Mississippi HOA Collections & Liens

Section 1: Overview

Mississippi is a covenant-primary, nonjudicial-foreclosure state. It has no post-sale redemption period and a split trial-court structure. Condominiums operate under the Mississippi Condominium Law, Miss. Code § 89-9-1 et seq., enacted in 1964 and not based on the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.¹ Planned communities have no comprehensive statute; their collection authority rests on recorded covenants, conditions, and restrictions, the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, and common law.² For condominiums, the assessment becomes a debt when the association makes it, but it becomes a lien on the unit only when the management body records a notice of assessment with the chancery clerk — the lien does not attach automatically on the due date.³ Mississippi grants associations no super-priority over a first mortgage; the condominium lien ranks ahead only of liens recorded after the association files its notice.³ Associations may proceed nonjudicially under the power-of-sale statute for deeds of trust, or they may file a judicial action in Chancery Court.⁴ No statute sets a minimum dollar threshold or a minimum delinquency period before foreclosure.³ Nationally, Mississippi sits at the deregulated end of the collections spectrum: no super-priority, no statutory notice requirements, no redemption period, and one of the fastest sale timelines in the country.⁵ The sections below cover lien creation and priority, the collection and foreclosure sequence, and recent legislative and judicial activity.

Mississippi HOA Collections & Liens at a glance.

Source: Miss. Code § 89-9-21; Miss. Code § 89-1-55; Miss. Code § 79-11-101 et seq. Last verified: June 9, 2026.

Section 2: The lien and its priority

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

For condominiums, the assessment lien is statutory. Under Miss. Code § 89-9-21, a reasonable assessment made under a recorded declaration of restrictions is a debt of the owner at the time the association makes it.³ The debt becomes a lien on the unit only when the management body records a notice of assessment in the office of the chancery clerk of the county where the condominium is located. The notice must state the amount, describe the unit, and name the record owner, and an authorized representative must sign and verify it. This recording requirement means the condominium lien does not attach automatically on the date the assessment falls due — recording is the operative step. The lien secures the assessment plus interest, costs, attorneys' fees, and penalties to the extent the declaration of restrictions provides for them. The lien reaches only the assessed unit, not other property of the owner, although the association may also sue the owner for a money judgment without waiving the lien.³

For planned communities, there is no statutory lien. The authority to assess and to lien is contractual, drawn from the recorded CC&Rs, and corporate, drawn from the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act. That Act empowers a nonprofit corporation to impose dues, assessments, and fees on its members (Miss. Code § 79-11-151) and provides that a member may become liable for dues, assessments, or fees, though an article, bylaw, or board resolution does not by itself create that liability (Miss. Code § 79-11-183).⁷ A planned-community association that wants a lien remedy must find it in its declaration; absent that, the association is limited to a contract action for a money judgment.

2B. Lien priority and any super-priority component

The priority rule for the condominium lien is clear: the lien "shall be prior to all other liens recorded subsequent to the recordation of said notice of assessment except that the declaration of restrictions may provide for the subordination thereof to any other liens and encumbrances" (Miss. Code § 89-9-21).³ Priority runs from the date the association records the notice, on a race basis. The lien is junior to anything already on record — including a first mortgage or deed of trust recorded before the notice and any earlier tax liens. Mississippi recognizes no super-priority that would put the association ahead of a prior first mortgage, and the statute assigns no month-count. This is the most important point for any lender or servicer: a Mississippi condominium association cannot use a recorded lien to prime a previously recorded deed of trust. Because the lien expires one year after the association records the notice of assessment unless enforcement begins or the management body records a one-year extension, associations that let delinquencies age may need to record successive notices — an approach sometimes called a rolling lien — where each notice takes its own priority date.³

For planned communities, priority depends entirely on when and whether the association records a covenant-based lien and on the language of the CC&Rs, with no statutory priority backstop.²

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

Recorded CC&Rs do the heavy lifting in both contexts. For condominiums, the declaration of restrictions supplies the interest, late fees, penalties, and attorneys' fees that the statute allows the lien to secure, and it may subordinate the lien.³ For planned communities, the CC&Rs are the source of the assessment obligation, the late-fee and interest schedule, and any lien or foreclosure remedy. The statute of limitations on the underlying assessment debt is the general limitations regime: actions on an open account or unwritten contract must be brought within three years (Miss. Code § 15-1-29), and the three-year catch-all period applies to most other civil claims for which no other period is set (Miss. Code § 15-1-49).⁸

Three federal frameworks override the state framework regardless of community type. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act reaches association attorneys and third-party collectors who regularly collect assessments, though an association collecting its own debt is generally not a covered debt collector.⁹ The automatic stay in bankruptcy halts collection and foreclosure on filing. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act limits enforcement against active-duty servicemembers. These federal frameworks are addressed in a separate section.

