Florida HOA Collections & Liens

Section 1: Overview — How assessment collection and liens work in Florida

Florida runs its community-association collections through three separate chapters of state law, each with its own rules but a parallel structure. Chapter 718 governs condominiums — lien authority at § 718.116 and § 718.121. Chapter 720 governs homeowners' associations — lien and foreclosure at § 720.3085. Chapter 719 governs cooperatives at § 719.108.¹ Each chapter establishes a detailed pre-lien and pre-foreclosure notice sequence with strict day-counts, plus a first-mortgagee safe-harbor cap rather than a true super-priority.

The association's lien does not wait for recording to come into existence. For condominiums, § 718.116(5)(a) relates the lien back to the recording of the original declaration. Section 720.3085(1) provides the equivalent for HOAs.² Here is the critical exception: against first mortgages of record, the lien takes effect only from and after the association records a claim of lien in the county public records.²

Florida grants no super-priority lien. When a first mortgagee or its successor takes title through foreclosure or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, state law caps its liability for pre-existing unpaid assessments at the lesser of 12 months of assessments or one percent of the original mortgage debt.³ That is a successor-liability cap — not a portion of lien priority.

Florida is a judicial-foreclosure state: the association forecloses its lien in Circuit Court in the same manner as a mortgage of real property.⁴

The statutes set no minimum dollar amount and no minimum delinquency period before an association may begin an assessment-collection foreclosure. The layered notice sequence, however, creates a practical floor of roughly 120 days for condominiums and HOAs.⁵

Nationally, Florida occupies the middle of the collections spectrum — more association-friendly than threshold-restricted states such as California and Arizona, but far less aggressive than super-priority states such as Nevada and Connecticut, where a portion of association debt primes the first mortgage.⁶

The sections below lay out the lien and its priority, the operational collection and foreclosure process, and recent legislative and judicial activity.

Florida HOA Collections & Liens at a glance

Source: Fla. Stat. §§ 718.116, 718.121, 720.3085, 719.108. Last verified: June 9, 2026.

Section 2: The lien and its priority

2A. Lien creation, authority, and what it secures

Florida law gives a condominium association a lien on each condominium parcel to secure the payment of assessments under § 718.116(5)(a).³ An HOA holds a lien on each parcel when the governing documents authorize it under § 720.3085(1), and a cooperative association holds a lien on each cooperative parcel under § 719.108(4).¹³ The condominium and HOA liens arise automatically and relate back to the recording of the declaration; the cooperative lien is effective only from and after recording a claim of lien.¹³

The relation-back feature matters. Section 718.116(5)(a) provides that the condominium lien "is effective from and shall relate back to the recording of the original declaration of condominium," and § 720.3085(1) provides the equivalent for HOAs.² The critical exception in both chapters: as to first mortgages of record, the lien is effective only from and after the association records a claim of lien in the county public records.² That carve-out prevents Florida's relation-back rule from operating as a super-priority against lenders.

To be valid, a claim of lien must state the parcel description, the name of the record owner, the name and address of the association, the amount due, and the due dates — and for condominiums, must be executed and acknowledged by an officer or authorized agent of the association.³ The association records the claim of lien in the public records of the county where the parcel is located.

The lien secures not just the delinquent assessments but also interest, administrative late fees, and all reasonable costs and attorney fees incurred in the collection process, plus assessments that come due after recording and through entry of a final judgment (Condos: § 718.116(5)(b); HOAs: § 720.3085(1)(a)).¹¹ Unpaid assessments bear interest at the rate in the declaration, capped at the legal maximum, and at 18 percent per year if the declaration is silent. The association may also charge an administrative late fee up to the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each delinquent installment.¹¹

A condominium claim of lien expires one year after recording unless the association commences an enforcement action within that period (§ 718.116(5)(b)), with the period tolled by any bankruptcy stay.³ Chapter 720 contains no equivalent one-year expiration for HOA liens; instead, enforcement is governed by the five-year mortgage-foreclosure limitations period.¹⁴ The lien attaches to the individual unit or parcel, not to other property of the owner.

