Oregon HOA Foreclosure

Overview

Oregon runs two foreclosure tracks at once, and which one an association uses changes almost everything that follows. A community association enforces its assessment lien mainly by filing a judicial suit in circuit court. But where an instrument operates as a trust deed and grants a power of sale, a creditor can foreclose without a judge, under a 120-day pre-sale notice. The redemption rules then split sharply: an owner gets no redemption after a non-judicial trustee's sale, and 180 days after a judicial foreclosure sale.^1,2 Oregon governs its two community forms through separate, purpose-built statutes — the Oregon Condominium Act, ORS Chapter 100, for condominiums, and the Oregon Planned Community Act, ORS 94.550 to 94.783, for planned communities.^3,4 Oregon never adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, and it grants no UCIOA-style super-priority. An association lien generally sits behind a prior recorded first mortgage or trust deed.⁵ The sequence is straightforward to describe: a statutory lien arises when the association levies an assessment, the association records a notice of claim of lien, and then it either files a judicial foreclosure suit conducted like a construction-lien foreclosure or, where a trust deed allows it, proceeds to a non-judicial trustee's sale.⁶ Federal law runs on top of both tracks — the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, narrowed for non-judicial enforcement by Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the bankruptcy automatic stay.⁷ The rest of this page lays out the statutory framework, walks the procedural sequence step by step, covers recent legislative and judicial activity, and places Oregon on the national map for operators who work across state lines.

The statutory framework

The Oregon Condominium Act and Planned Community Act

Oregon regulates condominiums under the Oregon Condominium Act, ORS Chapter 100, and planned communities under the Oregon Planned Community Act, ORS 94.550 to 94.783.^3,4 The two chapters are separate frameworks, and you cannot swap one chapter's provisions for the other's. For condominiums, ORS 100.450(1) gives the association a lien on a unit and its undivided interest in the common elements whenever the association levies an assessment, and that lien reaches interest, late charges, attorney fees, costs, and other amounts the declaration or bylaws impose.⁸ For planned communities, ORS 94.709(1) gives the homeowners association a parallel lien on the lot for unpaid assessments, including interest, late charges, attorney fees, costs, and other amounts imposed under the declaration, bylaws, or another recorded governing document.⁹ Under both statutes, recording the declaration is itself record notice and perfection of the lien, so the association files nothing separate to perfect it — though it must record a notice of claim of lien before a suit to foreclose can move forward.^8,9

On priority, neither chapter primes the first mortgage. ORS 100.450(1) places the condominium lien ahead of a homestead exemption and most other liens, but behind tax and assessment liens and a first mortgage or trust deed of record, subject to narrow exceptions.⁸ ORS 94.709 sets the same general subordination for planned communities.⁹ So Oregon is not a super-lien state. One conditional exception exists, and only for condominiums: under ORS 100.450(7), an association lien can take priority over a first lender if the association gives the lender 90 days' written notice of the owner's default and the lender does not start foreclosure within that window.⁸

As for what an association can actually foreclose, both statutes treat fines and certain charges as assessments. ORS 100.450(5) makes fees, late charges, fines, and interest imposed under ORS 100.405 enforceable as assessments, and ORS 94.709(5) does the same for charges imposed under ORS 94.630.^8,9 Oregon's owner protections show up mostly as procedural conditions rather than flat bars on foreclosing for fines: ORS 94.630 requires written notice and a chance to be heard before an association levies fines, and it limits fines and late charges to a schedule the declaration or bylaws set out.¹⁰

The role of the declaration and corporate law

The recorded declaration and bylaws fill in the statutory minimum in both chapters. The order of precedence runs statute first, then declaration, then bylaws, then board rules; an instrument that conflicts with the controlling statute is generally unenforceable to the extent of the conflict.¹¹ Recording the declaration with the county recording officer in every county where the property sits does two jobs at once — it creates the regime and perfects the assessment lien.⁴ Beyond the two acts, Oregon community associations are creatures of corporate law. Associations are usually organized as nonprofit corporations under the Oregon Nonprofit Corporation Act, ORS Chapter 65, which supplies the rules on directors, meetings, and member action; planned community associations form under ORS 94.625 and condominium associations under ORS 100.405.¹² Common-law contract and property principles matter too, because covenants to pay assessments run with the land as enforceable obligations, and foreclosure remedies draw on general lien and execution-sale law.