Section 3: The collection and foreclosure process

3A. Pre-lien collection sequence

Mississippi imposes no statutory pre-lien notice for either condominiums or planned communities. The Condominium Law does not require an advance demand letter, a cure period, an itemized statement, a dispute procedure, or a mandatory payment plan before the management body records a notice of assessment (Miss. Code § 89-9-21).³ Any such step is contractual, arising only if the declaration of restrictions or CC&Rs require it, or federal law imposes it when a covered debt collector is involved. This applies to both condominiums and planned communities, with the difference that for planned communities every step of collection is contractual or corporate rather than statutory.²

3B. Recording and the pre-foreclosure sequence

For condominiums, recording the notice of assessment is the statutory pivot. The management body records the notice with the chancery clerk; the notice must state the amount and charges, describe the unit, and name the record owner, and an authorized representative must sign and verify it (Miss. Code § 89-9-21).³ There is no statutory deadline to record, but the lien expires one year after recording unless enforcement begins or the association records a one-year extension. Mississippi sets no statutory notice of intent to foreclose with a fixed day-count beyond the sale-advertisement rule, no statutory board-vote requirement, no mandatory payment-plan offer, and no mandatory mediation. For planned communities, recording a lien and any pre-foreclosure notice are contractual, governed by the CC&Rs, not by statute.

3C. Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds

The association may enforce the condominium lien by sale conducted "in accordance with the provisions of Section 89-1-55, applicable to the exercise of powers of sale in mortgages and deeds of trust, or in any other manner permitted by law" (Miss. Code § 89-9-21).³ That cross-reference gives associations the nonjudicial power-of-sale route. Under Miss. Code § 89-1-55, the association must advertise the sale for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county — or one of general circulation if no county paper exists — and post one notice at the courthouse; the advertisement must disclose the name of the original party, and no sale is valid unless the association advertises it as required, regardless of any contract to the contrary.⁴ The "any other manner permitted by law" language preserves a judicial, equitable foreclosure, which proceeds in Chancery Court because foreclosure of this kind is an equitable matter — equitable foreclosure belongs in Chancery Court, not Circuit Court.⁵ The management body may bid at the sale and may hold, lease, mortgage, and convey the unit unless the declaration says otherwise. No statute sets a minimum dollar threshold or a minimum delinquency period before foreclosure. Fines and penalties can support the condominium lien, and therefore the foreclosure, to the extent the declaration of restrictions authorizes them.³ The sale timeline is short; the publication period drives a process that typically completes in roughly two to three months.⁵ For planned communities, the CC&Rs must grant the power of sale and any foreclosure remedy; if the covenants grant a power of sale, the § 89-1-55 mechanics apply, and if they do not, the association is limited to a judicial action.

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

Mississippi provides no post-sale right of redemption. Once the sale concludes and the trustee delivers the deed, the former owner cannot reclaim the property.⁶ The owner may, however, reinstate or stop the sale by paying the past-due amount plus fees and costs at any time before the sale concludes (Miss. Code § 89-1-59).¹⁰ If the sale proceeds leave a deficiency, any action to recover it must begin within one year of the sale (Miss. Code § 15-1-23).⁸ Surplus proceeds after the debt and costs are satisfied go to junior lienholders in order of priority and then to the former owner. These rules flow from the deed-of-trust foreclosure framework that the Condominium Law incorporates and apply to a planned community only where its CC&Rs invoke a power of sale under the same statutes.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

Activity in this area is low. No bill in the past 24 months has changed Mississippi's condominium assessment-lien, priority, or foreclosure rules, and no statute has created a planned-community collections regime. Two covenant-authority bills are noted below because they bear on planned-community governance, and both failed.

4A. Recent bills

Two bills attempted to give Mississippi planned-community owners a statutory mechanism to establish or amend covenants by majority vote. Both died in committee.

4B. Recent appellate rulings

Mississippi courts are holding associations and property buyers to the full weight of recorded covenants, particularly when a deed of trust goes to foreclosure.