2B. Lien priority and any super-priority component

A Florida association lien is generally junior to a recorded first mortgage and to recorded governmental tax liens. Because the lien is effective against first mortgages of record only from the recording of the claim of lien, a first mortgage recorded earlier almost always has priority.² A first-mortgage foreclosure therefore typically extinguishes the association's junior lien — though it does not erase the underlying debt of the former owner.

Florida does not have a super-priority lien. This is the single most common error in describing Florida collections law, and it bears stating plainly: no portion of the association's lien primes a pre-existing first mortgage. What Florida provides instead is a safe-harbor cap — a successor-liability limit, not a priority portion. Under § 718.116(1)(b) for condominiums and § 720.3085(2)(c) for HOAs, when a first mortgagee, or its successor or assignee, acquires title by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure, its liability for unpaid assessments that came due before it took title is limited to the lesser of (1) the unpaid common expenses and regular periodic assessments that accrued during the 12 months immediately preceding acquisition of title, or (2) one percent of the original mortgage debt.³ The cap applies only if the first mortgagee joined the association as a defendant in its own foreclosure action (with a narrow exception where the association was dissolved or had no discoverable agent for service).³ Florida appellate courts have construed the cap narrowly: it excludes interest, late fees, costs, and attorney fees, and a party that purchases at the foreclosure sale without taking an assignment of the mortgage is not a "first mortgagee, its successor or assignee" entitled to the cap.¹⁵

There is no rolling reassertion of a super-priority slice because no super-priority exists in the first place. The safe-harbor figure is a one-time cap measured at acquisition of title. The HOA statute also provides that cap protection is unavailable where the association's lien was recorded before the mortgage.³

2C. CC&R interaction, corporate-law overlay, and federal overlay

Recorded declarations of covenants and restrictions supplement the statutory lien. They may set the interest rate, authorize late fees and attorney-fee recovery, and authorize the lien itself — the HOA lien exists only "when authorized by the governing documents" under § 720.3085(1).² Florida courts have held that a declaration recorded before the relevant statutory effective date can contractually limit or eliminate a foreclosing lender's liability for past-due assessments, and that such a contract right may control over the statute where the declaration lacks language subjecting itself to future statutory amendments.¹⁶

The underlying assessment obligation is a debt founded on the recorded declaration, a written instrument. Florida's statute of limitations on a written contract is five years under § 95.11(2)(b).¹⁴ An action to foreclose the lien, like a mortgage foreclosure, carries a five-year limitations period under § 95.11(2)(c).¹⁴ Because a condominium claim of lien separately expires one year after recording unless enforced, condominium associations face the tighter deadline.³

Federal frameworks overlay all three chapters. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can apply to third-party collectors and association attorneys. The automatic stay under the Bankruptcy Code halts collection on the filing of a petition and tolls Florida's lien-enforcement periods. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act limits foreclosure against active-duty servicemembers.

Section 3: The collection and foreclosure process

3A. Pre-lien collection sequence

Before recording a lien, an association must work through a notice sequence. The first step is the notice of late assessment. An association may not require payment of attorney fees related to a past-due assessment without first delivering a written notice of late assessment — giving the owner an opportunity to pay without attorney fees (Condos: § 718.121(5); HOAs: § 720.3085(3)(d)).¹⁷ The HOA form gives the owner 30 days; the condominium form functions as a comparable fee-free cure window. The association sends this notice by first-class mail to the owner's address of record and to the unit or parcel address if different.¹⁷

The operative pre-lien notice is the notice of intent to record a claim of lien. For condominiums, § 718.121(6) bars recording any lien until 45 days after the association delivers this notice by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and by first-class mail to the owner's address of record.⁷ Section 720.3085(4) imposes the same 45-day notice for HOAs, delivered the same way.⁷ The Condominium Act and Cooperative Act required only 30 days until the Legislature raised them to 45 days effective July 1, 2021, matching the HOA Act, which already required 45-day notices.⁵ The statutory form must state all amounts due — maintenance, late fee, interest, certified-mail charges, other costs, and total outstanding — and must advise the owner that no claim of lien will be recorded sooner than 45 days after receipt.⁷

