Missouri HOA Collections & Liens

Section 1: Overview

Missouri runs a split system. Condominiums created after September 28, 1983 fall under the Missouri Uniform Condominium Act (MUCA), Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.1-101 et seq.,¹ built on the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act (UCA), which grants a limited six-month priority lien under § 448.3-116. Condominiums created before that date fall under the older Condominium Property Act, §§ 448.005 to 448.210. Planned communities have no comprehensive statute; collection runs on recorded covenants, the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Act (ch. 355), and common law. The condominium assessment lien arises automatically when an assessment or fine becomes due. Recording the declaration provides record notice and perfection — no separate claim of lien is required.² Missouri grants condominiums a limited priority ahead of a prior first mortgage — but only for six months of common-expense assessments, and only in a judicial foreclosure. Choose the nonjudicial route and that priority is forfeited. Foreclosure of a MUCA lien may be judicial (like a mortgage) or nonjudicial (power of sale under ch. 443). No statute sets a minimum dollar amount or minimum delinquency period before an association may foreclose.

Missouri occupies a distinctive middle position nationally. It has a true six-month priority portion like UCIOA states — but shorter than Nevada's nine-month super-priority under NRS 116.3116(2). In SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014), the Nevada Supreme Court held that statute gives an HOA a true super-priority lien whose foreclosure extinguishes a first deed of trust. Missouri's priority, unlike Nevada's, disappears when an association uses the nonjudicial track most associations prefer. And unlike threshold-restricted states, Missouri sets no dollar floor: California bars judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure on assessments under $1,800 under Cal. Civ. Code § 5720(b), and Arizona conditions foreclosure on delinquency-duration and dollar thresholds under A.R.S. § 33-1807.^3,4,5 The sections below detail the lien, its priority, the operational collection sequence, and recent activity.

Quick-reference: Missouri HOA Collections & Liens at a glance

Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 448.3-116, 448.080, 443.310–443.440, ch. 355. Last verified: June 9, 2026.

Section 2: The lien and its priority

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

For condominiums governed by MUCA, the assessment lien is statutory. Section 448.3-116(1) gives the association a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or any fine imposed against its owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due.² The lien arises automatically on the due date; no demand or recording is required to create it. Section 448.3-116(4) states that recording the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien, and that no further recordation of any claim of lien is required.² If an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount is a lien from the time the first installment becomes due. The lien attaches to the unit, not to the owner's other property.

What the lien secures is broad. Beyond regular and special assessments, § 448.3-116(1) makes fees, charges, late charges, fines, and interest charged under § 448.3-102(10) to (12) enforceable as assessments unless the declaration provides otherwise.² The association may also recover costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred in collection, and a judgment must include costs and reasonable attorney fees for the prevailing party.² One limit matters for software logic: § 448.3-116(7) states that attorney fees and costs are not included in the limited-priority portion described below. A lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless enforcement proceedings begin within three years after the full amount becomes due.²

For condominiums created before September 28, 1983, the older Condominium Property Act applies. Section 448.080 makes unpaid common-expense shares a lien in favor of the board of managers, foreclosable in the name of the board in like manner as a mortgage of real property under §§ 443.190 to 443.310.⁶ Several MUCA provisions, including § 448.3-116, also reach pre-1983 condominiums for events occurring after September 28, 1983, under the applicability rule in § 448.1-102.¹³

Planned communities have no comparable statute. The collection authority is contractual, drawn from the recorded declaration and covenants, supported by the association's corporate powers under the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Act (ch. 355) and Missouri common law. No statutory automatic lien exists for a planned-community association; the lien and its enforcement exist only to the extent the recorded covenants create them.

2B. Lien priority and any super-priority component

Section 448.3-116(2) sets the priority rule for MUCA condominiums. The assessment lien is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on a unit except: liens and encumbrances recorded before the declaration; a purchase-money mortgage or deed of trust recorded before August 28, 2014; a mortgage or deed of trust recorded before the assessment became due; and liens for real-estate taxes and other governmental charges.² Mechanics' and materialmen's lien priority is unaffected.

