Indiana HOA Collections & Liens
Section 1: Overview — How assessment collection and liens work in Indiana
Indiana takes two separate statutory paths for association debt, depending on the type of development. Condominiums fall under the Condominium Act, Ind. Code 32-25. Planned-community homeowners associations get their own lien statute under Ind. Code 32-28-14. The Homeowners Associations article, Ind. Code 32-25.5, handles governance and transparency — it is not a collections code.1 Indiana is not a UCIOA state, grants no super-priority, and brings association liens to court for foreclosure. For a condominium, the assessment lien arises automatically and becomes "effective at the time of assessment," with no recording required to create it.2 For a planned community, the lien attaches only when the association records a notice of lien in the county recorder's office — and does not relate back to the assessment date.3 Neither housing type earns a super-priority position ahead of a first mortgage; both the condominium lien and the planned-community lien sit subordinate to a prior first mortgage of record.4 Indiana requires judicial foreclosure for both; there is no power-of-sale mechanism.5 No statute sets a minimum dollar amount or a minimum delinquency period before foreclosure, though a planned-community association cannot file its foreclosure complaint earlier than 90 days after recording the lien notice.6 Nationally, Indiana holds the creditor-neutral middle ground: statutory liens for both housing types, but no super-lien and no elaborate pre-foreclosure notice regime. The sections that follow cover lien creation and priority, the collection and foreclosure sequence, and recent legislative and judicial activity.
Indiana HOA Collections & Liens at a glance.
| Field | Indiana |
|---|---|
| Governing collections statute(s) | Condos: Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3.2 Planned communities: Ind. Code § 32-28-14; foreclosure procedure under Ind. Code § 32-29-7.3 |
| Lien arises | Condos: automatically on the date an assessment is due.2 Planned communities: only upon recording a claim of lien.3 |
| Super-priority over first mortgage | No.4 |
| Lien priority (general rule) | Subordinate to a prior-recorded first mortgage and to government tax liens; otherwise by recording date.4 |
| Minimum debt before foreclosure | None set by statute.6 |
| Minimum delinquency duration before foreclosure | None set by statute (planned-community complaint may not be filed earlier than 90 days after recording the lien notice).6 |
| Foreclosure type | Judicial.5 |
| Pre-lien notice required | Not specified by statute.7 |
| Pre-foreclosure notice required | Not specified by statute (mortgage-foreclosure sale notice rules in Ind. Code § 32-29-7 apply once suit proceeds).8 |
| Mandatory payment-plan offer | Not specified by statute.7 |
| Board vote required to foreclose | Not specified by statute.7 |
| Redemption period after sale | None (pre-sale redemption only).9 |
| Recoverable in the lien | Condos: unpaid common-expense assessments; reasonable rental in foreclosure if bylaws provide.2 Planned communities: unpaid common-expense assessments; interest, late fees, collection costs, and attorney fees recoverable where the recorded covenants so provide.10 |
| Fines foreclosable | Not specified by statute (lien secures common-expense assessments; fines reachable only if recorded covenants define them as part of the secured debt or they are reduced to a judgment lien).11 |
| Applies to | Both, under separate statutes (Condos: Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3; Planned communities: Ind. Code § 32-28-14).1 |
Source: Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3; Ind. Code § 32-28-14; Ind. Code § 32-29-7. Last verified: June 9, 2026.
