Rhode Island HOA Foreclosure

Section 1: Overview — How HOA foreclosure works in Rhode Island

Rhode Island follows the Uniform Condominium Act, and that choice shapes how associations here collect what they're owed. The state gives an association a six-month super-priority lien. It lets the association foreclose mostly outside of court, through a statutory power of sale. It requires mediation before a residential mortgage foreclosure, though that requirement stops short of an association's own foreclosure. And it sends appeals straight to a single high court, because Rhode Island has no intermediate appellate court. Condominium governance begins with the Rhode Island Condominium Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.01 et seq., which the legislature passed in 1982 and applied to condominiums created after July 1, 1982.¹ The Act gives an association a lien for unpaid assessments and fines under § 34-36.1-3.16, and it lifts six months of common-expense assessments, plus capped fees and costs, above an otherwise senior first mortgage.² The association forecloses that lien through a power of sale under § 34-36.1-3.21: it mails notice to the unit owner and the first mortgagee, publishes notice, holds a public auction, and delivers a foreclosure deed.³ Federal law sits on top of all of this. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies, though the Supreme Court narrowed it for non-judicial enforcement in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP; the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act applies; and the Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay applies.⁴ The rest of this page walks through the statutory framework, the procedural sequence, recent legislative and judicial activity, and where Rhode Island stands among other super-priority states.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. The Rhode Island Condominium Act and the six-month super-priority

The controlling statute is the Rhode Island Condominium Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.01 et seq., which the legislature enacted as P.L. 1982, ch. 329.¹ The Rhode Island Supreme Court has explained what lawmakers did. In America Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. IDC, Inc., 844 A.2d 117, 127 (R.I. 2004), the court said the Act "essentially incorporated the language contained in the Uniform Condominium Act and was made applicable to any condominium created in Rhode Island after July 1, 1982."⁵ Condominiums created before that date still answer to the predecessor Condominium Ownership Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36-1 et seq., unless every unit owner records an agreement opting into the newer Act.⁶ A defined set of provisions in the 1982 Act, including the assessment-lien section, still reaches pre-1982 condominiums for events that occur after July 1, 1982.⁶ Don't conflate the two statutes; they are different.

The Condominium Act is a condominium statute, and that matters. Chapter 34-36.1 does not comprehensively cover non-condominium planned communities. Those homeowners associations generally operate under their recorded declarations and covenants, under the Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act (R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-6-1 et seq.) when the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, and under common law.⁷ The lien and foreclosure mechanics described below are condominium provisions; whether they apply to a non-condominium HOA depends on that community's governing documents.

The lien itself arises under § 34-36.1-3.16(a). The association gets a lien on a unit for any assessment levied or fine imposed, from the moment it comes due, and it can enforce attorney's fees, late charges, and interest as assessments.² The super-priority lives in § 34-36.1-3.16(b)(2): there the association's lien jumps ahead of a first mortgage or deed of trust "to the extent of the common expense assessments based on the periodic budget" that would have come due during the six months right before foreclosure, plus reasonable attorney's fees capped at $2,500 and foreclosure costs capped at $5,000 — an aggregate fee-and-cost cap of $7,500.² So the Act splits the assessment lien in two: a senior six-month piece and a junior piece for older arrears. Foreclosing the senior piece can wipe out the first mortgage entirely, as the Rhode Island Supreme Court held in Twenty Eleven, LLC v. Botelho, 127 A.3d 897 (R.I. 2015), a 4-1 decision the court issued on December 4, 2015.⁸ The lien does not last forever: it ends unless the association begins enforcement within six years after the full amount becomes due, under § 34-36.1-3.16(e).² There is no statutory minimum-debt threshold for lien foreclosure.

2B. Statutory power-of-sale foreclosure and mediation

A condominium association enforces its lien through the power of sale in § 34-36.1-3.21. When a unit owner defaults, the executive board may sell the unit at public auction.³ First, the association must mail written notice of the time and place of sale to the defaulting unit owner and to the holder of the first mortgage of record, by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 20 days before it publishes notice. Then it publishes notice in a newspaper, and it also mails notice to other interest holders of record.³ The association runs the sale at public auction, executes a foreclosure deed, and applies the proceeds to the secured sums and sale expenses before it hands over any surplus.³

Mortgage foreclosures take a different path. They proceed under the general power-of-sale statute, R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-4. That section requires publication in a public newspaper once a week for three straight weeks, with the first publication at least 21 days before the sale, plus mailed notice to the mortgagor by certified mail at least 30 days before the first publication for individual consumer mortgagors.⁹ A separate provision, § 34-27-3.1, requires a 45-day notice of default and right to cure before a mortgagee starts foreclosure against an individual consumer mortgagor.¹⁰

Rhode Island also requires a pre-foreclosure mediation conference, now codified at § 34-27-9 after lawmakers reinstated it from the former § 34-27-3.2. That requirement reaches only a first-lien mortgage on owner-occupied, one-to-four-unit residential property that serves as the borrower's primary residence. It binds the mortgagee, and by its terms it does not govern an association's foreclosure of an assessment lien.¹¹ Judicial foreclosure remains available as an alternative to the power of sale, but lienholders use it less often.

