Nevada HOA Collections & Liens

1. Overview: How assessment collection and liens work in Nevada

Nevada's NRS Chapter 116 gives homeowners associations one of the most powerful collection tools in the country. At its core is a super-priority assessment lien that can, in a properly conducted nonjudicial foreclosure sale, extinguish a first deed of trust — a proposition the Nevada Supreme Court confirmed in SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 130 Nev. 742, 334 P.3d 408 (2014), when a unit sold at an HOA auction for $6,000 and the mortgage behind it disappeared.¹ The lien arises automatically from the moment a construction penalty, assessment, or fine comes due; recording the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection under the statute.² The super-priority portion covers nine months of common-expense assessments immediately preceding the recording of the notice of default, plus NRS 116.310312 maintenance and nuisance-abatement charges and capped enforcement costs.³ Associations foreclose nonjudicially under NRS 116.31162 through 116.31168 — a framework originally enacted in 1991 but substantially rewritten in 2015 to add lender notice, a lender right to pay off the super-priority amount, and an owner redemption right.⁴ No statutory minimum dollar threshold exists for foreclosure, but the owner must receive a 90-day cure window after the notice of default before the association can hold a sale, and fines generally cannot support a foreclosure unless the underlying violation threatens health and safety.⁵ The 2015 amendments came directly in response to the fallout from SFR Investments; anyone relying on pre-2015 process descriptions should set those aside and read the current statute instead.⁶ Nevada stands at the aggressive end of the national collections spectrum. The sections below set out the lien, its priority, the step-by-step foreclosure timeline, and the most recent legislative and judicial developments.

Nevada HOA Collections & Liens at a glance

Source: NRS 116.3116 to 116.31168; NRS 38.300 to 38.360; NRS 11.190. Last verified: June 10, 2026.

2. The lien and its priority

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

The statutory source of the association lien is NRS 116.3116, which gives the association a lien on a unit for any construction penalty, any assessment levied against that unit, and any fine imposed against the owner, from the moment the charge becomes due.²² The lien attaches to the unit itself, not to the owner personally, though the association retains a separate right to sue the owner for a money judgment. No separate recording is needed to create or perfect the lien; NRS 116.3116(9) provides that recording the declaration serves as record notice and perfection.²³ In practice, associations still record a notice of delinquent assessment to put the public on notice and to start the foreclosure sequence. The lien captures more than base assessments: unless the declaration provides otherwise, penalties, fees, charges, late charges, fines, and interest charged under the enumerated paragraphs of NRS 116.3102, plus the costs of collecting a past-due obligation under NRS 116.310313, are all enforceable as assessments.²⁴ Interest on past-due assessments runs under NRS 116.3115(3) at the prime rate at the largest bank in Nevada as determined by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions on January 1 or July 1, plus 2 percent, adjusted each January 1 and July 1.²⁵ When an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount becomes a lien from the date the first installment is due. These rules apply to condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives whose declarations permit foreclosure under the statute.²⁶

2B. Lien priority and the super-priority component

Under NRS 116.3116(2), the association lien takes priority over every other lien and encumbrance on a unit, with three exceptions: liens and encumbrances recorded before the declaration was recorded; a first security interest recorded before the date the assessed obligation became delinquent; and liens for real-property taxes and other governmental charges.²⁷ The headline feature is the carve-out from that general subordination. The lien also takes priority over a first security interest to the extent of charges under NRS 116.310312 (maintenance and nuisance abatement) and to the extent of the common-expense assessments, based on the periodic budget, that would have come due during the nine months immediately preceding the recording of the notice of default and election to sell.²⁸ This is the super-priority piece. Nevada extended the UCIOA six-month default to nine months; a federal floor of at least six months applies where FHLMC or FNMA regulations govern.²⁹ In Horizons at Seven Hills Homeowners Ass'n v. Ikon Holdings, LLC, 132 Nev. 362, 373 P.3d 66 (2016), the Nevada Supreme Court held that a super-priority lien under NRS 116.3116(2) does not include the additional collection fees and foreclosure costs an HOA incurs before a sale — it is limited to nine months of common-expense assessments.³⁰ The lien does not affect the priority of mechanics' or materialmen's liens.³¹ The super-priority is not a one-time event: in Property Plus Investments, LLC v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., 133 Nev. 462, 401 P.3d 728 (2017), the court held that NRS 116.3116 does not limit an association to one super-priority lien per property — after rescinding a super-priority lien, the association may assert a separate super-priority lien on the same property.³² When two associations hold liens on the same unit, those liens carry equal priority.³³