Section 2: The lien and its priority
2A. Lien creation, authority, and what it secures
Indiana offers two distinct statutory liens. For condominiums, Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(a) declares that all unpaid assessments for common expenses "constitute a lien on the unit effective at the time of assessment."2 No recording is required — the condominium lien arises automatically the moment the association makes the assessment. For planned communities, Ind. Code § 32-28-14-5 creates a homeowners association lien for unpaid common-expense assessments, but Ind. Code § 32-28-14-6 requires the association to record a notice of lien in the county recorder's office before the lien attaches — and the lien "does not relate back" to the assessment date or to any date the covenants specify.3 That recorded notice must carry the association's name and address, the property's address and legal description, the owner's name, and the amount, signed by an officer and acknowledged as a deed under Ind. Code § 32-28-14-5(c).10
"Common expenses" sweeps broadly under Ind. Code § 32-28-14-1: it covers lawfully assessed sums, expenses of administration, maintenance, repair, and replacement of common areas, and anything declared common by the bylaws or another written instrument.12 The statutory lien does not enumerate interest, late fees, fines, collection costs, or attorney fees; the recorded covenants must make the owner responsible for those amounts before the lien can reach them — as recent appellate practice confirms (see Section 4).11 The lien attaches to the unit or lot, not to the owner's other assets. Indiana also allows an association to pursue a money judgment for unpaid assessments without ever foreclosing the lien (Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(d)).2
2B. Lien priority and any super-priority component
Indiana grants no super-priority. The condominium lien under Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(a) holds priority over all other liens "except" tax liens in favor of an assessing unit or special district and "all sums unpaid on a first mortgage of record."4 The planned-community lien establishes its priority on the date the notice of lien is recorded (Ind. Code § 32-28-14-5(b)), placing it behind any earlier-recorded first mortgage under ordinary first-in-time principles.3 No statutory portion of the association lien, measured in months of assessments or otherwise, leaps ahead of the first mortgage. Because there is no super-priority, there is nothing to reassert in rolling periods.13
The practical consequence matters most at foreclosure. If a first mortgagee or other purchaser takes title through foreclosure of the first mortgage, the acquirer takes free of any liability for common expenses or assessments that became due before acquisition; that unpaid share spreads among the remaining owners as a common expense (Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(e); Ind. Code § 32-28-14-7(c)).14 A bank foreclosure extinguishes the association's claim for pre-sale assessments without compensating the association. The association lien sits subordinate to a prior first mortgage and to government tax liens, and ranks among other private liens by recording date.
2C. CC&R interaction, corporate-law overlay, and federal overlay
Recorded covenants supplement the statutory lien and supply the contractual basis for interest, late fees, collection costs, and attorney fees — but they cannot create a priority position ahead of a prior first mortgage that the statute subordinates them to.11 The underlying assessment obligation rests on the recorded declaration, a written contract. Indiana applies a six-year limitation to written contracts for the payment of money (Ind. Code § 34-11-2-9) and a ten-year limitation to written contracts other than those for the payment of money, including instruments tied to real estate (Ind. Code § 34-11-2-11); Indiana case law has not definitively resolved which limitation applies to a covenant-based assessment claim, so the conservative approach treats the six-year period as the floor.15 Separately, a recorded planned-community lien must be enforced within five years of recording or it becomes void (Ind. Code § 32-28-14-8).6
Three federal frameworks apply on top of the Indiana scheme regardless of state law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.) can reach associations and especially their attorneys and collection agents.16 The bankruptcy automatic stay (11 U.S.C. § 362) halts collection and foreclosure the moment an owner files. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty owners from default judgments and certain enforcement actions.
