Colorado HOA Foreclosure

Section 1 — Overview: How HOA foreclosure works in Colorado

Colorado runs its common-interest communities under one master statute, the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA), C.R.S. § 38-33.3-101 et seq., and a 2022 law, House Bill 22-1137, has reshaped how associations collect what owners owe and how they foreclose.¹ CCIOA hands an association a statutory lien on a unit for unpaid assessments and certain other charges under § 38-33.3-316. That lien attaches the moment an assessment goes unpaid, and recording the declaration perfects it.² The lien also carries a limited super-priority over a first mortgage under § 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I), and that priority covers the common-expense assessments — based on a periodic budget — that would have come due during the six months just before the association starts an enforcement action.³ HB 22-1137, which took effect August 10, 2022, added a stack of steps an association must clear before it forecloses: a written payment-plan offer running at least eighteen months, delinquency notices sent several ways, a recorded board vote authorizing each foreclosure, and a flat bar on foreclosing a lien made up only of fines or the costs of collecting them.⁴ Colorado enforces deeds of trust through a Public Trustee in each county under C.R.S. § 38-38-101 et seq., a system the state uses nowhere else — but an HOA assessment lien is not a deed of trust, so the association has to foreclose it judicially in District Court.⁵ That single distinction separates HOA practice from lender practice. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP grew out of a Colorado nonjudicial foreclosure, which makes it directly relevant to how the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act reaches foreclosure work here. Put it all together — the statutory lien, the six-month super-priority, the HB 22-1137 reforms, and the judicial-foreclosure requirement — and Colorado stands as one of the more demanding states for HOA collections.

Section 2 — The statutory framework

2A. The CCIOA assessment lien

CCIOA's lien provision, C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316, gives an incorporated association a statutory lien on a unit for any assessment it levies against that unit or any fine it imposes on the owner — and, unless the declaration says otherwise, for fees, charges, late charges, attorney fees, fines, and interest that the association may enforce as assessments. The lien attaches when an assessment comes due, and because recording the declaration serves as record notice, the association perfects the lien without filing a separate claim under § 38-33.3-316(4).⁶ The lien generally sits behind a first security interest recorded before the assessment went delinquent, and behind liens for property taxes and government charges. The exception is the super-priority under § 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I): the lien jumps ahead of the first mortgage up to an amount equal to the common-expense assessments — based on a periodic budget adopted under § 38-33.3-315(1) — that would have come due, without acceleration, during the six months right before the association moves to enforce or extinguish the lien. Past that six-month window, the lien drops back behind the first mortgage. The association also faces a clock: a lien for unpaid assessments dies unless the association starts enforcement proceedings within six years after the full amount comes due, under § 38-33.3-316(5).⁷ One more thing practitioners have to check first — CCIOA generally governs communities created on or after July 1, 1992. Pre-CCIOA communities answer only to a limited set of statutory provisions and otherwise to their own declarations, so confirm a community's creation date before you assume the full lien framework applies.⁸

2B. HB 22-1137 and foreclosure procedure

Lawmakers signed HB 22-1137 in June 2022 and it took effect August 10, 2022, amending § 38-33.3-209.5, § 38-33.3-316, and § 38-33.3-316.3. Before an association refers an account to a collection agency or an attorney, it has to adopt a written collections policy, contact the owner about the delinquency, and send a notice of delinquency by certified mail, return receipt requested, plus at least one more method of communication.⁹ The association also has to make a good-faith effort to offer a payment plan that lets the owner clear the deficiency in equal installments over at least eighteen months, with the owner free to set those installments at $25 or more under § 38-33.3-316.3.¹⁰ The statute now blocks foreclosure when the lien is made up solely of fines, or solely of the collection costs or attorney fees tied to fines, under § 38-33.3-316(1). To foreclose, two things must hold: the balance the lien secures has to equal or exceed six months of common-expense assessments, and the executive board has to authorize the action against that specific unit by a recorded vote — a duty it cannot delegate — under § 38-33.3-316(11).¹¹ Because an HOA lien is not a deed of trust, the foreclosure runs judicially, "in like manner as a mortgage on real estate," through District Court rather than through the Public Trustee who handles nonjudicial deed-of-trust sales under § 38-38-101 et seq. The fines-only bar applies to the fine category of debt; an association can still foreclose on a genuine assessment delinquency that clears the six-month threshold. A companion 2022 measure, HB 22-1139, capped fines for non-safety covenant violations at $500 and barred daily fines — reinforcing the point that piled-up fines alone cannot support a foreclosure.¹²