Owner protections during this window include the fee-free cure period from the notice of late assessment, the right under § 720.303(14) (added in 2024) to request a detailed accounting of amounts owed, and the right to record a notice of contest of lien once a claim of lien has been recorded — which shortens the association's enforcement window to 90 days.¹⁸

3B. Recording and pre-foreclosure sequence

After the pre-lien notice period expires, the association records its claim of lien in the county public records, stating the parcel description, record owner, association name and address, amount due, and due dates.³ For condominiums, the recorded claim of lien is valid for one year unless an enforcement action is filed within that period.³

The association must then deliver a separate notice of intent to foreclose. For HOAs, § 720.3085(5) prohibits filing a foreclosure action until 45 days after the association gives the owner notice of its intent to foreclose — and that notice may not go out until the 45-day pre-lien period has run.⁸ For condominiums, § 718.116(6)(b) provides that no foreclosure judgment may be entered until at least 45 days after the association gives the owner written notice of its intent to foreclose.⁸ The statutory delinquent-assessment form must identify the assessment, state the association's intent to foreclose and collect within 45 days, and provide the total amount due with interest and a contact for the association's representative.⁸ Failure to give the condominium notice at least 45 days before filing bars recovery of attorney fees and costs if the owner pays before final judgment — though the requirement is deemed satisfied if the owner records a notice of contest of lien, or if a mortgage foreclosure affecting the association is already pending and service has been made on the owner.⁸

Florida does not require a recorded board vote to authorize foreclosure; the association's documents govern that, if at all. Chapter 720's mandatory pre-suit mediation under § 720.311 does not apply to the collection of assessments or to lien foreclosure — disputes over monetary obligations are expressly carved out and go directly to court.¹⁹ That distinguishes assessment collection from covenant-enforcement disputes, which generally must be mediated first.

3C. Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds

The association brings the foreclosure in Circuit Court in the same manner as a mortgage of real property (Condos: § 718.116(6)(a); HOAs: § 720.3085(1)(c); Cooperatives: § 719.108(5)).⁴ The association may also sue for a money judgment on the unpaid assessments without waiving its lien, and it is entitled to reasonable attorney fees in either action.⁴ Pleading both counts is standard practice because the money-judgment count survives a technical defect in the lien or a superior lienholder taking title mid-case.²⁰

The statute sets no minimum dollar threshold and no minimum delinquency duration before an assessment foreclosure may be filed; the notice sequence is the only practical gate. Fines are treated differently. Condominium fines may not become a lien at all under § 718.303, so they cannot support a lien foreclosure.¹² For HOAs, § 720.305 provides that a fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien against a parcel; the § 720.3085 lien-foreclosure remedy targets unpaid assessments rather than fines.¹²

If the parcel is rented during the action, the association may demand that the tenant pay rent directly to the association and may obtain appointment of a receiver to collect rent (Condos: § 718.116(11); HOAs: § 720.3085(8)).³ On entry of judgment, the clerk sets a public sale not less than 20 and not more than 35 days after the judgment under § 45.031. The association may bid in and acquire, hold, lease, mortgage, or convey the parcel.¹⁰ From notice of intent to foreclose to certificate of title, an uncontested case commonly runs several months.

3D. Post-sale: redemption, deficiency, surplus, reinstatement

Florida has no lengthy post-sale statutory redemption period. Under § 45.0315, the owner — or holder of a subordinate interest — may cure the indebtedness and prevent the sale at any time before the later of the clerk's filing of the certificate of sale or the time specified in the foreclosure judgment. After that point, no right of redemption exists.¹⁰ This is effectively a right to reinstate or pay off before the sale, not a post-sale redemption.

