| Alabama | Yes, conditionally | See guide | An Alabama HOA gets a lien on your lot for unpaid assessments (and unpaid fines) under Ala. Code § 35-20-12, but only through a defined priority scheme that's fully subordinate to any mortgage, a strict recording and notice process, and judicial, not self-help, enforcement. |
| Alaska | Yes, conditionally | See guide | An Alaska association's lien attaches automatically when an assessment or fine comes due — no recording, no warning — outranks a first mortgage for six months of regular assessments, and isn't blocked by the homestead exemption. Your protections are procedural: foreclosure requires a court action, the lien expires after three years if unenforced, and interest is capped at 18 percent. |
| Arizona | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | An Arizona association can lien and foreclose on your home for unpaid assessments, but fines and penalties can't trigger that foreclosure on their own, and the board can't file until you've crossed a specific delinquency threshold under §§ 33-1807 (HOA) and 33-1256 (condo). |
| Arkansas | Yes, conditionally | See guide | Arkansas's condo statute never grants a lien or power of sale — § 18-13-116 creates a payment preference at sale, and any lien or foreclosure power must come from the recorded documents and run through the courts. The real statutory trap is buyer liability: a purchaser is jointly and severally liable for the seller's unpaid assessments. |
| California | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | California can't foreclose over a few hundred dollars. Davis-Stirling requires the debt to reach $1,800 or be a year past due, plus a strict pre-lien notice and a board vote. |
| Colorado | Yes | See guide | A Colorado HOA can lien for assessments under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316, but § 38-33.3-316.3 requires a collections process first. Knowing that sequence is your leverage to stop a foreclosure. |
| Connecticut | Yes, conditionally | 60 days' notice | A Connecticut association can lien your home for unpaid assessments and fines and foreclose it like a mortgage, but only after real floors: a two-month debt minimum, 60 days' notice to your mortgage holder, and specific board authorization. Here's the process and its limits. |
| Delaware | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | A Delaware association can lien your home for unpaid assessments and fines, but DUCIOA won't let it foreclose until you're at least three months behind and the board has voted on your unit specifically, and it can never foreclose over fines alone without first winning a separate court judgment. |
| District of Columbia | Yes, conditionally | 31-day notice | DC's assessment lien is automatic, carries a six-month super-priority over even a first mortgage, and forecloses by power of sale without a lawsuit. Your counterweights are exact: a recorded 31-day notice with prescribed contents, the right to cure any time before the sale, a 3-year lapse rule, and a lien-extinguishing 10-day deadline on requested payoff statements (D.C. Code § 42-1903.13). |
| Florida | Yes, conditionally | 45 days' written notice of its intent to lien | Yes, a Florida HOA can foreclose over unpaid assessments, but only after a statutory notice sequence. Knowing the lien and pre-suit notice rules is your leverage to stop it. |
| Georgia | Not stated plainly — see guide | 30 days' notice | A Georgia association's lien for unpaid assessments outranks most other claims on your home, but it can only be foreclosed through a court judgment, never below $2,000, and only after 30 days' certified-mail notice. Knowing those floors is your leverage. |
| Hawaii | Not stated plainly — see guide | 60 days' written notice | A Hawaii association can foreclose an assessment lien nonjudicially even without power-of-sale language in its documents — but only after a notice of default with a 60-day cure window, and it must accept a reasonable payment plan of up to twelve months. Fine-only liens must go to court, and a recorded lien expires six years after recordation if never enforced. |
| Idaho | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | Idaho lets both condo associations and HOAs lien your property for unpaid assessments, but the two acts work differently: a condo lien expires automatically in one year unless extended, while an HOA lien has to be filed, verified, and served on you within five business days of recording. |
| Illinois | Yes, conditionally | See guide | An Illinois condo association can lien your unit for unpaid assessments (and unpaid fines) under 765 ILCS 605/9 and foreclose that lien like a mortgage. Knowing exactly what the lien can reach, and what a foreclosure sale does and doesn't wipe out, is your leverage. |
| Indiana | Yes, conditionally | See guide | An Indiana condo association's lien arises with the assessment and is foreclosed by suit under Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3, behind taxes and the first mortgage. HOA liens exist only if the covenants create them, and Indiana foreclosures run through the courts. |
| Iowa | Yes, conditionally | See guide | An Iowa condo association's lien for unpaid common expenses ranks behind property taxes and a first mortgage of record, and it can only be foreclosed by a lawsuit, 'in like manner as a mortgage' — Iowa Code § 499B.17. Buyers get real shields under §§ 499B.18 and 499B.19. Subdivision HOAs have no lien statute and must rely on their recorded covenants. |
| Kansas | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Kansas condo association can lien your unit for unpaid common expenses and foreclose it like a mortgage, through court, under K.S.A. § 58-3123. The newer HOA-side Bill of Rights Act doesn't hand lot-owner associations an equivalent lien statute, so that power, if it exists at all, has to come from your declaration. |