2C. Federal and state overlays

The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., applies to HOA collections, and unpaid HOA assessments count as "debts" under the Act.¹³ In Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, which came out of a Colorado nonjudicial foreclosure, the Supreme Court held that a business doing no more than nonjudicial foreclosure is not a "debt collector" under the FDCPA, except for the narrow purpose of 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6). Obduskey does not hand foreclosure firms a blanket exemption: pre-sale dunning communications still fall under the Act, and the ruling interprets the federal statute, not Colorado law. The Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, C.R.S. § 5-16-101 et seq., is the state-law counterpart, and it reaches collection agencies and debt collectors operating in Colorado.¹⁴ The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq., requires a court order before a nonjudicial foreclosure can move against a protected servicemember's property.¹⁵ And once a unit owner files for bankruptcy, the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 freezes collection and foreclosure activity.¹⁶

Section 3 — The procedural sequence

A. Lien establishment and priority

The CCIOA lien attaches when an assessment comes due, and recording the declaration perfects it under § 38-33.3-316(4). The lien secures unpaid assessments and — unless the declaration says otherwise — late charges, attorney fees, fines, and interest the association enforces as assessments under § 38-33.3-316(1). The super-priority window under § 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I) lifts the lien above the first mortgage to the extent of six months of common-expense assessments drawn from the periodic budget; beyond that window, the lien is junior. Communities created on or after July 1, 1992 live under this framework, while pre-CCIOA communities depend on a limited set of statutory provisions and their own declarations.

B. HB 22-1137 pre-foreclosure procedure

Before any referral to collections or counsel, the association has to adopt and follow a written collections policy under § 38-33.3-209.5(5), then contact the owner about the delinquency and log the method, date, and time under § 38-33.3-209.5(1.7). The notice of delinquency goes by certified mail, return receipt requested, and the association has to reach the owner by additional means as well; after HB 24-1233, effective August 7, 2024, that means two of telephone, text, or email, with regular mail as a fallback when contact information is missing. Notices have to be in English and in any other language the owner has asked for. The association has to offer a payment plan running at least eighteen months under § 38-33.3-316.3, and it cannot foreclose while the owner keeps up with that plan under § 38-33.3-316.3(3.5). A foreclosure still requires that the secured balance equal or exceed six months of common-expense assessments and that the board authorize the specific action by recorded vote under § 38-33.3-316(11). Attorney fees the association runs up before it meets the § 38-33.3-209.5(1.7) notice requirements are not recoverable under § 38-33.3-316(7); separately, HB 24-1337 capped recoverable attorney fees at the lesser of $5,000 or 50 percent of the assessments and money owed under § 38-33.3-123, subject to an inflation adjustment and a willful-noncompliance exception.¹⁷ The FDCPA validation notice and the Colorado FDCPA apply whenever a third-party collector or law firm steps in.

C. Foreclosure sale procedure

An HOA assessment lien gets foreclosed judicially. The association files suit in the District Court for the county where the property sits, records a lis pendens, and serves the owner and other interested parties; the court can order foreclosure by default, on summary judgment, or after trial. HB 24-1337, which applies to debts accrued on or after August 7, 2024, requires the association to win a personal money judgment against the owner before it forecloses a principal residence, with narrow exceptions for the owner's death, incapacity, inability to be served within 180 days, or bankruptcy. The county Sheriff — not the Public Trustee — conducts the court-ordered sale, because the Public Trustee process under § 38-38-101 et seq. is reserved for deeds of trust that name the Public Trustee as trustee. The association may credit bid at the sale, but HB 22-1137 bars board members, management-company employees, law-firm employees, and their immediate family from buying the foreclosed unit. If the owner is a protected servicemember, SCRA compliance — including a court order — is required. HB 25-1043, effective October 1, 2025, demands strict compliance with the foreclosure laws and governing documents, lets a court stay the proceedings for a cure period during which the association cannot run up late fees or interest, and adds a 30-day pre-foreclosure notice pointing the owner toward mediation and credit-counseling resources.

