Search the South Carolina Homeowners Association Act for an assessment-lien or foreclosure section, and you will not find one. Sections 27-30-110 through 27-30-170 cover recording, budget notice, records access, magistrate-court jurisdiction, and the Department of Consumer Affairs complaint process, but nothing in that article gives a subdivision association a statutory lien on your home or a foreclosure process to enforce one. Whatever lien and foreclosure power your HOA claims to have, if any, comes from your recorded declaration and covenants and from general South Carolina lien and civil procedure law, not from a dedicated statute the way it does in a number of other states.
Condo owners are in a different position. The Horizontal Property Act gives the council of co-owners an actual assessment lien, spelled out in S.C. Code Ann. § 27-31-210. Unpaid assessments constitute a lien on the apartment that outranks every other claim except (i) tax liens and (ii) mortgages and other liens duly recorded ahead of it. That lien can be foreclosed, but only by suit, in the same manner as foreclosing a mortgage of real property. South Carolina's condo statute does not authorize a private, non-judicial power-of-sale foreclosure the way a trustee's sale would work under a deed of trust; it requires a lawsuit.
What happens once a condo foreclosure suit starts
Section 27-31-210(a) spells out real mechanics once suit is filed: you're required to pay a reasonable rental for the apartment after the foreclosure action commences, and the association can have a receiver appointed to collect that rent. The administrator or board can also bid at the foreclosure sale itself and then hold, lease, mortgage, or convey the unit. Separately, the association can sue you for a straight money judgment for unpaid common expenses without ever filing a foreclosure action at all. On a sale or transfer, § 27-31-200 puts unpaid assessments ahead of most other charges out of the sale proceeds, behind only tax liens and recorded mortgages, and § 27-31-220 makes a purchaser jointly and severally liable with the seller for assessments unpaid up to the conveyance, though a purchaser who requests a written statement of the amount due under that same section caps their liability to what the statement discloses.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-31-210
Establishes the condo association's lien for unpaid common expenses, its priority ahead of most other claims, and foreclosure only by suit, like a mortgage, with rent payable during the action.
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-31-200
On a sale or conveyance, unpaid assessments must be paid from the proceeds ahead of other charges, except tax liens and duly recorded mortgages.
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-31-220
Makes a unit purchaser jointly and severally liable with the seller for unpaid assessments up to the conveyance, capped by a written statement of amounts due if one was requested.
Step by step
How to respond to a South Carolina assessment lien or foreclosure notice
Steps to take when facing an HOA or condo lien or foreclosure over unpaid assessments in South Carolina.
- 01
Confirm whether you're in an HOA or a condo
This changes everything here. Only condo owners have a dedicated statutory lien and foreclosure process under § 27-31-210; subdivision HOA owners need to look at their own declaration instead.
- 02
HOA owners: pull your declaration's assessment and lien clause
Since the Homeowners Association Act is silent on liens and foreclosure, whatever process your association claims to follow has to trace back to your recorded covenants. Ask, in writing, exactly which clause it's relying on.
- 03
Condo owners: confirm it's a judicial foreclosure and check the priority
Verify the association is proceeding by suit, as § 27-31-210 requires, not some other process. Confirm the lien's claimed priority against any recorded mortgage and request an itemized accounting of what it secures.
- 04
Use the payoff-statement right if you're buying or selling
Under § 27-31-220, request a written statement of amounts due before closing. It caps your liability, or the seller's, to what the association actually discloses.
- 05
Get a South Carolina attorney before the court date
Because condo foreclosure here requires an actual lawsuit, you'll have a real case and a deadline to answer. Talk to a licensed South Carolina attorney while that window is still open.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can a South Carolina HOA foreclose on my home over unpaid dues?
The Homeowners Association Act itself doesn't create a lien or foreclosure process for subdivisions. Whatever power your HOA has comes from your declaration and general South Carolina law, so read your covenants directly rather than assuming a statutory floor protects you.
Can a condo association foreclose on my unit?
Yes. Section 27-31-210 gives the council of co-owners a lien for unpaid common expenses, prioritized ahead of most other claims, foreclosed only by a court suit, like foreclosing a mortgage, never through a private sale.
Do I have to pay rent while my condo is in foreclosure?
Yes. Section 27-31-210(a) requires the apartment owner to pay a reasonable rental once the foreclosure action begins, and the association can have a receiver appointed to collect it.
If I buy a condo, am I on the hook for the previous owner's unpaid assessments?
You can be, jointly and severally, up to the date of conveyance under § 27-31-220. But you can request a written statement of the amount owed before closing, and your liability is capped to what that statement discloses.