Dual-track foreclosure, the Trust Deed Act, and federal overlays

Oregon offers two enforcement tracks. The association forecloses its own assessment lien judicially: ORS 100.450(4)(a) and ORS 94.709(4) both direct that proceedings to foreclose the lien follow, as nearly as possible, the proceedings to foreclose construction liens under ORS 87.010, which are suits in circuit court under ORS Chapter 88.^8,9,13 The second track is the non-judicial trustee's sale under the Oregon Trust Deed Act, ORS 86.705 to 86.815, available where a community's instrument or a separate trust deed grants a power of sale. That route requires a recorded notice of default and election to sell under ORS 86.752, a notice of sale served or mailed at least 120 days before the sale under ORS 86.764, and publication.^14,15 The grantor keeps the right to cure by paying the delinquency until shortly before the sale.¹⁶ Redemption is what really separates the two tracks. There is no post-sale redemption after a non-judicial trustee's sale under ORS 86.797, while a judicial foreclosure sale carries a 180-day statutory redemption right under ORS 18.964 and ORS 88.106.^1,2 Federal law overlays both. Under Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 586 U.S. 466 (2019), a firm that does no more than non-judicial foreclosure is not a debt collector under the FDCPA, except for the limited purpose of 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6); broader exposure can attach in a judicial foreclosure or where the entity also collects.⁷ The Oregon Unlawful Debt Collection Practices Act, ORS 646.639 et seq., the SCRA at 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq., and the bankruptcy automatic stay at 11 U.S.C. § 362 all apply as well.

The Oregon HOA foreclosure procedural sequence

A. Lien establishment and recording

For condominiums, the lien arises on its own the moment the association levies an assessment under ORS 100.450(1), and for planned communities under ORS 94.709(1).^8,9 In both forms, recording the declaration serves as record notice and perfection of the assessment lien, so the association needs no separate paper lien just to perfect.⁹ Before a foreclosure suit can proceed, though, the association must record a verified notice of claim of lien in the deed records of the county where the unit or lot sits, stating the amount due, the owner's name, and the property description.^8,9 The recorded lien stays in force for up to six years from the date the assessment is due, under both ORS 100.450(4)(a) and ORS 94.709(4).¹⁷ On priority, the lien generally falls behind a prior recorded first mortgage or trust deed in both forms; the condominium conditional-priority mechanism in ORS 100.450(7) is the narrow exception.⁸ One precondition belongs to condominiums alone: under ORS 100.450(4)(d), an action to foreclose or to recover a money judgment cannot be maintained unless the Condominium Information Report and Annual Report required by ORS 100.250 are designated current.^8,18

B. Pre-foreclosure notice and demand

Before enforcement, associations in both forms must give the owner written notice and, for proceedings other than assessment collection, a chance to resolve the matter. ORS 100.490 and ORS 94.662 require at least 10 days' written notice before an association starts a judicial or administrative proceeding against an owner, and they give the owner a right to opt out of certain measures.¹⁹ Declarations and bylaws often add their own demand letters and cure periods. Where the instrument is a trust deed and the track is non-judicial, the recorded notice of default under ORS 86.752 and the danger notice to the grantor under ORS 86.756 are prerequisites.^14,20 Third-party collectors face FDCPA exposure, narrowed for non-judicial enforcement by Obduskey, and the Oregon Unlawful Debt Collection Practices Act under ORS 646.639 reaches debt-collection conduct.⁷ Boards should run bankruptcy and SCRA checks before filing, because the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 halts foreclosure activity the moment an owner files, and the SCRA stays action against active-duty servicemembers.

