Yes, a Washington HOA or condo association can put a lien on your home over unpaid assessments, and that lien can be foreclosed, under RCW 64.90.485 for communities governed by the current act or RCW 64.34.364 for condos still under the legacy Condominium Act (created between July 1, 1990 and June 30, 2018). The lien attaches the moment an assessment becomes due and generally jumps ahead of everything except taxes, liens recorded before your declaration, and, for a limited 'super-lien' amount, your own mortgage. But Washington doesn't let the association skip straight to foreclosure. Before it can even file, it has to walk through a sequence the statute spells out step by step.
That sequence starts with a first notice of delinquency mailed within 30 days of the missed payment, one that must literally warn you in capital letters that 'THIS NOTICE IS ONE STEP IN A PROCESS THAT COULD RESULT IN YOUR LOSING YOUR HOME,' and point you to housing counselors and legal aid. For 15 days after that notice, the association can't take further collection action or charge you anything beyond the cost of mailing it, a $10 administrative fee, and a single late fee capped at $50 or 5 percent of what you owe, whichever is less. A second notice can't go out until at least 90 days past due and at least 60 days after the first. And the association can't file to foreclose at all unless you owe the greater of three months of assessments or $2,000 (not counting fines, late fees, interest, or attorney costs), at least 90 days have passed since that threshold was hit, any required referral to Washington's foreclosure mediation program has run its course, and the board has specifically voted to approve foreclosure against your unit.
The board can't buy your home at its own sale
Washington adds a protection not every state bothers with: under RCW 64.90.485, no member of the association's board, and none of their immediate family or business affiliates, may bid on or purchase a unit at the association's own foreclosure sale, directly or indirectly. Foreclosure itself can run judicially, with an 8-month redemption period if the association waives any deficiency judgment, or nonjudicially as a trustee's sale if your declaration grants the power of sale, and every part of it, the method, the advertising, the timing, has to be 'commercially reasonable.' One more difference worth knowing: RCW 64.90.485 gives an association six years to enforce its lien before it's extinguished, while the legacy condo statute, RCW 64.34.364, gives only three. Check which act and which clock applies to your community before you assume an old debt is dead.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
RCW 64.90.485
The current statutory lien for unpaid assessments: priority rules, the pre-foreclosure notice and mediation-referral sequence, the $2,000/three-month floor before filing, and the ban on board members bidding at the sale.
RCW 64.34.364
The legacy Condominium Act's parallel lien and foreclosure process for condos created between 1990 and mid-2018, with its own three-year limit to enforce the lien.
RCW 64.90.495
Requires the association to keep, and give you a free copy of, the preforeclosure notice information it's required to send.
Step by step
How to respond to a Washington HOA lien or foreclosure notice
Steps to take once a Washington association sends a notice of delinquency or moves toward foreclosing its assessment lien.
- 01
Confirm which act and clock apply
Check whether RCW 64.90.485 (current) or RCW 64.34.364 (legacy condo, created 1990-2018) governs, and note the six-year vs. three-year deadline to enforce the lien.
- 02
Read the notice type and do the math
Determine whether it's a first or second notice of delinquency, and confirm the association actually meets the floor to foreclose: three months of assessments or $2,000, not counting fines, late fees, interest, or attorney costs.
- 03
Use the 15-day fee freeze
For 15 days after the first notice, the association can only charge you the mailing cost, a $10 administrative fee, and a late fee capped at $50 or 5 percent. Push back on anything charged beyond that in the window.
- 04
Ask about the mediation referral
If you qualify, the association must complete a referral to Washington's foreclosure mediation program before it can file. Ask in writing whether that referral has happened.
- 05
Get a housing counselor or licensed WA attorney before the deadline runs
The statute itself tells you to. Foreclosure of your home is not the place to negotiate alone once the second notice and 90-day clock are running.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can a Washington HOA foreclose on my home over unpaid dues?
Yes. RCW 64.90.485 (or RCW 64.34.364 for legacy condos) gives the association a statutory lien for unpaid assessments and lets it foreclose judicially or nonjudicially, but only after the notice, threshold, and mediation-referral sequence the statute requires.
Is there a minimum amount owed before they can foreclose?
Yes. RCW 64.90.485 bars an association from filing to foreclose unless you owe the greater of three months of assessments or $2,000, not counting fines, late charges, interest, or collection costs.
Can a board member buy my home at the foreclosure sale?
No. RCW 64.90.485 bars every board member, their immediate family, and their business affiliates from bidding on or purchasing a unit at the association's own foreclosure sale.
What if my mortgage is current?
Doesn't matter to the lien. The assessment lien is separate from your mortgage, though a limited super-lien amount of unpaid assessments can jump ahead of even a first mortgage under RCW 64.90.485's priority rules. That's exactly why the notice sequence matters: it's your window to cure before the debt grows.