The limited priority — often called a super-priority — is the high-value provision. Section 448.3-116(2)(3) gives the association lien limited priority over an earlier mortgage or deed of trust for common-expense assessments not to exceed six months of delinquent common-expense assessments, based on the periodic budget adopted under § 448.3-115, that would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the six months immediately preceding the date a petition to enforce the lien is filed or the date of sale by the mortgage holder.² The six-month figure is confirmed in the current statutory text effective August 28, 2014. Two limits are critical for any notice generator. First, attorney fees and costs are excluded from this priority portion. Second, and most consequential, § 448.3-116(2)(5) provides that if the association forecloses its lien nonjudicially under ch. 443, it is not entitled to the limited lien priority at all.² The six-month priority is therefore available only in a judicial foreclosure.

On the rolling-lien question — whether the six-month priority can be reasserted in successive periods — Missouri's text is the 1980 UCA formulation and lacks the explicit successive-priority language found in UCIOA § 3-116. No Missouri appellate decision has held that the priority rolls. Operators should not assume Missouri follows Nevada, whose UCIOA-based nonjudicial framework under NRS 116.3116 and 116.31162, as construed in SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014), measures the nine-month priority from the date the notice of default is recorded and has been read to permit a revived priority after a release.³

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

Recorded declarations and covenants supplement the statute. They can set late charges, interest, fines, and collection procedures, and § 448.3-116(1) defers to the declaration on whether fees and fines are enforceable as assessments. What declarations cannot do is rewrite statutory lien priority. A declaration that purports to grant a larger priority over a first mortgage than § 448.3-116 allows does not bind a prior lender beyond the statute.

On the underlying debt, Missouri applies a 10-year limitation under § 516.110 to an action upon any writing for the payment of money, and a five-year limitation under § 516.120 to general contract and statutory-liability actions.^14,15 Which period applies to assessment debt depends on whether the obligation is treated as a written promise to pay arising from the recorded declaration or as a general contractual or statutory obligation; Missouri courts look to whether extrinsic evidence is needed to establish the promise — if the promise is express or fairly implied from the writing, § 516.110's ten years governs; if it arises only on proof of extrinsic facts, § 516.120's five years applies. Separately, the condominium lien itself carries its own three-year enforcement deadline under § 448.3-116(5), which is the binding clock for the lien remedy regardless of the debt limitation.²

Federal law operates on top of the state framework. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act reaches associations' attorneys and outside collection agents who regularly collect assessments, though an association collecting on its own behalf is generally not a debt collector, and firms conducting only nonjudicial foreclosure are subject to a narrower set of FDCPA duties.¹⁶ A bankruptcy filing triggers the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362, halting collection and foreclosure. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act adds protections for active-duty owners.

Section 3: The collection and foreclosure process

3A. Pre-lien collection sequence

For MUCA condominiums, no statutory notice must precede the lien, because the lien is already perfected by the recorded declaration under § 448.3-116(4).² This is a structural difference from states that require a recorded notice of delinquency before a lien attaches. The practical pre-lien sequence — reminder letters, late notices, demand letters — is imposed by the declaration and by prudent practice, not by statute. One statutory exception applies to fines: under § 448.3-102, an association may impose fines only after notice and an opportunity to be heard, so a fine that is later folded into the lien must clear that step first.⁷

On owner information rights, § 448.3-116(8) requires the association, on written request by a unit owner or a mortgage holder, to furnish a recordable statement of unpaid assessments within ten business days, and the statement binds the association unless known to be false.² No statute requires the association to offer a payment plan before recording or foreclosing. For planned communities, every step in this sequence is contractual, governed by the declaration, not by statute.

3B. Recording and the pre-foreclosure sequence

For MUCA condominiums there is no required recording of a claim of lien, because perfection flows from the declaration.² Associations nonetheless often record a notice of lien in the county recorder of deeds office to document the amount and provide constructive notice to title searchers, but this is a practice step, not a statutory precondition.