D. Post-sale rights

Under Colorado's general foreclosure law, a foreclosed owner historically had no post-sale right of redemption, and junior lienors held only limited redemption rights under C.R.S. § 38-38-301 et seq.; a junior lienor has to file a notice of intent to redeem within eight business days after the sale, and the most senior junior lienor redeems 15 to 19 business days out under § 38-38-302. HB 24-1337 rewrote this for HOA judicial foreclosures, creating a 180-day right of redemption for the unit owner and other named parties — including family members, tenants, nonprofits, and community land trusts — who have to file a notice of intent to redeem within 30 days of the sale under the new § 38-38-305.5 and § 38-38-302.¹⁸ Surplus or overbid funds left after the foreclosing lien and senior claims are paid flow to junior interests and, in the end, the former owner. A deficiency judgment generally takes a separate action when the sale does not cover the debt. Once the redemption periods run out and title vests, the purchaser can move to evict whoever still occupies the unit.

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Three recent measures have done the heavy lifting in reshaping how Colorado associations collect on delinquent accounts and foreclose.

B. Recent appellate rulings

As of June 15, 2026, no Colorado appellate court has handed down a published decision construing the HB 22-1137 or HB 24-1337 collection and foreclosure reforms. The statutes are new, and because HB 24-1337 reaches only debts accrued on or after August 7, 2024, appellate litigation interpreting the amendments has not yet caught up. Run a citator check on § 38-33.3-316 before you treat this as settled. For now, the closest controlling authority remains older CCIOA super-lien precedent and the federal Obduskey decision.

C. Active legislative debates

Lawmakers keep circling two goals: tightening foreclosure into a true last resort and protecting owner equity. HB 24-1158, which failed in 2024 by a single vote in the state House, would have required the HOA's minimum opening auction bid to cover the foreclosed lien, tax liens, and the first mortgage, plus an amount equal to 60 percent of the owner's equity in the unit.²⁴ Efforts to license community association managers have repeatedly stalled: HB 24-1078, which would have made it unlawful as of July 1, 2025 for a business entity to manage a community association without a license, died in committee,²⁵ and Governor Polis had already vetoed a similar measure, HB 19-1212, back in 2019.²⁶ So community-association-manager licensing remains off the books in Colorado — a status worth reconfirming on dre.colorado.gov before anyone leans on a licensing statement.²⁷

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Colorado sits in the middle tier of lien-priority states. Its six-month super-priority under CCIOA lines it up with Alaska and Delaware, runs shorter than Connecticut's nine-month super-priority under C.G.S. § 47-258(b), and stands apart from states with no HOA super-priority at all, such as Arizona and California — the latter having scrapped its super lien in 2000.²⁸ On reform, Colorado's HB 22-1137, HB 24-1337, and HB 25-1043 together rank among the most aggressive recent state efforts to rein in HOA foreclosure, stacking payment-plan mandates, attorney-fee caps, a fines-only foreclosure bar, and a post-sale redemption right. Set that against the numbers The Colorado Sun turned up — roughly 3,000 HOA foreclosure cases filed between 2018 and June 2023, more than 250 of them ending in auctions — and the reforms read as a deliberate push to make foreclosure a last resort.²⁹ On method, Colorado's Public Trustee system is one of a kind and is reserved for deeds of trust, so HOA liens foreclose judicially and don't map neatly onto the deed-of-trust trustee systems in Arizona, Texas, and Tennessee. On debt collection, the FDCPA analysis here runs through Obduskey, which arose in Colorado — making the state the reference point for nonjudicial-foreclosure FDCPA questions. For a multi-state operator, the takeaway is blunt: you cannot copy a Colorado collection playbook from a nonjudicial-foreclosure state. It has to build in judicial process, strict compliance, and the eighteen-month payment plan.

Because Colorado has rewritten its HOA collection and foreclosure rules three times since 2022, confirm every procedural step on this page against the current C.R.S. text before an association acts — and given the strict-compliance standard now in force, boards should treat foreclosure as a remedy of last resort.

Recommendations

• Immediate (every active collection file): Confirm the file clears the current statutory gates before any foreclosure referral — a secured balance equal to or exceeding six months of common-expense assessments under § 38-33.3-316(11), a written and recorded individualized board vote, a documented eighteen-month payment-plan offer under § 38-33.3-316.3, and compliant § 38-33.3-209.5 delinquency notices. If any element is missing, do not refer; under the HB 25-1043 strict-compliance standard, a court can stay the case and bar fee and interest accrual.
• Near term (policies): Re-adopt the collection, covenant-enforcement, and conduct-of-meetings policies to reflect HB 24-1233 (notice methods), HB 24-1337 (money-judgment prerequisite, fee cap, redemption), and HB 25-1043 (ledger-within-seven-days, credit-counseling notice, mediation notice). Have counsel review them, because the declaration may add requirements of its own.
• Before foreclosing a principal residence: Win a personal money judgment first unless a statutory exception applies; segregate fine-only and fee-only balances, which cannot ground a foreclosure; and screen for SCRA and bankruptcy status.
• Benchmarks that change the analysis: Treat the first published Colorado Court of Appeals or Supreme Court opinion construing HB 22-1137 or HB 24-1337 as a trigger to re-verify this page. Likewise, watch for any reintroduction of a minimum-bid bill in the mold of HB 24-1158 or a manager-licensing bill in the mold of HB 24-1078 — either would change what operators owe.