Section 3: The collection and foreclosure process
3A. Pre-lien collection sequence
Indiana imposes no statutory pre-lien notice, no statutory demand letter, and no statutory right to a payment plan or itemized statement before a lien is recorded, for either condominiums or planned communities.7 The Homeowners Associations article requires that an association's governing documents include grievance-resolution procedures (Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3-6), but that is an internal-dispute mechanism, not a collections notice requirement.17 Any pre-lien notice, late-fee schedule, or payment-plan offer is therefore contractual, imposed by the recorded covenants rather than by statute. Effective July 1, 2026, one statutory change does touch the pre-litigation phase: a homeowners association or its agent may not charge an owner a fee for producing a statement of unpaid assessments (see Section 4), which affects the cost of payoff and estoppel statements during resale and refinance.18
3B. Recording and the pre-foreclosure sequence
For a planned community, the association records a notice of lien meeting the content requirements of Ind. Code § 32-28-14-5(c) in the recorder's office of the county where the real estate is located.10 That recording both creates and perfects the lien (Ind. Code § 32-28-14-6).3 For a condominium, the lien exists from the time of assessment, and the association files and forecloses it under the procedures governing mechanics' and materialmen's liens (Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(b)).2 Indiana sets no statutory notice of intent to foreclose specific to the association lien; once suit proceeds, the mortgage-foreclosure notice rules of Ind. Code § 32-29-7 govern the sale stage.8 No statute requires a recorded board vote, mandatory mediation, or a mandatory payment-plan offer before an association forecloses; those prerequisites, if any, come from the governing documents.7 A planned-community association faces one statutory timing gate: under Ind. Code § 32-28-14-8(a) it cannot file the foreclosure complaint earlier than 90 days after recording the lien notice (unless another party forecloses first or a party serves written notice to file), and it must file within five years or the lien is void.6
3C. Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds
Foreclosure of an Indiana association lien is judicial for both housing types. The association files a complaint in the circuit or superior court of the county where the property is located (Ind. Code § 32-28-14-8 for planned communities; Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(b) for condominiums).5 Indiana Trial Rule 69(C) directs that foreclosure of a lien on real estate proceeds under the same rules as foreclosure of a mortgage, so the mortgage-foreclosure framework of Ind. Code § 32-29-7 supplies the procedure.19 No statute sets a minimum dollar threshold or a minimum delinquency duration before an association may foreclose.6 The statutory lien secures unpaid common-expense assessments; fines do not support a foreclosure unless the recorded covenants define them as part of the secured obligation or they have been reduced to a money judgment that becomes a judgment lien (Ind. Code § 34-55-9-2).11 On the sale timeline, process may not issue for execution of a judgment or decree of sale until three months after the complaint is filed (Ind. Code § 32-29-7-3(a)).8 Before the sheriff's sale, the sheriff must advertise by publication once each week for three successive weeks, with the first publication at least 30 days before the sale, and must serve the owner with the notice of sale at the time of first publication (Ind. Code § 32-29-7-3).8
3D. Post-sale: redemption, deficiency, surplus, reinstatement
Indiana provides no general post-sale right of redemption. An owner may redeem before the sheriff's sale by paying the judgment, interest, and costs (Ind. Code § 32-29-7-7), but once the sale occurs there is no statutory right to buy the property back (Ind. Code § 32-29-7-13).9 A deficiency judgment against the former owner is available, subject to the three-month waiting period between filing and sale; if the owner waives that waiting period with the judgment holder's consent, the judgment holder releases any deficiency judgment (Ind. Code § 32-29-7-5).20 Surplus sale proceeds go out in the statutory order of priority under Ind. Code § 32-30-10-14, with senior liens paid first and any remainder flowing down to junior claimants and finally to the former owner.21 Reinstatement before the sale, by curing the arrears, stops the foreclosure under general mortgage-foreclosure practice. Each of these mechanics applies to both condominium and planned-community lien foreclosures because Trial Rule 69(C) routes both through the mortgage-foreclosure statute.19
Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity
A. Recent bills
Indiana's 2026 legislative session produced one significant change to HOA collections practice. The legislature moved to eliminate fees that associations had been charging owners for payoff and account statements — the kind that drive resale and refinance closings.
House Enrolled Act 1152 · 2026 Regular Session
Signed by the Governor on March 3, 2026, this act prohibits a homeowners association, its agent, or its management company from charging an owner a fee for producing a statement of unpaid assessments or other charges relating to the property (amending Ind. Code § 32-21-5-8.5). It also bars fees for services beyond the dues and fines identified in the governing documents (new Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3-3). The act removes a charge that associations and managers had previously collected at resale and refinance closings.[18]
| Property managers | Payoff and account-statement requests during resale or refinance can no longer carry a separate fee as of July 1, 2026. |
| HOA board members | Budgets should not assume statement fees as a revenue line; recover collection costs through covenant-based charges instead. |
| Community association attorneys | Advise clients to revise fee schedules and management agreements to drop statement charges before the effective date. |
| Homeowners | Owners selling or refinancing can now obtain a statement of what they owe the association without paying a fee. |
B. Recent appellate rulings
Two Indiana appellate decisions in 2025 tested the mechanics of HOA lien enforcement. Both courts held associations to a high standard of procedural rigor — and both produced rulings with direct consequences for collections attorneys and board members alike.
