Louisiana HOA Collections & Liens

Overview: How assessment collection and privileges work in Louisiana

Louisiana operates as a civil-law state, and that distinction runs through every aspect of how associations collect overdue assessments. Condominiums fall under the Louisiana Condominium Act (La. R.S. 9:1121.101 et seq.). Planned communities operate under what began as the Louisiana Homeowners Association Act, now restated and renamed the Louisiana Planned Community Act by Act 158 of 2024, effective January 1, 2025 (La. R.S. 9:1141.1 et seq.).^1,2 The terminology differs from other states: what other states call a lien is a privilege here; what other states call covenants are building restrictions under Civil Code articles 775 through 783; and enforcement runs through executory process or ordinary process — not a common-law power of sale. Louisiana provides no nonjudicial foreclosure.

The privilege arises on the assessment, but recording preserves it against third parties: condominiums file a claim of privilege, while planned communities and associations covered by the general provisions file a sworn detailed statement of privilege in the mortgage records of the parish where the property sits.^3,4 Louisiana gives associations no super-priority over a prior-recorded mortgage. The condominium privilege is expressly subordinate to mortgages and encumbrances recorded earlier, and the general association privilege ranks by date of recordation.^3,5 Every association foreclosure is judicial — either executory process or ordinary process.⁶ No statute sets a minimum dollar amount or minimum delinquency period before foreclosure, though a condominium fine or late fee must exceed $250 to be secured by the privilege.³ On the national spectrum, Louisiana falls among the first-in-time, public-records states — not the super-priority states such as Nevada and Connecticut, and not the threshold-restricted states such as California and Arizona. The sections below cover the privilege, its ranking, and the full collection and foreclosure sequence.

Louisiana HOA Collections & Liens at a glance

Sources: La. R.S. 9:1123.115; La. R.S. 9:1141.32, 9:1141.35; La. R.S. 9:1145 to 9:1148; La. C.C.P. arts. 2631 and 2635; Acts 2024, No. 158. Last verified: June 9, 2026.

The privilege and its priority

Lien creation, authority, and what it secures

For condominiums, La. R.S. 9:1123.115 creates the association's privilege. The statute grants the association a privilege on a condominium parcel for all unpaid or accelerated sums assessed, any fines or late fees in excess of $250, and interest at the rate stated in the declaration — or, where no rate is stated, the legal interest rate.³ The same privilege covers reasonable attorney fees the association incurs in collecting the assessment or enforcing the privilege.³ To preserve the privilege, the association must file a claim of privilege — signed and verified by affidavit of an officer or agent — in the mortgage records of the parish where the condominium is located. The claim must describe the parcel, name the record owner, and state the delinquent or accelerated amount and the date of delinquency.³ A separate privilege exists for unpaid water, sewerage, electrical, or natural-gas utility assessments under La. R.S. 9:1123.116.¹³ The privilege attaches to the condominium parcel — the unit and its proportionate share of the common elements. This applies to condominiums.

For planned communities, La. R.S. 9:1141.35 creates a privilege in favor of the association on a lot for any assessment attributable to that lot or any fines imposed against the lot owner, with the time period, rank, and enforcement method governed by the general association-privilege provisions in Part III.⁷ Those Part III provisions — La. R.S. 9:1145 through 9:1148 — apply to both condominium associations and planned-community associations: La. R.S. 9:1145 authorizes associations organized under either act to enforce assessments and confirms that a privilege arises on a lot or unit for any assessment or fine.⁸ Filing the sworn detailed statement of privilege secures the unpaid charges, expenses, or dues, together with interest at the declaration rate or the legal rate, and a court may award the prevailing party court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and related costs.¹⁰ The sworn detailed statement must include a complete property description, the record owner's name, the delinquency date, the amount of periodic dues including any accelerated amount, the amount of fines and late fees, and the date written demand was made.⁴