| Kentucky | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Kentucky HOA or condo association can lien your property for unpaid assessments and fines, and a condo lien can be foreclosed like a mortgage under KRS § 381.9193. The lien mechanics differ sharply between the two acts, and knowing the gaps is your leverage. |
| Louisiana | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | Louisiana calls it a "privilege," not a lien, but the effect is similar: La. R.S. § 9:1123.115 lets your condominium association secure unpaid assessments, and fines or late fees over $250, against your unit, with a strict recordation process, a five-year life span, and a priority scheme that doesn't jump ahead of an earlier-recorded mortgage. |
| Maine | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Maine association's lien for unpaid assessments and fines attaches the moment they're due under 33 M.R.S. § 1603-116, and it can be foreclosed like a mortgage. But it never outranks your first mortgage, it dies after six years if unused, and you can force a binding payoff statement in ten business days. |
| Maryland | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Maryland condo or HOA can lien your home for unpaid assessments under §§ 11-110 and 11B-117, but it can only enforce that lien through the courts under the Maryland Contract Lien Act, not a private sale. The interest, late-fee, and priority terms inside those sections are your leverage. |
| Massachusetts | Yes, conditionally | 30-day notice | A Massachusetts condo association can lien your unit for unpaid common expenses and fines under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183A, § 6, and that lien can prime your own mortgage for up to six months of charges. Here's the process the association has to follow, and where it can go wrong. |
| Michigan | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | A Michigan condo association can lien and foreclose over unpaid assessments under MCL § 559.208, but only after recording and mailing a Notice of Lien, and you get months to redeem. Subdivision HOAs get none of those statutory protections. |
| Minnesota | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Minnesota association's lien attaches automatically when the declaration is recorded, no separate filing required, and it can lead to foreclosure even if your mortgage is current. A six-month redemption period and a ten-business-day payoff-statement right are your real leverage. |
| Mississippi | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Mississippi condominium association gets a lien for unpaid assessments only once it records a notice with the chancery clerk under Miss. Code § 89-9-21, and that lien expires after one year unless enforced or extended. Enforcement itself runs through the same non-judicial power-of-sale used for mortgage foreclosures. |
| Missouri | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | Whether your association can lien and foreclose over unpaid dues depends entirely on which Missouri law covers you: condo owners get a real statutory lien; most subdivision HOA members get none at all from the state, only from their own declaration. |
| Montana | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | Montana's Unit Ownership Act gives a condo association an actual statutory lien and foreclosure process for unpaid common expenses. There is no comparable statute for a subdivision HOA's assessment lien, so what your HOA can lien or foreclose depends entirely on your recorded declaration and general Montana lien law. |
| Nebraska | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Nebraska condo association can lien and foreclose on unpaid assessments under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-874, and that lien isn't protected by the homestead exemption. Knowing the recording, priority, and time-limit rules is your leverage before it gets that far. |
| Nevada | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Nevada HOA can foreclose on an assessment lien, but only through the NRS 116.31162 notice-of-default sequence. Knowing the lien rules and the pay-to-cure window is your leverage to stop it. |
| New Hampshire | Not stated plainly — see guide | 30 days' written notice | RSA 356-B:46 lets a condo association record a real lien for unpaid common assessments and, for six months of ordinary dues, even leapfrog a first mortgage — but fines and special assessments don't get that same priority, and non-condo HOAs have no lien statute of their own at all. |
| New Jersey | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A New Jersey association can lien and foreclose over unpaid assessments, but only through the courts, and its priority over your mortgage is capped at a six-month slice of customary assessments under N.J.S.A. 46:8B-21 and 45:22A-44.1. |
| New Mexico | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A New Mexico association holds a lien for assessments and fines from their due date and can foreclose it like a mortgage — judicially, through the courts (NMSA § 47-16-6; § 47-7C-16 for condos). Your counterweights: a ten-business-day payoff statement on demand, budget and audit transparency, and every court-process defense a lawsuit affords. |
| New York | Yes, conditionally | 90 days' written notice | A New York condo board can lien your unit for unpaid common charges under § 339-z and foreclose under § 339-aa, but only after filing a notice of lien and giving you 90 days' written warning in fourteen-point type. That window is your leverage. |
| North Carolina | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | A North Carolina HOA can file a lien and foreclose over unpaid assessments under § 47F-3-116, but the statute wraps that power in notice deadlines, a 90-day wait, a required board vote, and — if the debt is only fines — a requirement to go through court instead of a fast sale. |
