Nevada HOA Foreclosure

Overview: How HOA foreclosure works in Nevada

Nevada is a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act state, and it hands its associations a powerful tool. An association holds a nine-month super-priority lien, and when it forecloses that lien properly, the sale can wipe out a first deed of trust. The Nevada Supreme Court confirmed that doctrine in SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, and the state runs it through a non-judicial procedure that the Legislature reworked in 2015 to add lender protections.¹ The governing statute is the Nevada Common-Interest Ownership Act, codified at NRS Chapter 116 (NICIOA), and it covers condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives.² Under NRS 116.3116, the association lien outranks a first security interest to the extent of the common-expense assessments — based on the periodic budget — that would have come due during the nine months right before the association records its notice of default and election to sell, plus charges for maintenance and nuisance abatement under NRS 116.310312.³ The association enforces the lien non-judicially under NRS 116.31162 to 116.31168: it sends a notice of delinquent assessment, records a notice of default and election to sell with a 90-day cure period, gives mandatory notice to the first security interest holder, issues a notice of sale, and then holds the sale.⁴ Federal law overlays all of it — the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as narrowed by Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the bankruptcy automatic stay.⁵ The sections that follow lay out the statutory framework, the procedural sequence, recent legislative and judicial activity, and where Nevada stands nationally.

The statutory framework

The Nevada Common-Interest Ownership Act and the nine-month super-priority

Nevada enacted NICIOA at NRS Chapter 116 as its version of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. It governs how common-interest communities form, operate, and dissolve, and it reaches condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives except where the statute carves out an exemption.⁶ NRS 116.3116(1) gives an association a lien on a unit from the moment an assessment or fine comes due, and it treats penalties, fees, charges, late charges, and interest as enforceable assessments unless the declaration says otherwise.⁷ Recording the declaration puts the world on notice and perfects the lien, so an association does not have to record a separate lien to make it valid.⁸

The lien splits into two pieces. The ordinary, or sub-priority, piece sits behind a recorded first deed of trust. The super-priority piece sits ahead of it. Under NRS 116.3116, that super-priority piece reaches the common-expense assessments — set by the periodic budget adopted under NRS 116.3115 — that would have come due during the nine months right before the association records its notice of default and election to sell, together with the association's maintenance and nuisance-abatement charges under NRS 116.310312.⁹ Nevada's nine months runs longer than the six-month super-priority in the standard UCIOA template, and that extra cushion makes the state unusually friendly to associations.¹⁰ A statutory proviso bends to any shorter priority period that Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae rules require, but it sets a floor of no less than six months.¹¹ The Nevada Supreme Court has held that the super-priority piece leaves out the association's collection fees and foreclosure costs, and that the statute overrides any declaration that tries to set a different period.¹²

The way this interacts with first-mortgage foreclosure is the central commercial fact. Because the super-priority piece outranks the first deed of trust, an association that forecloses it can deliver title free of the mortgage — and leave the lender holding an unsecured loan unless it acts. The unpaid dues usually amount to a small fraction of the mortgage they outrank, which is why this doctrine produced more litigation in Nevada than in any other UCIOA state.¹³

The SFR Investments line and the 2015 reforms

In SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 130 Nev. 742, 334 P.3d 408 (2014), the Nevada Supreme Court, sitting en banc, held that NRS 116.3116 gives an association a true super-priority lien — not just a payment priority — and that a proper foreclosure of that lien extinguishes a first deed of trust.¹⁴ The court rejected the argument that the lien created only a right to payment that survived as an encumbrance, and it confirmed that a buyer at a properly conducted non-judicial HOA sale takes title free of the mortgage.¹⁵