Lien priority and the absence of a super-priority component

Louisiana does not give association privileges a super-priority over a prior-recorded mortgage. By the express terms of La. R.S. 9:1123.115(C), the condominium privilege is superior to all other liens and encumbrances on a unit except: encumbrances recorded before the declaration was recorded; privileges, mortgages, and encumbrances recorded before the privilege itself was recorded; immovable-property taxes; and governmental assessments in which the unit is specifically described.³ A first mortgage recorded before the association records its claim of privilege therefore outranks the privilege. For the general association privilege, La. R.S. 9:1148 states plainly that the privilege ranks according to its date of recordation — the ordinary first-in-time, first-in-right rule of the Louisiana public-records doctrine.⁵ Where two or more associations hold privileges on the same property, their privileges rank equally regardless of filing date, absent a contrary declaration provision or an intervening encumbrance.⁵ Louisiana has no rolling super-priority of the kind seen in some Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act states. The association's only acceleration-like mechanism — the statutory right to accelerate twelve months of assessments and record that amount — does not change its rank against a prior mortgage. This applies to both condominiums and planned communities.

CC&R interaction, corporate-law overlay, and federal overlay

The recorded declaration and bylaws supplement the statute by setting assessment amounts, late-fee mechanics, interest rates, and fining procedures, within statutory limits. For condominiums, La. R.S. 9:1123.102 caps a late charge at thirty percent of the monthly assessment, bars any late charge if the assessment is paid within ten days of the due date, and permits reasonable fines only after notice and an opportunity to be heard.¹⁴ Building restrictions are governed by Civil Code articles 775 through 783: they are charges imposed under a general plan (art. 775), are incorporeal immovables likened to predial servitudes (art. 777), and associations enforce them by injunction (art. 779).¹⁵ Under Civil Code article 783, the Condominium Act, the Timesharing Act, and the Planned Community Act supersede the building-restriction articles in the event of a conflict.¹⁶ The prescription period on the underlying assessment debt is unsettled: an action on the personal obligation may qualify as a three-year liberative prescription under Civil Code article 3494 (sums payable periodically) or as a ten-year personal action under Civil Code article 3499, and practitioners should treat this point as unresolved.¹⁷ The recorded privilege itself is preserved for five years and perempts unless suit is filed and noticed within that period — one year where the assessment covers violations of community documents.⁵ Federal law also applies: the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act reaches third-party collectors of association debts, the bankruptcy automatic stay halts collection and foreclosure on filing, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty members.

The collection and foreclosure process

Pre-lien collection sequence

The required pre-recording notice differs by association type. For condominiums, La. R.S. 9:1123.115(A)(3) requires the association, at least seven days before filing the claim of privilege, to serve the delinquent unit owner with a sworn detailed statement of its claim — including the date the assessment became delinquent or accelerated. Service must be by personal service or by registered or certified mail.³ This is a statutory requirement, not merely a CC&R term. For planned communities and for the general association privilege covering both property types, La. R.S. 9:1146 requires the association to make written demand for the past-due charges by a statutorily listed method — U.S. mail, commercial courier, electronic mail, hand delivery, or another method reasonably calculated to give notice — after which the owner has thirty days to pay before the association may file the sworn detailed statement of privilege.¹⁰ No statute requires the association to offer a payment plan, mediate, or provide a formal dispute procedure before recording. The owner retains the right to contest the amount in court, and an association that files a privilege for an amount not owed can be liable for the costs of obtaining a release, including attorney fees.³