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

The declaration supplements the statutory lien but cannot reduce it. NRS 116.1206 provides that any governing-document provision that conflicts with Chapter 116 is deemed to conform by operation of law and is superseded by the chapter.³⁴ In Ikon Holdings, the court applied that rule to strike a CC&R clause that capped the super-priority window at six months, holding that the nine-month statutory figure controls.³⁵ Two distinct limitation periods matter. The lien itself is extinguished unless the association records a notice of default and election to sell, or institutes a judicial action to enforce the lien, within three years after the full amount of the assessments becomes due.³⁶ The underlying assessment debt, as an obligation grounded in a written instrument — the recorded declaration — carries the six-year limitations period for written contracts under NRS 11.190(1)(b).³⁷ Three federal frameworks also overlay the state process. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to third-party collectors and law firms pursuing assessment debt. The automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. 362 halts all collection and foreclosure activity the moment a bankruptcy petition is filed. And the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act restricts foreclosure against protected servicemembers, a protection that Nevada mirrors in NRS 116.311625.³⁸

3. The collection and foreclosure process

3A. Pre-lien collection sequence

Before an association may even send a letter of intent to record a notice of delinquent assessment, NRS 116.31162(4) imposes a pre-lien step. Not earlier than 60 days after the obligation becomes past due, the association must mail the owner a schedule of the fees that could accrue if payment is not made, a proposal to enter into a payment plan, and a notice of the owner's right to contest the past-due obligation at a hearing before the executive board.³⁹ That payment-plan opportunity and that right to a hearing are statutory requirements, not contractual ones — the association cannot skip them. The association must also clear the servicemember and federal-worker protections under NRS 116.311625 and 116.311627 before proceeding with any collection action.⁴⁰ An association — or its manager — does not need a collection-agency license to collect amounts owed before recording the notice of default.⁴¹ On request, the association must deliver a statement of unpaid assessments to the owner within 10 business days, in recordable form where the lien may be foreclosed.⁴²

3B. Recording and the pre-foreclosure sequence

The nonjudicial sequence runs through NRS 116.31162 and the sections that follow, and it applies to both condominiums and planned communities. First, the association mails, by certified or registered mail or authorized electronic transmission, a notice of delinquent assessment that identifies the amount due, a description of the unit, and the name of the record owner.⁴³ Second, not less than 30 days after mailing that notice, the association records a notice of default and election to sell with the county recorder. That notice must itemize the entire lien and break out its components separately: the super-priority amount, the budget-based assessment portion, the NRS 116.310312 charges, and the enforcement costs must all appear on their own lines. It must identify the person authorized to enforce the lien, and it must carry a 14-point bold warning that the owner could lose the property even if the amount is in dispute.⁴⁴ Within 10 days of recording, the association must mail copies of the default notice to every holder of a recorded security interest and to anyone who submitted a request for notice.⁴⁵ The 2015 amendments eliminated the prior opt-in scheme, so the first deed-of-trust holder now receives default and sale notices automatically. The notice of default must also tell that holder it has the right to pay the super-priority amount and prevent extinguishment of its deed of trust.⁴⁶ A board vote is not a statutory condition to proceed; the notice of default must carry the signature of the person designated in the declaration or the association president.⁴⁷ Nevada's mandatory alternative dispute resolution rules under NRS 38.300 through 38.360 govern civil actions over the interpretation or enforcement of governing documents — and a court must dismiss any civil action filed without first completing mediation. But a nonjudicial foreclosure is not a civil action, so ADR is not a precondition to the sale; an owner who disputes the debt must pursue that channel separately.⁴⁸

3C. Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds

Once the notice of default is on record, the owner — or a successor, or the holder of the first security interest — has 90 days to pay the full lien, including costs and fees. That window runs from the later of the recording of the notice of default or the date it was mailed to the owner.⁴⁹ Only after those 90 days may the association schedule a sale. The notice of sale must reach the owner on or before its first publication or posting; interested persons must receive it at least 20 days before the sale; and the notice must be posted for 20 consecutive days in a public place in the county and published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation.⁵⁰ Nevada sets no minimum dollar amount and no fixed minimum period of delinquency before foreclosure may begin, though the nine-month super-priority figure and the 90-day cure period shape the practical timeline.⁵¹ Fines and penalties generally cannot power a foreclosure: NRS 116.31162(5) bars a lien-by-sale foreclosure based on a fine for a governing-document violation unless the violation poses an imminent threat of a substantial adverse effect on health, safety, or welfare, or the penalty ties to a failure to adhere to a required construction schedule.⁵² The association, its collection agent, the community manager, board members, and the association's attorney are all barred from purchasing the unit at the sale.⁵³ The first deed of trust survives if, no later than five days before the sale, its holder satisfies the super-priority amount and records that satisfaction at least two days before the sale; the association may still proceed to foreclose, but the sale will not extinguish the senior security interest.⁵⁴