| North Dakota | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A North Dakota condo association's assessment lien doesn't exist until a notice of assessment is recorded with the county recorder (N.D.C.C. § 47-04.1-11) — and enforcing it means going to court, because North Dakota gives no association a private power of sale. Subdivision HOAs have no lien statute at all; any lien claim must come from the covenants themselves. |
| Ohio | Yes, conditionally | See guide | An Ohio association can file a lien for unpaid common expenses ten days after they're due, under § 5311.18 (condo) or § 5312.12 (HOA), and foreclose it like a mortgage. Knowing the filing, priority, and discharge rules is your leverage before that happens. |
| Oklahoma | Yes, conditionally | See guide | An Oklahoma association can lien and foreclose over unpaid assessments, but only through a lawsuit, and only if you got a written warning about that risk when you joined. Homestead exemption and a buyer's payoff-statement right add real limits on top. |
| Oregon | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | Recording the declaration itself perfects an Oregon association's lien for unpaid assessments — but a separate notice of claim of lien must be recorded before any foreclosure suit can proceed, the lien is good for six years, and a condo board with stale state paperwork can't foreclose at all. Here's how §§ 94.709 and 100.450 work. |
| Pennsylvania | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Pennsylvania association's lien under 68 Pa.C.S. § 3315 (condo) or § 5315 (planned community) covers unpaid assessments and unpaid fines alike, and can be foreclosed like a mortgage. Knowing the priority rules, the four-year clock, and how your payments get applied is your leverage. |
| Rhode Island | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Rhode Island condo association can lien and sell your unit over unpaid assessments without going to court first, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.21. The statute's 30-day redemption right belongs to your mortgage lender, not you, which makes the notice period your real window to act. |
| South Carolina | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | South Carolina's Homeowners Association Act has no lien or foreclosure section at all, so a subdivision HOA's power over your home comes entirely from your declaration. Condo owners get a real, if judicial-only, lien and foreclosure process under the Horizontal Property Act. |
| South Dakota | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | South Dakota's condominium chapter creates no assessment lien at all. To reach your home over unpaid dues, an association generally needs either a lien its own recorded covenants create or a court judgment, and either path leaves you defenses a statutory-lien state wouldn't. |
| Tennessee | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Tennessee condo association's lien arises automatically when an assessment comes due, can be foreclosed without a courtroom if the declaration allows, and dies if not enforced within six years. Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415 is the whole battlefield. |
| Texas | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | Texas ended silent HOA foreclosures. An association must go through court (or expedited judicial process) to foreclose its lien, and owners get a 180-day right to redeem. |
| Utah | Yes, conditionally | 30 days' notice | A Utah association can foreclose an assessment lien without going to court, unless you stop it. One certified-mail demand under Utah Code § 57-8a-303 forces the case into judicial foreclosure, and an unregistered HOA has no enforceable lien at all. |
| Vermont | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | A Vermont association's lien covers unpaid assessments and unpaid fines alike, but it can't foreclose until you're three months behind and it's tried a payment plan, and it can't foreclose over fines alone without already holding a judgment. Knowing those walls is your leverage. |
| Virginia | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A Virginia HOA can lien and foreclose for unpaid assessments under Va. Code § 55.1-1833, but only through a defined process with a notice of sale. Knowing the lien rules is your leverage to stop it. |
| Washington | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | A Washington association can lien and eventually foreclose over unpaid assessments, but RCW 64.90.485 makes it walk through a statutory gauntlet first: notices, a minimum debt, a mediation referral, and a board vote. |
| West Virginia | Yes, conditionally | See guide | A West Virginia association gets an automatic lien on your unit for unpaid assessments and fines under W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116, but only through a defined priority scheme, a strict notice-and-recording process, and a three-year enforcement window. Knowing those limits is your leverage. |
| Wisconsin | Not stated plainly — see guide | See guide | A Wisconsin condo association can lien and foreclose your unit for unpaid assessments — including fines — but Wis. Stat. § 703.165 makes it follow a strict clock: file the lien within 2 years, give 10 days' registered-mail notice, and sue within 3 years of recording. Subdivision HOAs have no lien statute at all and must rely on their recorded covenants and the courts. |
| Wyoming | Yes, conditionally | See guide | Wyoming's condominium act creates no assessment lien. Your duty to pay runs with the land under Wyo. Stat. § 34-20-104(c), but to reach your home the association needs a lien its own recorded declaration creates or a court judgment, and the same statute confines tax liens to the delinquent unit so a neighbor's default can't touch your title. |