Recording and the pre-foreclosure sequence

The claim of privilege (condominiums) or the sworn detailed statement of privilege (planned communities and the general association privilege) goes into the mortgage records of the parish where the unit or lot is located.^3,4 The condominium claim must contain the parcel description, the record owner's name, the delinquent or accelerated amount, the delinquency date, and any fines or late fees above $250.³ The sworn detailed statement must contain a complete property description, the owner's name, the delinquency date, the periodic-dues and accelerated amounts, the fines and late fees, and the date of written demand.⁴ A copy of the sworn statement must be delivered to the owner upon filing.⁴ No statute imposes a board-vote prerequisite, a mediation prerequisite, or a separate notice of intent to foreclose with a fixed day-count beyond the demand and notice steps already described; the pre-foreclosure notices arise from the foreclosure procedure itself rather than from the privilege statutes. Acceleration is available where the owner fails to pay for three months or more during any eight-month period: a condominium association may then accelerate twelve months of common-element assessments and file a privilege for the accelerated sum after the required notice (La. R.S. 9:1123.115), and a planned-community association has a parallel twelve-month acceleration right (La. R.S. 9:1141.32).^3,9 This applies to both property types, with the noted differences.

Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds

All Louisiana foreclosures are judicial; the state provides no nonjudicial power of sale. The association chooses between two judicial routes. Executory process, under La. C.C.P. art. 2631, allows seizure and sale without prior citation or judgment to enforce a mortgage or privilege evidenced by an authentic act importing a confession of judgment, and requires the creditor to submit authentic evidence of the obligation and the act under La. C.C.P. art. 2635.^6,11 Because association privileges typically arise by operation of statute rather than from an authentic act containing the owner's confession of judgment, associations commonly proceed by ordinary process: a petition to recognize and enforce the privilege, followed by judgment and a sheriff's sale executed under a writ of fieri facias. No statute sets a minimum dollar threshold or minimum delinquency period before suit; the only dollar figure in the statutes is the $250 floor for a condominium fine or late fee to be secured.³ Fines are foreclosable: the condominium privilege covers fines above $250, and the planned-community and general association privilege covers any fines imposed against the owner.^3,7 A privilege recorded for an alleged violation of community documents perempts faster, requiring a notice of pendency of action within one year, whereas a privilege for dues and assessments is preserved for five years.⁵

Post-sale: redemption, deficiency, surplus, and reinstatement

Louisiana provides no post-sale statutory right of redemption for residential mortgage or association foreclosures. Once the sheriff's sale is complete and the deed delivered, the former owner cannot reclaim the property by later payment.¹² (The constitutional redemption right available for tax sales is a separate process and does not apply here.) A deficiency judgment is available, but only where the property was sold after appraisal under Louisiana law; the foreclosing party obtains the deficiency either in the ordinary proceeding or by a separate suit after an executory proceeding.¹² Surplus proceeds remaining after the seizing creditor and ranking lienholders are paid go back to the former owner. For planned communities, any surplus association funds remaining after common expenses are paid go annually to lot owners in proportion to their common-expense liabilities or are credited against future assessments under La. R.S. 9:1141.31.¹⁸ The owner may stop the sale by paying the judgment, interest, and costs before the sale, but no statute grants a post-sale reinstatement right. This applies to both property types.

Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Louisiana's 2024 legislative session produced two significant changes to the planned-community and building-restriction framework.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two Fourth Circuit decisions illustrate how Louisiana courts police the process of levying and settling assessment claims.

C. Active legislative debates

The principal open question following Act 158 of 2024 is how far the restated Planned Community Act mechanics will reach existing associations. The act is prospective and leaves communities formed before January 1, 2025 largely under their prior documents and former law. No bill repealing the no-super-priority rule or creating a UCIOA-style super-lien has advanced.