Treyburn Lakes Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Scott
The court held that when an association forecloses a recorded homeowners association lien, the foreclosure decree must include all amounts secured by that lien — including attorney-fee awards from prior judgments — and that a trial court may not reduce requested foreclosure attorney fees without an evidentiary hearing. The opinion confirms that HOA lien foreclosure proceeds under Trial Rule 69(C) like a mortgage foreclosure.[22]
| Property managers | Track every prior judgment and recorded lien so the full secured balance is captured in the foreclosure decree. |
| HOA board members | Attorney fees and costs that the covenants authorize are recoverable through the lien when properly documented. |
| Community association attorneys | Plead and prove each prior judgment amount secured by the lien and request a fee hearing to protect the full award. |
| Homeowners | A foreclosure judgment can include accumulated attorney fees and prior judgment balances secured by the lien. |
Sandoval v. Willow Lake Estates Home Owners Association, Inc.
The court held that an association's governance missteps — such as a failure to hold annual meetings or prepare a budget — do not excuse an owner's obligation to pay assessments, and that an owner may not withhold assessments as self-help. The decision builds on Feather Trace Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Luster, 132 N.E.3d 500 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019).[23]
| Property managers | Delinquencies remain collectible even where the association has procedural lapses in its records or meetings. |
| HOA board members | Procedural shortcomings should be cured, but they do not suspend the duty of owners to pay. |
| Community association attorneys | Owners' governance-based defenses to assessment collection face a high bar under Indiana precedent. |
| Homeowners | Withholding assessments is not a remedy for association mismanagement; owners must pursue separate legal channels. |
C. Active legislative debates
One pending proposal would walk back part of the fee prohibition that House Enrolled Act 1152 established. It would permit a capped charge and add new procedures for fine schedules and covenant amendments.
House Bill 1115 · 2026 Regular Session
This proposal would adjust the new fee prohibition from House Enrolled Act 1152 by permitting a capped charge of not more than fifty dollars for a statement of unpaid assessments. It would also add procedures for fine schedules and covenant amendments. The bill does not alter lien priority or the judicial-foreclosure framework.[24]
| Property managers | If passed, a capped $50 fee for payoff statements would restore a limited revenue stream for document requests. |
| HOA board members | Budget projections should account for both outcomes — a full fee prohibition and a capped-fee alternative. |
| Community association attorneys | Watch the fine-schedule and covenant-amendment provisions; those could affect your enforcement and litigation strategy. |
| Homeowners | If passed, owners may face a modest fee for payoff statements; if it fails, statements remain free. |
Section 5: National positioning and related coverage
Indiana occupies a creditor-neutral middle on the national collections spectrum. It is not a super-priority state: unlike Nevada, whose lien under NRS 116.3116(2)(b) covers the unpaid assessments that would have become due during the nine months immediately preceding the recording of a notice of default and sits ahead of the first mortgage, or Connecticut, whose Common Interest Ownership Act lien (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258(b)) stands prior to a first mortgage to the extent of common-expense assessments during the nine months immediately preceding institution of an action, Indiana subordinates the association lien entirely to a prior first mortgage.4 It is not a threshold-restricted state on the model of California, which under Cal. Civ. Code § 5720 bars foreclosure unless the delinquent assessments (exclusive of late charges, fees, attorney fees, interest, and collection costs) reach at least $1,800 or are more than 12 months delinquent; Indiana sets no minimum debt and no minimum delinquency period by statute.6 Indiana is a judicial-only foreclosure state for association liens, and unlike pure CC&R-primary states it provides statutory liens for both condominiums and planned communities. For multi-state operators the lesson is concrete: collection sequence and foreclosure economics differ enough between states that a notice or process valid in one state can be defective or even barred in another, so Indiana files cannot run on a super-lien state's playbook. Indiana's current direction of travel is static on lien mechanics and modestly pro-owner on transparency and fees rather than on foreclosure substance.