C. Judicial foreclosure or non-judicial trustee's sale

On the judicial track — the default route for the association's own assessment lien in both chapters — the association files a foreclosure suit in the circuit court for the county where the property sits, following construction-lien foreclosure under ORS 87.010 and the mortgage foreclosure provisions of ORS Chapter 88.^8,9,13 The owner has 30 days to answer; a contested matter proceeds to judgment, and on a judgment of foreclosure the court orders the property sold at a sheriff's sale.¹³ ORS 100.460 lets the court appoint a receiver for a condominium unit and lets the board of directors bid at the sale.²¹ On the non-judicial track, available where a trust deed grants a power of sale, the trustee records a notice of default and election to sell under ORS 86.752, then serves and mails the notice of sale to the grantor and junior interest holders at least 120 days before the sale under ORS 86.764, and publishes the notice once a week for four successive weeks under ORS 86.774.^14,15,22 The grantor may cure the default by paying the delinquency up to shortly before the sale under ORS 86.778.¹⁶ The trustee's sale is a public auction to the highest cash bidder, and the trustee delivers a trustee's deed within 10 days of the sale.²³

D. Post-sale rights and redemption

The redemption split is the single most consequential feature of Oregon practice. After a non-judicial trustee's sale, there is no right of redemption under ORS 86.797, and the trustee's deed is effectively final, subject only to the trustee's narrow statutory rescission window under ORS 86.782.^1,23 After a judicial foreclosure sale, the judgment debtor may redeem within 180 days after the sale under ORS 18.964 and ORS 88.106, by paying the sale price plus interest and costs and giving the sheriff notice.^2,24 Surplus funds from a sale go to junior lienholders in priority order and then to the former owner. A purchaser at a judicial sale takes a certificate of sale and receives the sheriff's deed only after the redemption period expires, while a purchaser at a trustee's sale takes a deed promptly.^24,23 Where occupants remain, the buyer gets possession through the standard eviction process. Deficiency exposure differs by track and by whether the instrument is a residential trust deed, for which the Trust Deed Act limits deficiency recovery.¹⁶

Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Oregon's recent legislative action touched community associations at the edges. Lawmakers tightened the construction-defect timeline for condominium and planned-community projects, and they floated — then dropped — a fix for how assessments behave when a county takes a unit for unpaid taxes.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Oregon's appellate courts have not rewritten association law lately. Two recent decisions do something narrower but useful: they sort out how a trust-deed foreclosure interacts with a surviving senior lien, and they confirm that a money judgment for unpaid dues does not extinguish the assessment lien.

Genuinely recent appellate decisions construing ORS 100.450 and ORS 94.709 themselves remain scarce. The controlling priority precedent is still Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. v. Sulejmanagic, 367 Or 537, 481 P3d 293 (2021), decided February 11, 2021, where the Oregon Supreme Court held that a condominium association's ORS 100.450(7) notice generally obligates a first lienholder to act within 90 days, or the association's lien takes priority.³²

C. Active legislative debates

Recent sessions have centered on two issues: construction-defect repose and moisture inspection for condominiums, and the treatment of association assessments during a county tax foreclosure. The second issue remains unresolved after HB 4064 failed to advance.²⁸

National positioning and related coverage

Oregon sits between the strict-judicial and pure-trustee-sale poles. It keeps separate, comprehensive condominium and planned-community statutes rather than a single UCIOA-based code, and it forecloses the association's own assessment lien judicially while allowing a non-judicial trustee's sale only where a trust deed grants a power of sale.^8,14 It confers no UCIOA-style super-priority, so association liens sit behind first mortgages, unlike the super-priority regimes elsewhere. Its 120-day pre-sale notice runs longer than many trustee-sale states allow, and its asymmetric redemption — none after a trustee's sale, but 180 days after judicial foreclosure — contrasts both with pure trustee-sale states that allow no redemption at all and with strict judicial states that set longer redemption windows.^15,2 For operators who work across state lines, the practical point is twofold: Oregon collection playbooks built for super-lien states will overstate recovery, and the choice between tracks drives both the timeline and the buyer's redemption exposure.

For boards, managers, and counsel, the operative takeaways are these. The assessment lien is generally junior. The association's own lien foreclosure is a judicial process modeled on construction-lien suits. And the redemption rules turn entirely on which track is used.

1. Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.797 (effect of trustee's sale; no post-sale redemption after a non-judicial trustee's sale) ↩
2. Or. Rev. Stat. § 18.964 (time for redemption; 180 days after an execution sale); Or. Rev. Stat. § 88.106 (sale and redemption on mortgage foreclosure) ↩
3. Oregon Condominium Act, Or. Rev. Stat. ch. 100 ↩
4. Oregon Planned Community Act, Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 94.550 to 94.783 ↩
5. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.450(1) (condominium lien junior to a first mortgage or trust deed of record); Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.709(1) (same subordination for planned communities) ↩
6. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.450(2), (4) (recording of claim of lien; foreclosure proceedings conform to ORS 87.010 construction-lien proceedings); Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.709(2), (4) (same for planned communities) ↩
7. Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 586 U.S. 466 (2019) (a business engaged in no more than non-judicial foreclosure is not a "debt collector" under the FDCPA except for the limited purpose of 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6)) ↩
8. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.450 (association lien against a unit; recording notice of claim; foreclosure; effect of judgment and payment; priority of lien) ↩
9. Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.709 (liens against lots; priority; duration; record notice of claim of unpaid assessment; foreclosure procedure) ↩
10. Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.630 (powers of association; written notice and opportunity to be heard before fines; fines and charges based on a schedule in the declaration or bylaws) ↩
11. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.122 (declaration prevails over inconsistent bylaws or articles); Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.770 (conflict between declaration and bylaws; effect of noncompliance) ↩
12. Oregon Nonprofit Corporation Act, Or. Rev. Stat. ch. 65; Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.625 (formation of homeowners association); Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.405 (association of unit owners) ↩
13. Or. Rev. Stat. ch. 88 (foreclosure of mortgages and other liens by suit in circuit court); Or. Rev. Stat. § 87.010 (construction liens) ↩
14. Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.752 (foreclosure by advertisement and sale; recorded notice of default and election to sell) ↩
15. Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.764 (notice of sale served or mailed at least 120 days before the trustee's sale) ↩
16. Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.778 (discontinuance of foreclosure proceedings after cure of default); Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.770 (deficiency limits on residential trust deeds) ↩
17. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.450(4)(a); Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.709(4) (lien may be continued in force up to six years from the date the assessment is due) ↩
18. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.250 (documents required to be filed with the Real Estate Agency); Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.255 (processing of documents) ↩
19. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.490 (notice to unit owners of intent to commence judicial or administrative proceedings); Or. Rev. Stat. § 94.662 (notice to owners of intent to commence legal proceedings; owner right to opt out) ↩
20. Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.756 (notice to grantor of residential trust deed; "danger notice") ↩
21. Or. Rev. Stat. § 100.460 (foreclosure against unit; receiver for unit; power of board of directors to bid at foreclosure sale) ↩
22. Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.774 (service and publication of notice; recording proof of compliance) ↩
23. Or. Rev. Stat. § 86.782 (conduct of trustee's sale; delivery of trustee's deed within 10 days; rescission window) ↩
24. Or. Rev. Stat. § 88.106 (sale and redemption following judicial foreclosure); Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 18.960 to 18.985 (execution-sale redemption procedure) ↩
25. H.B. 3746, 2025 Reg. Sess., ch. 578, 2025 Or. Laws (construction-defect statute of repose; pre-suit notice; moisture inspections) ↩
26. Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.135, as amended by H.B. 3746 (seven-year repose period; moisture-intrusion inspections timed at approximately the two-year and six-year marks) ↩
27. H.B. 3746 A engrossment history (amendment from a six-year to a seven-year repose period) ↩
28. H.B. 4064, 2026 Reg. Sess. (relating to acquisitions of real property by foreclosure for delinquent taxes; amending ORS 94.709 and ORS 100.450; remained in the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness at sine die) ↩
29. H.B. 4064, 2026 Reg. Sess. (introduced text) ↩
30. Blakeley v. Quality Loan Serv. Corp. of Wash., 327 Or. App. 373, 536 P.3d 584 (2023) (the ORS 86.797(2) anti-deficiency bar does not preclude a later foreclosure of a non-extinguished senior trust deed); cited in the official ORS 86.797 annotations ↩
31. Ass'n of Unit Owners of Cornell Meadows Condo. v. Jensen, 321 Or. App. 623, 518 P.3d 609 (2022), review denied (the condominium lien statute precludes the election-of-remedies doctrine; lien survives a personal judgment); cited in the official ORS 100.450 annotations ↩
32. Bank of N.Y. Mellon Tr. Co. v. Sulejmanagic, 367 Or. 537, 481 P.3d 293 (2021) (a condominium association's ORS 100.450(7) notice obligates a first lienholder to initiate foreclosure within 90 days or the association lien takes priority); cited in the official ORS 100.450 annotations ↩