That decision set off a wave of federal due-process litigation over the pre-2015 notice scheme. In Bourne Valley Court Trust v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 832 F.3d 1154 (9th Cir. 2016), the Ninth Circuit held that the statute's "opt-in" notice provision — which made a lender request notice before an association had to give it — was facially unconstitutional.¹⁶ The Nevada Supreme Court came out the other way, on different reasoning, in SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. Bank of New York Mellon, 422 P.3d 1248 (Nev. 2018), reading NRS 116.31168 to fold in the mandatory notice requirements of NRS 107.090.¹⁷ The Ninth Circuit then acknowledged in Bank of America, N.A. v. Arlington West Twilight Homeowners Ass'n, 920 F.3d 620 (9th Cir. 2019) that Bourne Valley no longer controlled, and that NRS 116.3116 is not facially unconstitutional on an opt-in theory.¹⁸ The Nevada Supreme Court went further in Saticoy Bay LLC Series 350 Durango 104 v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, holding that an HOA's non-judicial foreclosure is not state action and so does not trigger federal due process at all.¹⁹

The Legislature answered with Senate Bill 306 (2015), signed May 28, 2015 and effective October 1, 2015, which added lender-protective steps to NRS Chapter 116.²⁰ SB 306 made notice of default and notice of sale mandatory to holders of recorded security interests under NRS 116.31163, gave the first security interest holder the right to pay the super-priority amount before the sale and preserve its lien, and added a 60-day post-sale redemption right under NRS 116.31166.²¹ The result is a sharp divide between old and new. Sales noticed under the old opt-in scheme still draw quiet-title litigation, while sales run under the post-October 2015 regime carry mandatory notice and a tender mechanism that sharply cut the risk of extinguishment.²²

Non-judicial foreclosure procedure and federal overlays

An association forecloses its lien non-judicially under NRS 116.31162 to 116.31168. It mails a notice of delinquent assessment, records a notice of default and election to sell, allows a 90-day cure period, and gives notice of sale before it sells.²³ NRS 116.31166 vests title in the purchaser but subjects it to a right of redemption: the former owner, or any holder of a recorded subordinate security interest, may redeem within 60 days after the sale by paying the purchase price plus interest at one percent per month, along with assessments, taxes, lien payments, and reasonable maintenance costs.²⁴ First-mortgage foreclosure runs under a separate statute, NRS Chapter 107, which governs deeds of trust.²⁵ Because Nevada HOA foreclosure is non-judicial, the FDCPA safe harbor from Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 139 S. Ct. 1029 (2019) applies directly: an entity that does no more than carry out a non-judicial foreclosure is not a "debt collector" for most FDCPA purposes, though it still answers to 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6) and can draw full FDCPA exposure if it goes beyond the steps the statute requires.²⁶ The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq., and Nevada's own NRS 116.311625 restrict foreclosure against active-duty servicemembers, and the bankruptcy automatic stay, 11 U.S.C. § 362, freezes a sale the moment an owner files.²⁷ Nevada's Foreclosure Mediation Program under NRS 107.086 reaches the power of sale on a deed of trust securing owner-occupied housing — the first-mortgage track — not HOA assessment-lien foreclosure, which runs under NRS Chapter 116; the Office of the Ombudsman administers a separate HOA mediation election.²⁸

The Nevada HOA foreclosure procedural sequence

Lien establishment and the super-priority

The lien arises on its own. Under NRS 116.3116(1), the association holds a lien from the moment an assessment or fine comes due, and recording the declaration perfects it without any separate filing — though associations often record a notice of lien to give public notice anyway.²⁹ The super-priority component is fixed: it equals the nine months of budget-based common-expense assessments before the recording of the notice of default, plus the NRS 116.310312 maintenance and nuisance-abatement charges, and it does not include collection costs or attorney fees.³⁰ A lien for unpaid assessments dies unless the association records a notice of default and election to sell, or starts a judicial action, within three years after the full amount comes due.³¹ The recorded declaration fills in around the statute by setting the assessment obligations and remedies, but it cannot stretch the super-priority period past the statutory nine months.³²