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

Nevada is unusual among nonjudicial-foreclosure states in providing a post-sale redemption right for association sales. Under NRS 116.31166, every sale vests title in the purchaser subject to a 60-day right of redemption.⁵⁵ The former owner, a successor in interest, or any holder of a subordinate recorded security interest may redeem within 60 days by paying the purchase price plus 1 percent monthly interest, any assessments, taxes, or senior-lien payments the purchaser made during that period, and reasonable maintenance and repair costs.⁵⁶ If no redemption occurs, the person who conducted the sale delivers a deed without warranty. Recitals in that deed — confirming the default, the mailing of notices, the elapse of the 90-day period, the recording, publication, and posting — are conclusive proof that the required steps were followed.⁵⁷ Reinstatement stays available throughout: the owner can stop the entire process at any point before the period expires by paying the amount owed, and the association may waive a default and withdraw the notice, restoring its prior position.⁵⁸ Sale proceeds go first to enforcement costs, then to the lien, then to subordinate claims, with any surplus returning to the former owner.⁵⁹ Because the association is enforcing a secured debt against the unit rather than seeking a personal money judgment, the foreclosure sale does not generate a deficiency claim against the owner. Any association that wants to pursue a shortfall takes that claim through a separate collection action — a right the statute expressly preserves.⁶⁰

4. Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Nevada's 2023 legislative session produced two bills that directly amended NRS Chapter 116's collection and lien mechanics.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two Nevada Supreme Court decisions — one from 2024, one from December 2025 — refined how partial payments and multi-association liens interact with the super-priority foreclosure process.

C. Active legislative debates

Repeal-and-reform pressure on Chapter 116 continues. The 2023 session saw proposals to extend bank-style foreclosure protections to veterans, seniors, and disabled owners under SB 175, and a full repeal of Chapter 116 under SB 358 — both died in committee. Owner-protection proposals around HOA foreclosure remain a recurring theme in the Nevada Legislature; they have not yet succeeded.⁶⁵

5. National positioning

Nevada sits at the aggressive end of the assessment-collection spectrum. Its nine-month super-priority lien — which can extinguish a first deed of trust on a properly conducted nonjudicial sale — is the reference point for true super-priority states. Other UCIOA jurisdictions, including Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Vermont, and West Virginia, also grant a priority portion, though most use the UCIOA's six-month default rather than Nevada's nine-month extension; Connecticut's CIOA, for example, carries a six-month priority lien.⁶⁶ That puts Nevada in a different category from threshold-restricted states like California, Arizona, and Colorado, which condition foreclosure on minimum delinquency amounts or durations; from judicial-only foreclosure states; and from CC&R-primary states that lack a detailed assessment-collection statute. For a multi-state operator, Nevada demands the tightest notice discipline and the most careful attention to lender-tender mechanics — a procedural misstep can void a sale, while a lender's timely tender can defeat the association's leverage entirely. Nevada's direction of travel since 2015 has been incremental tightening of owner and lender protections — through the notice and redemption regime enacted that year, and through the 2024 and 2025 payment-allocation decisions — rather than raising thresholds or expanding the lien.

1. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 130 Nev. 742, 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) ↩
2. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1), (9) (Liens against units for assessments) ↩
3. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(3) (super-priority: § 116.310312 charges, nine months of common-expense assessments, enforcement costs) ↩
4. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.31162 to 116.31168 (Foreclosure of liens); 2015 Statutes of Nevada, Ch. 517 ↩
5. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(c) (90-day cure period); § 116.31162(5) (limits on foreclosing fines) ↩
6. 2015 Statutes of Nevada, Ch. 517 (SB 512), amending Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162 et seq. ↩
7. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.3116 to 116.31168 (NRS Chapter 116, Common-Interest Ownership (Uniform Act)) ↩
8. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1), (9) ↩
9. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(3) ↩
10. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(2) (lien prior to all other liens except enumerated exceptions) ↩
11. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.3116 and 116.31162 (no statutory minimum dollar threshold to foreclose) ↩
12. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(c), (3) (90-day period after notice of default and election to sell) ↩
13. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1) (nonjudicial foreclosure by sale); § 116.3116(10) (judicial action to enforce lien) ↩
14. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(4) (pre-lien schedule of fees, payment plan, and right to contest) ↩
15. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(a)–(b); § 116.31163; § 116.311635 (notice sequence) ↩
16. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(4)(a) (opportunity to enter into payment plan) ↩
17. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(2) (notice of default signed by designated person or association president) ↩
18. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166(3) (60-day right of redemption) ↩
19. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1) (charges enforceable as assessments); § 116.310313 (costs of collection) ↩
20. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(5) (fines foreclosable only on imminent health/safety threat or construction schedule) ↩
21. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.1201, 116.31162(1) (applicability to condominiums, planned communities, cooperatives) ↩
22. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1) ↩
23. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(9) (recording of declaration constitutes record notice and perfection) ↩
24. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1) (charges under § 116.3102(j)–(o) and § 116.310313 enforceable as assessments) ↩
25. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3115(3) (interest on past-due assessments: prime rate plus 2 percent) ↩
26. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1) (applies to condominiums, planned communities, qualifying cooperatives) ↩
27. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(2) (general priority and exceptions) ↩
28. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(3)(a)–(c) (super-priority: § 116.310312 charges, nine months of assessments, enforcement costs) ↩
29. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(3) (federal floor of not less than six months where FHLMC/FNMA regulations apply) ↩
30. Horizons at Seven Hills Homeowners Ass'n v. Ikon Holdings, LLC, 132 Nev. 362, 373 P.3d 66 (Nev. 2016) ↩
31. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(4) (does not affect priority of mechanics' or materialmen's liens) ↩
32. Property Plus Investments, LLC v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., 133 Nev. 462, 401 P.3d 728 (Nev. 2017) ↩
33. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(8) (two or more associations' liens have equal priority) ↩
34. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.1206(1) (governing-document provisions in violation deemed to conform and superseded) ↩
35. Horizons at Seven Hills Homeowners Ass'n v. Ikon Holdings, LLC, 132 Nev. 362, 373 P.3d 66 (Nev. 2016) (CC&R six-month limit superseded by nine-month statutory figure) ↩
36. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(10) (lien extinguished unless NOD recorded or judicial action within three years) ↩
37. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(1)(b) (six-year limitation on actions on a written instrument) ↩
38. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.311625 (Servicemembers protections); 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (FDCPA); 11 U.S.C. § 362 (automatic stay) ↩
39. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(4)(a) (pre-lien notice: schedule of fees, payment plan, right to contest, not earlier than 60 days past due) ↩
40. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.31162(4), 116.311625, 116.311627 (servicemember and federal-worker compliance) ↩
41. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(6) (no collection-agency license required before recording NOD) ↩
42. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(13) (statement of unpaid assessments, recordable form, within 10 business days) ↩
43. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(a) (notice of delinquent assessment: amount, unit description, record owner) ↩
44. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(b) (notice of default and election to sell; itemization and 14-point bold warning) ↩
45. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31163 (mailing of notice of default to security-interest holders and requesters within 10 days) ↩
46. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(b)(II) (notice to first-security-interest holder of right to pay super-priority amount); § 116.31168 ↩
47. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(2) (notice of default signed by designated person or president) ↩
48. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 38.310 (mandatory mediation/ADR before civil action; court shall dismiss noncompliant action); §§ 38.300 to 38.360 ↩
49. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(c), (3) (90-day cure period; start of period) ↩
50. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.311635 (notice of sale: mailing, 20-day posting, three-week publication) ↩
51. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.3116, 116.31162 (no statutory minimum dollar or duration threshold) ↩
52. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(5) (fines not foreclosable absent imminent threat or construction-schedule penalty) ↩
53. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31164 (persons prohibited from purchasing the unit at sale) ↩
54. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.31166(1) and 116.31162(1)(b)(II) (five-day pre-sale satisfaction; two-day recording; sale does not extinguish first security interest) ↩
55. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166(1) (title vested subject to right of redemption) ↩
56. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166(3) (60-day redemption: purchase price, 1% monthly interest, assessments/taxes, maintenance costs) ↩
57. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166(7)–(9) (deed without warranty; conclusive recitals) ↩
58. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1)(d) (payment before period expires); § 116.31168(2) (association may waive default and withdraw notice) ↩
59. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31164 (procedure for conducting sale; application of sale proceeds) ↩
60. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(11) (does not prohibit actions to recover sums for which subsection 1 creates a lien) ↩
61. S.B. 378, 82d Leg., Chapter 436, 2023 Nev. Stat. (Nev. Legislature NELIS) ↩
62. A.B. 335, 82d Leg., 2023 Nev. Stat., amending Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1) and § 116.3102; effective Oct. 1, 2023 ↩
63. Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC (Nev. 2024) ↩
64. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co. v. Collegium Fund LLC Series 16, 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 68 (Dec. 23, 2025) ↩
65. S.B. 175 and S.B. 358, 82d Leg., 2023 Nev. Stat. (both failed) (Nev. Legislature) ↩
66. Community Associations Institute, Priority Lien (Nevada) and UCIOA priority-lien states overview ↩