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code tit. 32: art. 25 (Condominiums), art. 25.5 (Homeowners Associations), art. 28 (Liens on Real Property) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3 (unpaid assessments constitute lien effective at time of assessment; foreclosure under mechanics'/materialmen's lien laws; money judgment without foreclosure) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code §§ 32-28-14-5, -6 (homeowners association lien; attaches upon recording of notice of lien; does not relate back; priority established on recording date) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(a) (condominium lien priority over all other liens "except...all sums unpaid on a first mortgage of record"); Ind. Code § 32-28-14-5(b) (planned-community lien priority established on recording date) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-28-14-8 (enforcement by filing complaint in circuit or superior court); Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(b) (lien filed and foreclosed by suit) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-28-14-8 (complaint may not be filed earlier than 90 days, and must be filed within 5 years, after lien notice is recorded; otherwise lien is void) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code §§ 32-25, 32-28-14 (no statutory pre-lien notice, demand letter, payment-plan offer, or board-vote requirement for either housing type) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-29-7-3 (no process for execution of judgment or decree of sale until 3 months after complaint filed; sheriff's advertisement once weekly for 3 successive weeks, first publication at least 30 days before sale; service of notice of sale on owner at first publication) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-29-7-7 (redemption by owner before sheriff's sale); Ind. Code § 32-29-7-13 (no redemption after foreclosure sale of a post-June 30, 1931 mortgage except as provided in the chapter) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-28-14-5(c) (required contents of recorded notice of lien: association name and address, property address and legal description, owner name, amount; signed by officer and acknowledged as a deed) ↩
- Treyburn Lakes Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Scott, No. 25A-CC-646 (Ind. Ct. App. Oct. 31, 2025) (covenant-authorized interest, costs, and attorney fees secured by recorded HOA lien recoverable in foreclosure decree) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-28-14-1 (definition of "common expenses") ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code §§ 32-25-6-3, 32-28-14 (no statutory super-priority portion; no rolling super-lien) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-25-6-3(e); Ind. Code § 32-28-14-7(c) (acquirer through foreclosure of first mortgage not liable for pre-acquisition assessments; unpaid share collectible from all owners as common expense) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 34-11-2-9 (6-year limitation on written contracts for payment of money); Ind. Code § 34-11-2-11 (10-year limitation on written contracts other than for payment of money) ↩
- Shea R. Alexander v. Royal Oaks Homeowners Ass'n, No. 25A-CC-1652 (Ind. Ct. App. Nov. 20, 2025) (discussing FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., in the HOA-collections context) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3 (Homeowners Associations: budget, records, meetings, grievance-resolution procedures) ↩
- House Enrolled Act 1152, 2026 Reg. Sess. (Ind. 2026) ("Homeowners association matters"; amends Ind. Code § 32-21-5-8.5 re statement of unpaid assessments; adds Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3-3 fee prohibition; effective July 1, 2026) ↩
- Treyburn Lakes Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Scott, No. 25A-CC-646 (Ind. Ct. App. Oct. 31, 2025) (Ind. Trial Rule 69(C) permits foreclosure of liens on real estate to proceed by the same rules as foreclosure of mortgages) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-29-7-3 (three-month period before process issues); Ind. Code § 32-29-7-5 (waiver of time limitation by owner releases judgment holder from deficiency judgment) ↩
- Indiana General Assembly, Ind. Code § 32-29-7-9 (sheriff pays proceeds as provided in Ind. Code § 32-30-10-14; sale without right of redemption) ↩
- Treyburn Lakes Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Scott, No. 25A-CC-646 (Ind. Ct. App. Oct. 31, 2025) ↩
- Sandoval v. Willow Lake Estates Home Owners Ass'n, Inc., No. 24A-MF-309 (Ind. Ct. App. Mar. 12, 2025) ↩
- Indiana House Bill 1115, 2026 Reg. Sess. (Ind. 2026) (would permit statement-of-unpaid-assessments charge of not more than $50; fine-schedule and covenant-amendment procedures) ↩