fees if the charge is found to have been improperly assessed — the condo statute's parallel provision doesn't spell out the same fee award to a winning owner, which is a real difference worth knowing if you're a condo unit owner weighing whether to fight in court.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
Ohio Rev. Code § 5311.18
Establishes the condo association's continuing lien for unpaid common expenses, when it becomes effective, its five-year validity, its priority, and the owner's right to sue to discharge it.
Ohio Rev. Code § 5312.12
The planned-community (HOA) equivalent lien statute, including the court's power to discharge an improperly charged lien and award the owner attorney's fees.
Ohio Rev. Code § 5312.11
Defines what can be assessed against an individual lot in the first place — enforcement assessments, damage costs, and enforcement costs — which is what the lien is allowed to secure.
Step by step
How to respond to an Ohio HOA or condo lien notice
Steps to take when you receive notice that an association has filed, or intends to file, a certificate of lien over unpaid assessments in Ohio.
- 01
Find the certificate of lien's filing date
Check the county recorder for when the association's certificate of lien was actually filed. That date sets when the lien becomes effective and starts the five-year clock, not your original delinquency date.
- 02
Get an itemized ledger
Request a full written breakdown separating true common-expense assessments from enforcement assessments, late fees, interest, and attorney's or paralegal fees. The lien can secure all of these, but only if each was properly imposed.
- 03
Check the lien's priority against your mortgage
Confirm whether your first mortgage was filed of record before the association's certificate of lien. A first mortgage on file generally still outranks the association's lien; anything recorded after the lien does not.
- 04
Don't expect a service complaint to stop a condo foreclosure
If you own a condo, know that § 5311.18(B)(6) bars using the association's failure to provide services or maintenance as a defense to foreclosure of the lien itself. Pursue that complaint separately under § 5311.19.
- 05
Sue to discharge an improperly charged lien
File in the court of common pleas in the county where the property is located if you believe the amount was wrong. For planned-community lots, the court can award you attorney's fees under § 5312.12(D) if you're right.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can an Ohio HOA or condo association foreclose on my home over unpaid dues?
Yes. Ohio Rev. Code § 5311.18 (condo) and § 5312.12 (HOA/planned community) give the association a lien for unpaid common expenses ten days after they're due, filed as a certificate of lien with the county recorder, and foreclosable in the same manner as a mortgage.
Does the association's lien outrank my mortgage?
Generally not your first mortgage, if it was already filed for record before the association's certificate of lien. But a second mortgage, home equity line, or anything else recorded after the association's lien ranks behind it.
Can they foreclose if I'm withholding dues because the association isn't doing its job?
For condos, no — § 5311.18(B)(6) specifically says the association's failure to provide services, goods, work, or material is not a defense, setoff, counterclaim, or crossclaim to a foreclosure of the lien. That complaint has to run through a separate action under § 5311.19.
What if the lien amount is wrong?
You can sue in the court of common pleas to discharge the lien under § 5311.18(C) (condo) or § 5312.12(D) (HOA). For planned-community lots, § 5312.12(D) lets the court award you attorney's fees if the amount was improperly charged.