4C. Active legislative debates

The recurring debate is whether Mississippi should give planned-community owners a statutory mechanism to establish or amend covenants by majority vote, reflected in the back-to-back failures of HB 48 and SB 2481. There is no active proposal to create a super-priority lien or a statutory collections code for planned communities.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Mississippi sits at the deregulated end of the collections spectrum. It is not a super-priority state like Nevada, whose lien primes a first deed of trust to the extent of common-expense assessments due during the nine months before enforcement (NRS 116.3116), or Connecticut, whose super-lien covers nine months (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258), or the other Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act states that give associations a limited priority over first mortgages.¹⁴ It is not a threshold-restricted state like California, which bars nonjudicial foreclosure of assessments under $1,800 unless they are more than 12 months delinquent (Cal. Civ. Code § 5720), or Arizona and Colorado, which set comparable limits.¹⁵ It is not judicial-only. For condominiums, Mississippi offers a statutory but non-priming lien and a fast power-of-sale remedy; for planned communities, it is a covenant-primary state with no collections statute. For a multi-state operator, Mississippi files move quickly and cheaply, but the association's recovery is capped by ordinary lien priority — a prior first mortgage will usually outrank the association in any contest over sale proceeds. Mississippi's direction of travel is static: repeated covenant-authority bills have failed, and there is no momentum toward super-priority, redemption, or a planned-community code.

1. Miss. Code Title 89, Chapter 9, §§ 89-9-1 through 89-9-37 (Mississippi Condominium Law, enacted Laws, 1964, ch. 270; applies to condominiums only, not to homeowners' associations) ↩
2. Homeowners Protection Bureau, Mississippi HOA Laws (Mississippi Condominium Law applies only to condominiums; planned communities governed by recorded CC&Rs, the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, and applicable federal law) ↩
3. Miss. Code § 89-9-21 (liability of owner for assessment; lien; recording, priority, one-year expiration with one-year extension, enforcement) ↩
4. Miss. Code § 89-1-55 (sale under mortgages and deeds of trust; advertised three consecutive weeks in a newspaper and posted at the courthouse; sale invalid unless advertised as required) ↩
5. North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, foreclosure overview (nonjudicial power-of-sale is the predominant method under § 89-1-55; judicial foreclosure available; deficiency suit ordinarily filed in circuit or county court) ↩
6. AllLaw/Nolo, Foreclosure Process and Laws in Mississippi (no post-sale redemption period; borrower may reinstate before the sale under Miss. Code § 89-1-59) ↩
7. Miss. Code § 79-11-151 (corporate power to impose dues, assessments, admission and transfer fees) and § 79-11-183 (member may become liable for dues, assessments, or fees; an article, bylaw, or resolution does not of itself create liability) ↩
8. Miss. Code § 15-1-29 (three-year limitation on open accounts and unwritten contracts); § 15-1-49 (three-year catch-all limitation); § 15-1-23 (one-year limitation on actions to recover a deficiency after foreclosure or sale) ↩
9. Homeowners Protection Bureau, How the FDCPA Affects HOA Collections (HOA fees are "debts"; the association collecting on its own behalf is generally not a "debt collector," but attorneys and agencies that regularly collect are) ↩
10. US Legal, Mississippi deficiency and reinstatement (account may be reinstated and the sale stopped at any time before the conclusion of the sale upon payment of past-due amounts, costs, and fees; Miss. Code § 89-1-59; no statutory post-sale redemption) ↩
11. Mississippi Legislature, HB 48 (2024 Regular Session), As Passed the House (residential subdivisions; authorize property owners to establish and/or amend covenants; brings forward § 89-1-69); died in Senate committee ↩
12. Mississippi Legislature, SB 2481 (2025 Regular Session), As Introduced (same covenant-amendment framework; brings forward § 89-1-69); Died In Committee, February 4, 2025 ↩
13. Loblolly Properties LLC v. Le Papillon Homeowner's Association Inc., No. 2021-CT-00767-SCT (Miss. Aug. 17, 2023) (en banc) (nonjudicial foreclosure of a deed of trust does not extinguish restrictive covenants to pay HOA fees filed after the deed of trust; affirming summary judgment for the association) ↩
14. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(2) (association lien prior to a first security interest to the extent of common-expense assessments that would have become due during the nine months immediately preceding enforcement); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258(b) (nine-month super-priority, as amended by P.A. 13-156) ↩
15. Cal. Civ. Code § 5720 (no nonjudicial foreclosure of delinquent assessments under $1,800, excluding accelerated assessments, late charges, fees, costs, attorneys' fees, and interest, unless more than 12 months delinquent) ↩