A deficiency judgment is available. Because the association forecloses like a mortgagee, a court may enter a deficiency for the balance of the secured debt not satisfied by the sale. The alternative money-judgment count provides an in-personam claim against the former owner, who remains jointly and severally liable with the new owner for assessments that came due up to the transfer of title.³

Surplus sale proceeds are distributed under § 45.032: after disbursements required by the final judgment, the clerk holds any surplus and pays it to subordinate lienholders in order of priority and then to the former owner, who may claim the funds directly.¹⁰ The HOA qualifying-offer mechanism under § 720.3085(6) also lets a parcel owner stay the foreclosure for up to 60 days by filing a written offer to pay all amounts secured by the lien.⁹

Where condominium and planned-community treatment differ, the differences are concrete: condominiums carry the one-year lien-expiration rule and the attorney-fee-forfeiture sanction for defective pre-foreclosure notice; HOAs carry the qualifying-offer stay and the five-year limitations period with no lien expiration. The notice day-counts — 45 days pre-lien and 45 days pre-foreclosure — are now harmonized, but the surrounding mechanics are not.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

Recent Legislation

Florida's recent legislative activity has tightened owner protections more than it has shifted lien priority. The three bills below changed the collection landscape — primarily through notice requirements, interest rules, and transparency obligations — without altering the core § 718.116 or § 720.3085 lien mechanics.

Recent Court Rulings

The Third District Court of Appeal handed down the most practically significant Florida collections ruling in recent years — reinforcing that a defective notice dooms the foreclosure even when the underlying debt is valid, while leaving the association's money-judgment path intact.

Active Legislative Debates

A proposal to eliminate Chapter 720's mandatory pre-suit mediation requirement and route disputes to a new community-association court program advanced in the 2026 session. Because assessment collection and lien foreclosure are already exempt from pre-suit mediation, any change there would affect covenant-enforcement disputes more than collections.¹⁹

Section 5: National positioning

Florida occupies the middle of the national collections spectrum. It is more association-favorable than threshold-restricted states such as California, Arizona, and Colorado, which condition foreclosure on minimum debt amounts or delinquency periods, but markedly less aggressive than super-priority states. Nevada grants associations a nine-month super-priority slice that, under NRS 116.3116, primes the first security interest to the extent of assessments that would have become due during the nine months preceding the notice of default — confirmed by the Nevada Supreme Court as true lien priority, not mere payment priority.⁶ Connecticut grants a comparable priority under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258(b) for the common-expense assessments that would have become due during the nine months preceding enforcement, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees.⁶ Florida grants none, substituting only a successor-liability safe-harbor cap.

Like most of the Southeast, Florida is a judicial-foreclosure state. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is direct: Florida balances cannot be treated like Nevada or Connecticut balances. The lender, not the association, controls the senior position, so associations must collect aggressively from owners before a lender forecloses. Florida's recent legislative direction has been toward tightening owner protections — longer notice periods, simple-interest-only requirements, detailed-accounting rights — rather than raising thresholds or expanding association priority.