The pre-foreclosure notice depends on the track chosen. If the association uses a nonjudicial power of sale under ch. 443, § 443.310 requires not less than 20 days' notice of sale to the grantors named in the deed of trust, given in the manner required by § 443.325, plus published notice under § 443.320.⁸ Section 443.325(3) requires the foreclosing party to mail the individual notice by certified or registered mail not less than 20 days before the scheduled sale to the record owner and the grantor.⁹ If the association instead files a judicial foreclosure, the prerequisite is ordinary service of process on the defendants.

On board prerequisites, no statute requires a recorded board vote, a payment-plan offer, or mandatory mediation before a condominium foreclosure. Section 448.3-103 provides that, except as limited by the declaration or bylaws, the executive board may act on behalf of the association, which ordinarily allows the board to authorize collection and delegate execution to management or counsel.¹⁰ For planned communities, any vote, notice, or mediation requirement comes from the recorded covenants, not the condominium statute.

3C. Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds

Section 448.3-116(1) states that a MUCA association's lien may be foreclosed in like manner as a mortgage on real estate or by a power of sale under ch. 443.² Missouri's dominant foreclosure mechanism is the nonjudicial trustee's sale under a deed of trust, which presupposes a power-of-sale provision; for an association lien, the practical route to a nonjudicial sale runs through ch. 443's trustee-sale procedure. The trade-off is the priority forfeiture in § 448.3-116(2)(5): an association that wants to preserve its six-month priority over a prior first mortgage must foreclose judicially. Older-act condominiums foreclose judicially under § 448.080, which routes to §§ 443.190 to 443.310 and authorizes the board to bid at the sale.⁶

No statute sets a minimum dollar threshold or minimum delinquency duration before a condominium foreclosure may begin. (Section 448.3-116(9) lets the association demand rent from a tenant once the owner is more than 60 days delinquent, but that is a rent-capture remedy, not a foreclosure precondition.)² Fines, fees, late charges, and interest are foreclosable to the same extent as assessments under § 448.3-116(1), so the lien can support foreclosure even where part of the balance is fines, subject to the declaration.²

The nonjudicial sale timeline is driven by the publication and mailing rules. Section 443.320 requires publication of the sale notice at least 20 times in a daily newspaper in counties with a city of 50,000 or more, or for four successive weeks in a weekly newspaper in other counties, with the last insertion not more than one week before the sale.¹⁷ Combined with the 20-day individual mailed notice, this produces a sale roughly three to four weeks after notice begins, conducted by the trustee at public auction. For planned communities, the entire foreclosure mechanism is contractual, available only if and as the recorded covenants provide.

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

Missouri's post-sale redemption right is unusual and narrow. Under § 443.410, real estate sold under a power of sale is subject to redemption by the grantor within one year of the sale only when the holder of the debt — or another person buying for that holder — is the purchaser at the sale.¹¹ If a third party buys, there is no redemption right. Even when the creditor is the buyer, the debtor must give written notice of intent to redeem at the sale or within ten days before the advertised sale date, and then, under § 443.420, must post security approved by the circuit court within twenty days after the sale.^11,12 This is not a general post-sale right; for most association foreclosures, where the property is sold to a third-party bidder, no redemption right exists.

On deficiency, the association retains the ability to pursue the underlying debt: § 448.3-116(6) preserves actions to recover the sums for which the lien arises, and a money judgment against the former owner remains available where the obligation is established.² Surplus proceeds from a trustee's sale are distributed to junior lienholders in order of priority and then to the former owner. On reinstatement, Missouri law provides no statutory right to cure and reinstate before a trustee's sale; reinstatement rights, where they exist, come from the deed of trust itself, such as the uniform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac instruments. An owner may, however, redeem before sale by paying the full debt under the general pre-sale redemption principle in ch. 443.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Missouri's most notable recent legislative activity is also the absence of a result: the repeated effort to create a comprehensive planned-community statute has failed again. As of June 2026, planned communities still have no assessment-collection statute — the single most consequential fact for planned-community operators in this state.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two older cases remain the controlling precedents on the condominium lien itself.