2C. Redemption, court structure, and federal overlays

After a properly conducted mortgage power-of-sale foreclosure, Rhode Island gives no general post-sale statutory right of redemption; the mortgagor's chance to cure or redeem runs up to the sale, and no further.⁹ Condominium lien foreclosure works differently. Section 34-36.1-3.21(c) gives the holder of the first mortgage a 30-day right of redemption that runs from the post-foreclosure-sale notice; the mortgagee exercises it by paying the association all assessments due plus its attorney's fees and costs.³ Note who holds that right: the first mortgagee, not the unit owner.

Rhode Island has no intermediate appellate court, and that fact shapes how disputes resolve. The Rhode Island Superior Court hears trial-level disputes, and civil appeals go straight to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, which seats a chief justice and four associate justices.¹² If you read a description of Rhode Island's appellate path that includes an intermediate appellate court, it is wrong.

Three federal regimes overlay the state procedure. Under the FDCPA, the Supreme Court held in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 139 S. Ct. 1029 (2019), that an entity engaged in non-judicial security-interest enforcement is generally not a "debt collector," except under § 1692f(6), as long as it takes only the steps state law requires.⁴ The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act stays and limits foreclosure against active-duty servicemembers. And the Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay, 11 U.S.C. § 362, halts foreclosure activity the moment a unit owner files for bankruptcy.

Section 3: The Rhode Island HOA foreclosure procedural sequence

A. Lien establishment and the super-priority

The lien attaches automatically under § 34-36.1-3.16(a), from the moment an assessment or fine comes due, and it applies to condominiums. The association does not have to record anything separately: § 34-36.1-3.16(d) treats recording the declaration as record notice and perfection of the lien, though it may record more if it chooses.² The super-priority component under § 34-36.1-3.16(b)(2) covers the six months of common-expense assessments right before foreclosure, plus up to $2,500 in attorney's fees and up to $5,000 in foreclosure costs.² For non-condominium planned communities, lien rights come from the declaration, not from this statute.

B. Pre-foreclosure notice, demand, and mediation

Before any sale, § 34-36.1-3.21(a) requires the condominium association to mail notice of the time and place of sale to the defaulting unit owner and the first mortgagee by certified mail, at least 20 days before publication, and to notify other record interest holders.³ On request, the association must also provide an itemized statement that separates the priority six-month common-expense portion from the other charges.³ The residential mediation conference under § 34-27-9 binds the mortgagee on first-lien residential mortgages; by its terms, it does not apply to an association's assessment-lien foreclosure.¹¹ Practitioners should still run the federal checks in parallel: FDCPA exposure for any third-party collector that takes steps beyond what state law requires, a bankruptcy-docket check for an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362, and an SCRA check for active-duty status before going forward. These checks apply to condominiums and, through their declarations, to planned communities.

C. Statutory power-of-sale foreclosure (or judicial foreclosure)

The association conducts the sale under § 34-36.1-3.21: it publishes notice in a newspaper, sells the unit at public auction, executes a foreclosure deed, and applies the proceeds to the secured debt and the sale costs.³ A mortgagee foreclosing its own mortgage follows § 34-27-4 instead, which requires three straight weekly publications, the first at least 21 days before the sale, plus mailed notice to the mortgagor at least 30 days before first publication for individual consumer mortgagors.⁹ Judicial foreclosure is available to either lienholder as an alternative, but they use it less often. These mechanics apply to condominiums; planned-community associations rely on their governing instruments for any power of sale.

D. Post-sale rights and remedies

After a condominium lien sale, the first mortgagee has 30 days from the post-sale notice to redeem under § 34-36.1-3.21(c). If it does not, its mortgage is extinguished. The Rhode Island Supreme Court said as much in Twenty Eleven, LLC v. Botelho, 127 A.3d 897, 905 (R.I. 2015): a condominium foreclosure sale "extinguishes a prior-recorded first mortgage on the unit following the mortgagee's failure to exercise the right of redemption provided for in R.I. Gen. Laws 34-36.1-3.21(c)."⁸ The facts show the stakes. The unit's original first mortgage was $114,400. The association sold the unit for $21,000. The outstanding assessment lien was $7,498.43. So a lien under $7,500 extinguished a $114,400 mortgage.⁸ After a mortgage power-of-sale foreclosure, there is no general post-sale statutory redemption.⁹ Under § 34-36.1-3.21(b), a sale on the junior, non-priority portion of the association lien takes the unit subject to senior encumbrances, so how you handle junior liens depends on which piece of the lien you foreclose.³ Surplus proceeds above the secured sums and sale expenses go to junior interests and then the former owner. Foreclosure extinguishes the security interest, but not the underlying debt; the obligor may still owe on the note, subject to the applicable deficiency limits.⁸ Once the sale closes, the purchaser takes title and may pursue possession through eviction.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

The most significant recent change to condominium administration is the 2024 recording law. House Bill 7867 and its Senate companion, S2647, require condominium bylaws and rules to be recorded in the land evidence records of every municipality where any part of the condominium sits, and they require post-declaration amendments to be certified by at least two members of the executive board.