1. Fla. Stat. § 720.3085 (2025) (HOAs); see also §§ 718.116, 718.121 (condominiums) and § 719.108 (cooperatives) ↩
2. Fla. Stat. § 718.116(5)(a) (2024) (lien relates back to recording of declaration; effective against first mortgages only from recording of claim of lien); Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(1) (2025) ↩
3. Fla. Stat. § 718.116 (2024) (lien at (5)(a)–(b); safe-harbor cap at (1)(b): lesser of 12 months' assessments or 1% of original mortgage debt; judicial foreclosure at (6)(a); 45-day pre-foreclosure notice at (6)(b)) ↩
4. Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(1)(c), (5) (2025) (association may foreclose "in the same manner in which a mortgage of real property is foreclosed" and may also seek a money judgment); § 718.116(6)(a) ↩
5. Pavese Law Firm, 2021/2024 Florida community-association legislative updates (Condominium Act § 718.121 and Cooperative Act § 719.108(4) raised to 45-day notice effective July 1, 2021, to match the HOA Act; approximately 120-day collection sequence of 30-day late-assessment notice + 45-day notice of intent to record lien + 45-day notice of intent to foreclose) ↩
6. NRS 116.3116(2) (Nevada nine-month super-priority over first security interest); SFR Investments Pool 1 v. U.S. Bank, 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (true lien priority); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258(b) (nine-month priority plus costs and reasonable attorney fees, raised from six months by P.A. 13-156, eff. June 24, 2013) ↩
7. Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(4) (2025) (45-day notice of intent to record claim of lien, by registered/certified mail and first-class mail); Fla. Stat. § 718.121(6) (45-day condominium pre-lien notice) ↩
8. Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(5) (2025) (foreclosure action may not be brought until 45 days after notice of intent to foreclose); Fla. Stat. § 718.116(6)(b) (no foreclosure judgment until 45 days after notice; attorney-fee forfeiture for defective notice) ↩
9. Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(6) (2025) (one-time "qualifying offer" stays foreclosure up to 60 days) ↩
10. Fla. Stat. §§ 45.0315 (right of redemption until later of clerk's filing of certificate of sale or time set in judgment), 45.031 (judicial sale 20–35 days after judgment), 45.032 (disbursement of surplus) (2024) ↩
11. Fla. Stat. § 718.116(3), (5)(b) (2024) (interest, 18% default rate, late fee greater of $25 or 5%, costs and reasonable attorney fees; lien secures amounts through final judgment); Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(1)(a), (3) ↩
12. Becker / Florida Condo & HOA Law Blog, HB 1203 fining changes (Fla. Stat. § 720.305: a fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien; condominium fines may not become a lien under § 718.303) ↩
13. Fla. Stat. § 719.108 (2024) (cooperative lien on each cooperative parcel, effective on recording a claim of lien; 18% default interest; foreclosure like a mortgage) ↩
14. Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b) (2023) (five-year limitations period for action on a written instrument); § 95.11(2)(c) (five years to foreclose a mortgage) ↩
15. Burr & Forman LLP, Florida Appellate Court Addresses Safe Harbor for Past-Due Condo Assessments (Fifth DCA: a purchaser at foreclosure sale without assignment of the mortgage is not a "first mortgagee, its successor or assigns" under § 718.116(1)(b)); see also Catalina West HOA v. Fed. Nat'l Mortgage Ass'n (Fla. 3d DCA) (safe harbor excludes interest, late fees, attorney fees, and costs) ↩
16. Dean Mead, Common Interest Associations' Ability to Collect Past Due Assessments (declarations recorded before the statutory effective date may contractually limit a foreclosing lender's liability and control over § 720.3085(2); citing Pudlit 2 Joint Ventures v. Westwood Gardens HOA, 169 So. 3d 145 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)) ↩
17. Fla. Stat. § 718.121(5) (2024) (notice of late assessment required before charging attorney fees); Fla. Stat. § 720.3085(3)(d) (HOA 30-day notice of late assessment) ↩
18. Fla. Stat. § 720.303(14) (2024) (owner right to detailed accounting within 15 business days); § 720.3085(1)(b) and § 718.116(5)(c) (notice of contest of lien limits enforcement to 90 days) ↩
19. Fla. Stat. § 720.311 (pre-suit mediation requirement, excluding collection of assessments, fines, and other monetary obligations and lien foreclosure) ↩
20. Cobb & Gonzalez, P.A., Condominium Assessment Lien Foreclosure in Florida (alternative money-judgment count survives lien defect or superior lienholder taking title; citing Maya Marca Condominium Apartments, Inc. v. O'Rourke, 669 So. 2d 1089 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)) ↩
21. Fla. Senate, House Bill 1203 (2024) — Homeowners' Associations (signed May 31, 2024; effective July 1, 2024; Chapter 2024-221) ↩
22. Pavese Law Firm, 2024 Legislative Updates for Florida Homeowners' Associations (HB 1203 amends § 720.3085(3) to bar compound interest; adds § 720.303(14) detailed-accounting right) ↩
23. Fla. Senate, House Bill 1021 (2024) — Condominiums (signed June 14, 2024; governance, records, and safety reforms to Chapter 718) ↩
24. Fla. Senate, House Bill 913 (2025) — Condominium and Cooperative Associations (effective July 1, 2025; Chapter 2025-175) ↩
25. Winston Towers 100 Association, Inc. v. Antonioli, No. 3D24-1077 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025); see also Siegfried Rivera analysis, "Condo Association Foreclosures Must Comply with Notice Requirements" ↩