Pre-foreclosure notice and the lender's opportunity to pay

The association starts by mailing — by certified or registered mail — a notice of delinquent assessment that states the amounts due, then records a notice of default and election to sell.³³ The owner or a successor then has 90 days, measured from the day the notice of default is recorded or mailed, whichever comes later, to pay the lien and stop the foreclosure.³⁴ Since SB 306, NRS 116.31163 requires the association to mail the notice of default to every holder of a security interest recorded before the notice and to anyone who has asked for notice, which retired the old opt-in trigger.³⁵ The notice of default must state the super-priority amount and warn, in 14-point bold type, that failure to pay could cost the owner the home even if the amount is in dispute.³⁶ If the first security interest holder pays the super-priority amount no later than five days before the sale and records proof of that payment no later than two days before the sale, the association may still sell — but the sale will not extinguish the first security interest.³⁷ Pre-sale dunning that runs past the statutory steps can expose a collection agent to the FDCPA, and the association must also check for a bankruptcy stay and for servicemember status before it moves ahead.³⁸

Notice of sale and the foreclosure sale

After the 90-day period runs, the association gives notice of the time and place of sale under NRS 116.311635. It posts the notice for 20 consecutive days in a public place in the county, publishes it three times — once a week for three straight weeks — in a newspaper of general circulation, and mails it to the owner on or before the first publication or posting date.³⁹ The notice of sale must reach an occupant of suitable age, or be posted conspicuously on the unit, and it must state the amount needed to satisfy the lien.⁴⁰ The association conducts the sale under NRS 116.31164, which also bars certain insiders — the association, the collection agent, the community manager, board members, and the foreclosure attorney — from buying the unit.⁴¹ When the association properly forecloses the super-priority piece and that piece has not been satisfied, the sale extinguishes the first deed of trust, just as SFR Investments holds.⁴²

Post-sale rights and remedies

The sale vests title in the purchaser, subject to the 60-day right of redemption under NRS 116.31166. The former owner, a successor in interest, or any holder of a recorded subordinate security interest may redeem within 60 days by paying the purchase price plus one percent monthly interest and the purchaser's outlays for assessments, taxes, prior liens, and reasonable maintenance.⁴³ Until the redemption period runs out, the purchaser holds a certificate of sale rather than a deed; after 60 days without redemption, the person who conducted the sale delivers a deed without warranty and sends a copy to the Ombudsman.⁴⁴ Sale proceeds go first to the costs of sale, then to the association's lien, then to subordinate claims by priority, with any surplus to the former owner.⁴⁵ The recitals in the deed count as conclusive proof of compliance with the notice provisions, which pushes most disputes into quiet-title actions in the SFR line, where courts weigh tender, statutory compliance, and the equities; the Nevada Supreme Court has held that a claim attacking the validity of a lien carries a four-year limitations period that does not start until the titleholder affirmatively repudiates the lien.⁴⁶ A purchaser who takes clear title may then evict any holdover occupant.⁴⁷

Recent legislative and judicial activity

Recent bills

The Nevada Legislature meets every other year, in odd years. The 83rd Regular Session convened on February 3, 2025 and adjourned sine die on June 3, 2025 at 12:35 a.m.⁴⁸ No bill enacted in 2025 changed the core foreclosure mechanics of NRS 116.3116 to 116.31168. The session's main foreclosure-relevant proposal, SB 433 — which would have swapped compulsory mediation for non-binding arbitration in foreclosure and other disputes — died in committee, and SB 121, a broader NRS 116 measure that would have amended NRS 116A.620 to bar terminating a management agreement until owners get 40 days' notice, drew a veto from Governor Joe Lombardo.⁴⁹ The bills below amended NRS Chapter 116 in adjacent areas, and they are the most recent enacted changes that property managers and counsel need to track.

Recent rulings

Three recent Nevada Supreme Court decisions sharpen how payment, allocation, and redemption play out after an HOA sale. Each one tends to protect the first mortgage or widen who can redeem — the practical questions that drive most post-sale disputes.

Active legislative debates

The debate continues over whether to replace compulsory mediation of common-interest disputes with non-binding arbitration, and over broader manager-notification and reserve-study mandates. SB 433 and SB 121 carried those themes in 2025, and both are expected to return in the 2027 session.⁵⁶

National positioning and related coverage

Nevada is the UCIOA state with the most aggressive super-priority enforcement and the deepest body of HOA-foreclosure case law. Two things drive that status: its nine-month super-priority, and SFR Investments, which made clear that a properly foreclosed HOA lien extinguishes a first deed of trust.⁵⁷ The nine-month period and the lien-extinguishment doctrine set Nevada apart from its six-month super-priority UCIOA peers — Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia — and place it far from the non-UCIOA and CC&R-primary states, where the declaration rather than the statute drives lien priority.⁵⁸ For lenders and multi-state operators, the lesson is blunt: Nevada demands active monitoring of HOA delinquencies and prompt tender of the super-priority amount, because sitting still can cost the entire security interest.

