Be honest with yourself about what this statute allows: yes, a Rhode Island condo association can sell your unit over unpaid assessments or fines, and it doesn't need a judge's order to do it. Section 34-36.1-3.16 gives the association a lien on your unit for any assessment or fine from the moment it becomes due, and recording the declaration itself perfects that lien; no separate filing is required. Section 34-36.1-3.21 then lets the association's executive board foreclose that lien through a private power-of-sale: public auction, after written notice by certified mail to you and your first mortgage holder at least 20 days before the association publishes notice, followed by publication once a week for two consecutive weeks in a designated local newspaper, with the sale itself set at least 15 days after that first publication. There's no independent judicial foreclosure step baked into this process the way there is in states that require a court judgment first.
The lien isn't unlimited, though, and the notice rules aren't optional. Section 34-36.1-3.16(e) extinguishes the lien if the association doesn't start enforcement proceedings within six years of the full amount becoming due. And separate from the sale itself, § 34-36.1-3.16(h) requires the association to furnish a written, recordable statement of the amount you owe within ten business days of a request, binding on the association and every unit owner once given. A lien that skipped the required notices, or a payoff statement the association refused to provide within that window, are both real defects worth raising immediately.
The 30-day redemption right isn't yours
Read § 34-36.1-3.21(c) carefully: after a foreclosure sale, there is a thirty-day right of redemption, but it runs "in favor of the holder of the first mortgage or deed of trust of record," exercised by that lender paying the association everything owed plus its fees and costs. The statute doesn't hand that same post-sale redemption right to you, the unit owner. That's the single most important fact in this guide: your real leverage is the notice period before the sale, not a right to undo it after. Once you get any notice referencing a lien, an overdue balance, or a scheduled sale, that's the moment to act, not thirty days later.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.21
Authorizes the association's private power-of-sale foreclosure: notice by mail, published notice, minimum timing between publication and sale, and a 30-day post-sale redemption right running to the first mortgage holder, not the unit owner.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16
Establishes the association's lien for unpaid assessments and fines, its priority over most other liens, a six-year enforcement deadline, and a 10-business-day deadline to furnish a written payoff statement.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36-20
The older Condominium Ownership Act's parallel lien and sale-or-foreclosure power for pre-1982 condos, including a $10-fee payoff-statement right and a possible receiver of rents during foreclosure.
Step by step
How to respond to a Rhode Island condo lien or foreclosure notice
Steps to take the moment you receive notice of a lien, a delinquency, or a scheduled foreclosure sale over unpaid condo assessments in Rhode Island.
- 01
Read every date on the notice
Identify whether it's the initial certified-mail notice, a published newspaper notice, or the sale date itself. Under § 34-36.1-3.21, the sale can't happen less than 15 days after the first newspaper publication, which itself can't come less than 20 days after the mailed notice.
- 02
Request the itemized payoff statement immediately
Submit a written request for the recordable statement of amounts owed under § 34-36.1-3.16(h). The association must respond within ten business days, separating assessments from interest, attorney's fees, fines, and other charges.
- 03
Check whether the lien has gone stale
Confirm the association actually started enforcement within six years of the amount becoming due. Section 34-36.1-3.16(e) extinguishes a lien the association never acted on within that window.
- 04
Don't count on a personal right to redeem after the sale
The 30-day redemption right in § 34-36.1-3.21(c) belongs to your first mortgage holder, not you. Treat the period before the scheduled sale date as your real deadline to pay, negotiate, or challenge the process.
- 05
Get a Rhode Island attorney before the publication runs
Because this is a private sale with no court hearing built in, a licensed Rhode Island attorney is your fastest path to pausing the timeline, challenging a defective notice, or negotiating a payment plan before the auction date.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can a Rhode Island condo association really sell my unit without a court order?
Yes. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.21 authorizes the association to foreclose its assessment lien through a private power-of-sale, public auction after mailed and published notice, without first obtaining a court judgment.
Do I get to redeem my unit after a foreclosure sale?
The statute's own 30-day redemption right under § 34-36.1-3.21(c) runs to the holder of your first mortgage or deed of trust, not to you as the unit owner. That's why acting before the sale, not after, is the real safety margin the law gives you.
Is there a deadline on how long the association can wait to enforce a lien?
Yes. Section 34-36.1-3.16(e) extinguishes the lien for unpaid assessments if the association doesn't start enforcement proceedings within six years after the full amount becomes due.
How fast must the association tell me what I actually owe?
Within ten business days of a written request. Section 34-36.1-3.16(h) requires a recordable statement of the amount owed, binding on the association, the executive board, and every unit owner once furnished.
What if my condominium was declared before 1982?
You're likely under the older Condominium Ownership Act. Section 34-36-20 gives a parallel lien and a sale-or-foreclosure power, with the owner responsible for the costs of the proceeding and, if the declaration or bylaws allow it, a receiver appointed to collect rent from the unit during the process.