C. Active legislative debates

The recurring planned-community bills — SB 481 and HB 1177 in 2025, preceded by SB 1324 and HB 2270 in 2024 — indicate continuing legislative interest in a statutory HOA framework, and similar proposals are likely to return in future sessions.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Missouri occupies a middle position on the collections spectrum. It grants condominiums a true limited-priority portion ahead of a first mortgage, like the UCIOA family of states, but its six-month window is shorter than Nevada's nine-month super-priority under NRS 116.3116(2). In SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014), the Nevada Supreme Court held that the statute gives an HOA a true super-priority lien whose proper foreclosure extinguishes a first deed of trust, and that chapter 116 permits nonjudicial foreclosure; the HOA there acquired the property for a few thousand dollars at auction, wiping out a first deed of trust on a home worth far more.³ Unlike threshold-restricted states, Missouri sets no minimum dollar amount or delinquency duration before foreclosure: California bars judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure to collect delinquent regular or special assessments of less than $1,800 (excluding accelerated assessments, late charges, fees, costs of collection, attorney fees, or interest) under Cal. Civ. Code § 5720(b), and Arizona conditions foreclosure on delinquency-duration and dollar thresholds under A.R.S. § 33-1807 (with planned-community thresholds raised effective September 26, 2025).^4,5 And unlike pure CC&R-primary states, Missouri at least has a condominium statute, though its planned communities remain CC&R-primary with no collection statute. The decisive Missouri wrinkle is that the six-month priority evaporates in the nonjudicial track most associations prefer, so the priority is real only when the association litigates. For multi-state operators, the lesson is concrete: a collection process that is valid and economical in one state can be defective or self-defeating in Missouri, where choosing the faster nonjudicial route forfeits the priority that makes the lien valuable. Missouri's current direction of travel is toward a planned-community statute, but four consecutive bills have died, so the contractual status quo persists.

This page is updated quarterly. Regardless of the state framework, the federal overlay applies on top: the FDCPA reaches association attorneys and collection agents, the bankruptcy automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 halts collection, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty owners.

1. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.1-101, Short title (Missouri Uniform Condominium Act) ↩
2. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.3-116, Lien for assessments ↩
3. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116, Lien for assessments (nine-month priority); SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) ↩
4. Cal. Civ. Code § 5720(b), Assessment collection; $1,800 foreclosure floor ↩
5. A.R.S. § 33-1807, Planned-community assessment lien and foreclosure thresholds ↩
6. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.080, Common element costs, lien, foreclosure ↩
7. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.3-102, Powers of unit owners' association ↩
8. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 443.310, Sales, where made, number of days' notice ↩
9. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 443.325, Individual notice of foreclosure sale ↩
10. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.3-103, Executive board members and officers ↩
11. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 443.410, Foreclosures by trustee's sale, redemption ↩
12. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 443.420, Notice of redemption, how given, rights ↩
13. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 448.1-102, Applicability ↩
14. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.110, Ten-year limitation ↩
15. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120, Five-year limitation ↩
16. FDCPA application to HOA collections (overview) ↩
17. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 443.320, Notice, contents, how published ↩
18. Mo. SB 481 (2025), Missouri Homeowners' Association Act ↩
19. Mo. HB 1177 (2025), Companion HOA Act ↩
20. Martin Leigh, PC v. Williamson, No. SD38172 (Mo. Ct. App. S.D., Sept. 19, 2024) ↩
21. Bd. of Managers of Parkway Towers Condo. Ass'n v. Carcopa, 403 S.W.3d 590 (Mo. banc 2013) ↩
22. First Nat'l Bank of Dieterich v. Pointe Royale Prop. Owners' Ass'n, No. SC95865 (Mo. banc 2017) ↩