National positioning and related coverage

Louisiana falls firmly in the first-in-time, public-records camp, not among the super-priority jurisdictions. Unlike Nevada, where the state Supreme Court held in SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408, 410 (Nev. 2014) (en banc), that NRS 116.3116(2) grants "true lien priority" — not merely "payment priority" — so that an HOA foreclosure "may eliminate all deeds of trust and other liens" for the nine months of assessments that, under NRS 116.3116(2)(b), would have become due immediately preceding the notice of default,²³ Louisiana ranks the association privilege strictly by recordation date and subordinates it to encumbrances recorded earlier. Colorado similarly grants priority for the six months of assessments that, under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I), would have become due during the six months immediately preceding institution of a foreclosure action,²⁴ and Connecticut maintains a comparable six-month priority. Louisiana also differs from the threshold-restricted states: California, under Cal. Civ. Code § 5720(b), bars foreclosure unless delinquent assessments reach $1,800 or are more than twelve months delinquent, whichever comes first,²⁵ and Arizona, under A.R.S. § 33-1807(A) as amended by SB 1494 effective September 26, 2025, allows planned-community foreclosure only where the owner remains delinquent for eighteen months or in the amount of $10,000 or more, whichever occurs first.²⁶ For multi-state operators, the practical consequence is clear: a Louisiana association's recorded privilege will usually be extinguished by a senior mortgage foreclosure and will rarely prime institutional lenders, so early recording and prompt judicial enforcement matter more than relying on priority. Louisiana's current direction, set by the 2024 restatement, aims toward clearer and more uniform planned-community mechanics rather than expanded lien priority.

Footnotes

1. La. R.S. 9:1121.101, Louisiana Condominium Act, short title (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
2. SB 23, 2024 Regular Session, bill information (Act 158), Louisiana Planned Community Act (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
3. La. R.S. 9:1123.115, Privilege on immovables (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
4. La. R.S. 9:1147, Sworn detailed statement; filing (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
5. Acts 2024, No. 158 (Enrolled SB 23), La. R.S. 9:1148, Privilege; ranking and extinguishment (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
6. La. C.C.P. art. 2631, Use of executory proceedings (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
7. La. R.S. 9:1141.35, Privileges for sums due to the association; enforcement (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
8. La. R.S. 9:1145, Association of owners; privilege; notice to owner; definition (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
9. La. R.S. 9:1141.32, planned-community assessment acceleration (twelve months after three months' delinquency in an eight-month period) (Justia) ↩
10. La. R.S. 9:1146, Privilege; written demand; thirty-day period (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
11. La. C.C.P. art. 2635, Authentic evidence submitted with petition (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
12. Louisiana foreclosure proceeds by executory or ordinary process (La. C.C.P. art. 2631 et seq.); deficiency judgments require pre-sale appraisal (La. R.S. 13:4106); Louisiana provides no post-sale statutory redemption (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
13. La. R.S. 9:1123.116, Privilege for utility assessments (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
14. La. R.S. 9:1123.102, Powers of unit owners' association (late charges and fines) (Justia) ↩
15. La. Civ. Code art. 775, Building restrictions (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
16. Acts 2024, No. 158 (Enrolled SB 23), amending La. Civ. Code art. 783 (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
17. La. Civ. Code art. 3494, Actions subject to a three-year prescription (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
18. La. R.S. 9:1141.31, Surplus funds (Justia) ↩
19. Acts 2024, No. 158 (Enrolled SB 23), Louisiana Planned Community Act (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
20. HB 23, 2024 Regular Session, bill information (Act 184, amending La. Civ. Code art. 781) (Louisiana State Legislature) ↩
21. Person v. 2434 St. Charles Ave. Condo. Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., No. 2024-CA-0395 (La. App. 4 Cir. Dec. 26, 2024) (Justia) ↩
22. Louisiana-Annunciation Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Kennedy, No. 2023-CA-0327 (La. App. 4 Cir. Nov. 16, 2023) (Justia) ↩
23. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408, 410 (Nev. 2014) (en banc), construing NRS 116.3116(2)(b) (nine-month super-priority) (Justia) ↩
24. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I) (six months of assessments preceding institution of foreclosure) (Justia) ↩
25. Cal. Civ. Code § 5720(b) ($1,800 or 12-month threshold before assessment foreclosure) (Justia) ↩
26. A.R.S. § 33-1807(A), as amended by SB 1494 (eff. Sept. 26, 2025) (eighteen-month or $10,000 threshold) (Arizona Legislature) ↩