Caveats

• No Colorado appellate court has yet interpreted the HB 22-1137 or HB 24-1337 reforms; the case law is still developing, and this is a negative finding that cannot be proven exhaustively without a commercial citator check. The closest authorities — First Atlantic Mortgage (2005) and Obduskey (2019) — predate the reforms.
• HB 24-1337 applies to debts accrued on or after August 7, 2024, so the rules that govern a given account can turn on when the debt accrued; mixed-vintage ledgers need careful sequencing.
• Several precise figures (the $5,000 / 50 percent fee cap, the $500 fine cap) are statutory but subject to inflation adjustment or court discretion; confirm the current amounts at the time of action.
• Community-association-manager licensing has been created, sunset, and proposed for revival more than once and is currently not in effect; verify the status on dre.colorado.gov before making any licensing statement.
• CCIOA does not apply uniformly to every Colorado association; communities created before July 1, 1992 are governed by limited provisions and their own declarations, and certain small or non-owner-occupied units may fall outside specific reform provisions.
• Confirm statutory text against the official Colorado Revised Statutes on leg.colorado.gov, bills against leg.colorado.gov, court rulings against courts.state.co.us, and the regulatory framework against dre.colorado.gov before publication.

1. Colo. Gen. Assembly, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-101 et seq. (Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act) ↩
2. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316 (lien for assessments), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate, 2024 Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act ↩
3. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I) (six-month super-priority over first security interest), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate ↩
4. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 22-1137, Homeowners' Association Board Accountability and Transparency (2022 Reg. Sess.) ↩
5. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-38-101 et seq. (foreclosure of deeds of trust by public trustee), Colo. Gen. Assembly ↩
6. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316(4) (recording of declaration as record notice and perfection), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate ↩
7. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316(5) (six-year limitation on enforcement of assessment lien), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate ↩
8. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-117 (applicability of CCIOA to communities created before July 1, 1992), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate ↩
9. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-209.5 (collection of delinquent accounts; written policy and delinquency notice), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate ↩
10. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316.3 (payment plans; minimum eighteen-month term), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate ↩
11. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316(11) (recorded board vote required to authorize foreclosure), as published by Colo. Div. of Real Estate ↩
12. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 22-1139, Homeowners' Association Board Accountability and Transparency — fines and enforcement (2022 Reg. Sess.) ↩
13. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School ↩
14. Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 5-16-101 et seq., Colo. Gen. Assembly ↩
15. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq., Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School ↩
16. 11 U.S.C. § 362 (automatic stay), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School ↩
17. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-123 (general remedies; recoverable attorney fees and cap), Colo. Gen. Assembly ↩
18. Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-38-301 to -305.5 (redemption rights; HOA judicial-foreclosure right of redemption), Colo. Gen. Assembly ↩
19. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 24-1337, Real Property Owner Unit Association Collections (2024 Reg. Sess.) ↩
20. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 25-1043, Owner Equity Protection in Homeowners' Association Foreclosure Sales (2025 Reg. Sess.) ↩
21. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 24-1233, Homeowners' Association Delinquency Payments Enforcement Procedures (2024 Reg. Sess.) ↩
22. First Atlantic Mortgage, LLC v. Sunstone North Homeowners Ass'n (Colo. App. 2005) ↩
23. Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 586 U.S. 466 (2019) (slip op., No. 17-1307) ↩
24. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 24-1158, HOA Foreclosure Sales Requirements (2024 Reg. Sess.) ↩
25. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 24-1078, Community Association Manager Licensing (2024 Reg. Sess.) ↩
26. Colo. Gen. Assembly, HB 19-1212, Community Association Managers (vetoed May 31, 2019) ↩
27. Colo. Div. of Real Estate, HOA Center (community association managers are not licensed in Colorado) ↩
28. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258(b) (nine-month super-priority lien) ↩
29. New Law Will Make It Tougher for Colorado HOAs to Foreclose on Homes, The Colorado Sun (July 8, 2024) ↩