Nevada rewards diligence and punishes passivity more sharply than any peer jurisdiction. A nine-month statutory super-priority, lien extinguishment, mandatory post-2015 notice, and a 60-day redemption right together make precise procedural compliance the one variable that controls the outcome for every participant in a Nevada HOA foreclosure.

1. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116 (association lien; nine-month super-priority over a first security interest); SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 130 Nev. 742, 334 P.3d 408 (2014). ↩
2. Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116 (Common-Interest Ownership Act; condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives). ↩
3. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116 (super-priority measured by nine months of budget-based assessments plus § 116.310312 maintenance and nuisance-abatement charges). ↩
4. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.31162–116.31168 (non-judicial enforcement; notice of delinquent assessment, notice of default, 90-day cure, notice of sale, and sale). ↩
5. Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 139 S. Ct. 1029 (2019) (FDCPA coverage of non-judicial foreclosure). ↩
6. Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116; § 116.1201 (applicability to common-interest communities, with exemptions). ↩
7. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1) (lien from time assessment or fine becomes due; penalties, fees, charges, late charges, and interest enforceable as assessments). ↩
8. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(9) (recording the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien). ↩
9. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116; § 116.310312 (periodic budget under § 116.3115; maintenance and nuisance-abatement charges). ↩
10. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (nine-month Nevada super-priority compared with UCIOA six-month template). ↩
11. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116 (deference to shorter Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae priority period, with a floor of no less than six months). ↩
12. Horizons at Seven Hills Homeowners Ass'n v. Ikon Holdings, LLC, 132 Nev. 362, 373 P.3d 66 (2016) (super-priority excludes collection fees and foreclosure costs; statute supersedes a contrary declaration). ↩
13. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (lien-extinguishment doctrine and resulting litigation). ↩
14. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 130 Nev. 742, 334 P.3d 408 (2014) (en banc) (true super-priority lien; proper foreclosure extinguishes a first deed of trust). ↩
15. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (buyer at a properly conducted sale takes title free of the mortgage). ↩
16. Bourne Valley Court Trust v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 832 F.3d 1154 (9th Cir. 2016) (opt-in notice provision facially unconstitutional). ↩
17. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon, 422 P.3d 1248 (Nev. 2018) (reading § 116.31168 to incorporate the mandatory notice requirements of § 107.090). ↩
18. Bank of Am., N.A. v. Arlington W. Twilight Homeowners Ass'n, 920 F.3d 620 (9th Cir. 2019) (Bourne Valley no longer controls; § 116.3116 not facially unconstitutional on an opt-in theory). ↩
19. Saticoy Bay LLC Series 350 Durango 104 v. Wells Fargo Home Mortg., 133 Nev. 21, 388 P.3d 970 (2017) (non-judicial HOA foreclosure is not state action). ↩
20. S.B. 306, 78th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2015) (signed May 28, 2015; effective Oct. 1, 2015; lender-protective amendments to NRS ch. 116). ↩
21. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.31163, 116.31162, 116.31166 (mandatory notice; pre-sale payment of super-priority amount; 60-day redemption right). ↩
22. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 116.31162–116.31168 (post-October 2015 mandatory-notice and tender regime). ↩
23. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162 (notice of delinquent assessment, notice of default and election to sell, 90-day cure, notice of sale). ↩
24. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166(3) (60-day redemption; purchase price plus one percent monthly interest, assessments, taxes, lien payments, and reasonable maintenance). ↩
25. Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 107 (deeds of trust; first-mortgage foreclosure). ↩
26. Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 139 S. Ct. 1029 (2019) (a business engaged in no more than non-judicial foreclosure is not a "debt collector" except for the limited purpose of 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6)). ↩
27. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq.; Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.311625; 11 U.S.C. § 362 (bankruptcy automatic stay). ↩
28. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 107.086 (Foreclosure Mediation Program for deeds of trust on owner-occupied housing); Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116 (Ombudsman HOA mediation election). ↩
29. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(1), (9) (lien from time assessment or fine becomes due; recording the declaration perfects it). ↩
30. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116; Horizons at Seven Hills v. Ikon Holdings, 373 P.3d 66 (Nev. 2016) (super-priority excludes collection costs and attorney fees). ↩
31. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116(10) (lien extinguished unless enforcement begins within three years after the full amount becomes due). ↩
32. Horizons at Seven Hills v. Ikon Holdings, 373 P.3d 66 (Nev. 2016) (declaration cannot enlarge the statutory super-priority period). ↩
33. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162(1) (certified or registered mailing of notice of delinquent assessment; recording of notice of default). ↩
34. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162 (90-day cure period after recording or mailing of notice of default, whichever is later). ↩
35. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31163 (mandatory notice to recorded security-interest holders and persons requesting notice); S.B. 306, 78th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2015). ↩
36. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162 (notice of default must state the super-priority amount and warn in 14-point bold type). ↩
37. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31162 (first security interest holder may pay the super-priority amount before the sale and record proof to preserve its lien). ↩
38. Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 139 S. Ct. 1029 (2019); 11 U.S.C. § 362; Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.311625. ↩
39. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.311635 (posting for 20 consecutive days; publication once a week for three consecutive weeks; mailing to the owner). ↩
40. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.311635 (service on an occupant of suitable age or conspicuous posting; statement of amount necessary to satisfy the lien). ↩
41. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31164 (conduct of sale; bar on purchase by the association, collection agent, community manager, board members, and foreclosure attorney). ↩
42. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (proper foreclosure of an unsatisfied super-priority piece extinguishes the first deed of trust). ↩
43. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166(3) (parties entitled to redeem and the amount required). ↩
44. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166 (certificate of sale during redemption period; deed without warranty after 60 days; copy to the Ombudsman). ↩
45. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31164 (application of sale proceeds; costs of sale, association lien, subordinate claims, surplus to former owner). ↩
46. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166 (deed recitals as conclusive proof of compliance); U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Thunder Props., Inc., 138 Nev. Adv. Op. 3 (2022) (four-year limitations period running from affirmative repudiation of the lien). ↩
47. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31166 (purchaser with clear title may evict a holdover occupant). ↩
48. Nevada Legislature, 83rd Regular Session (2025) (convened Feb. 3, 2025; adjourned sine die June 3, 2025). ↩
49. S.B. 433, 83rd Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2025) (non-binding arbitration proposal; died in committee); S.B. 121, 83rd Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2025) (amending NRS 116A.620; vetoed). ↩
50. S.B. 201, 83rd Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2025) (display of religious or cultural items; effective July 1, 2025). ↩
51. S.B. 440, 83rd Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2025) (solar energy systems; effective Oct. 1, 2025). ↩
52. A.B. 396, 83rd Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2025) (accessory dwelling units; administrative-fine cap raised to $5,000; effective July 1, 2026). ↩
53. Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Ams. v. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC, 140 Nev. Adv. Op. 43 (2024) (payment allocation and survival of the first deed of trust). ↩
54. Saticoy Bay LLC Series 3580 Lost Hills v. Foreclosure Recovery Servs., LLC, 140 Nev. Adv. Op. 75 (Nov. 27, 2024) (redemption right extends to a successor in interest). ↩
55. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co. v. Collegium Fund LLC Series 16, 142 Nev. Adv. Op. 1 (Jan. 8, 2026) (payoff of super-priority piece converts the sale to sub-priority). ↩
56. S.B. 433, 83rd Leg., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2025) (arbitration and mediation themes expected to return in the 2027 session). ↩
57. SFR Invs. Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (foundation of Nevada's lien-extinguishment doctrine). ↩
58. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116 (nine-month super-priority distinguishing Nevada from six-month UCIOA peers). ↩