A separate measure made the residential foreclosure mediation program permanent in 2023 and moved it to § 34-27-9. It governs first-lien residential mortgagees, not associations.¹¹

B. Recent rulings

The controlling decision is still Twenty Eleven, LLC v. Botelho. There, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held that a condominium lien foreclosure under the Act extinguishes a prior-recorded first mortgage when the mortgagee fails to pay the six-month priority assessments or to exercise the 30-day redemption right under § 34-36.1-3.21(c).

No qualifying Rhode Island Supreme Court decision interpreting the condominium assessment lien or condominium lien foreclosure has come down in the past 36 months. Botelho remains the leading authority.

C. Active legislative debates

One bill worth watching is the reserve-study proposal. The 2025 House Bill 5824 would require condominium associations to obtain and fund reserve studies certified by an architect or engineer; it drew opposing testimony at a March 4, 2025 House Corporations Committee hearing and did not advance out of committee.¹⁴ No active bill in the current session would alter the six-month super-priority or the power-of-sale foreclosure mechanics.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Rhode Island sits among the Uniform Condominium Act states that give associations a six-month super-priority lien and let them enforce it through a non-judicial power of sale. It is unusual in one respect: it has no intermediate appellate court, so the Rhode Island Supreme Court sets condominium-foreclosure precedent directly. Its six-month window is shorter than Nevada's nine-month super-priority under NRS 116.3116, which the Nevada Supreme Court read to grant "true lien priority" capable of extinguishing first deeds of trust in SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (en banc).¹⁵ The six-month measure lines up with other Uniform Act jurisdictions, and it stands apart from covenant-primary states, where association lien rights flow chiefly from recorded declarations rather than statute. For a multi-state operator, the practical point is simple: in Rhode Island, a relatively small assessment delinquency can extinguish a first mortgage after a power-of-sale auction, and the only post-sale cure is the mortgagee's 30-day redemption.

Rhode Island keeps no dedicated HOA regulator and does not require community association managers to hold a license. That leaves compliance to boards, managers, and counsel, working directly under the Condominium Act and the recorded governing documents. We update this page quarterly, as the General Assembly and the Rhode Island Supreme Court act.

1. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.01 (short title, "Rhode Island Condominium Act") and § 34-36.1-1.02 (applicability; condominiums created after July 1, 1982) ↩
2. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16 (Lien for assessments; six-month super-priority over a first mortgage; $2,500 attorney's-fee cap and $5,000 foreclosure-cost cap; perfection by recording the declaration; six-year limitation) ↩
3. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.21 (Foreclosure of condominium lien; mailed and published notice; conduct of sale; sale subject to senior encumbrances under subsection (b); 30-day first-mortgagee right of redemption under subsection (c)) ↩
4. Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 139 S. Ct. 1029 (2019) (an entity engaged in no more than non-judicial security-interest enforcement is generally not a "debt collector" under the FDCPA except under 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6)); see also 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.; 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq. (SCRA); 11 U.S.C. § 362 (automatic stay) ↩
5. America Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. IDC, Inc., 844 A.2d 117, 127 (R.I. 2004) (the Act "essentially incorporated the language contained in the Uniform Condominium Act"), as quoted in Twenty Eleven, LLC v. Botelho ↩
6. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.02 (predecessor Condominium Ownership Act, ch. 34-36, governs pre-July 1, 1982 condominiums absent a recorded opt-in; enumerated provisions, including § 34-36.1-3.16, reach pre-1982 condominiums for events after July 1, 1982; § 34-36.1-3.21 applies to events after June 18, 1991) ↩
7. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-6-1 et seq. (Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩
8. Twenty Eleven, LLC v. Botelho, 127 A.3d 897 (R.I. Dec. 4, 2015) (No. 2014-10-Appeal) (condominium lien foreclosure extinguishes a prior-recorded first mortgage absent payment or 30-day redemption; original mortgage $114,400, foreclosure price $21,000, assessment lien $7,498.43; foreclosure eliminates the security interest but not the underlying note) ↩
9. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-4 (Publication of notice under power of sale; three successive weekly publications, the first at least 21 days before sale; mailed notice to the mortgagor at least 30 days before first publication for individual consumer mortgagors) ↩
10. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-3.1 (45-day notice of default and right to cure to an individual consumer mortgagor before foreclosure) ↩
11. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9 (Mediation conference, reinstated from § 34-27-3.2; applies only to first-lien mortgages on owner-occupied, one-to-four-unit residential property that is the mortgagor's primary residence) ↩
12. Rhode Island Judiciary, Supreme Court (one chief justice and four associate justices; appeals from the Superior Court taken directly to the Supreme Court because Rhode Island has no intermediate appellate court) ↩
13. 2024 H 7867 (Property — Condominium Law; recording of bylaws and rules; two-member certification of amendments; P.L. 2024, ch. 154 and ch. 156, effective June 17, 2024) ↩
14. 2025 H 5824 (Property — Condominium Law; reserve studies certified by an architect or engineer; proposed § 34-36.1-3.22) ↩
15. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (en banc) (nine-month super-priority grants "true lien priority" capable of extinguishing a first deed of trust); Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116 ↩