Virginia HOA Collections & Liens

Section 1: Overview — How assessment collection and liens work in Virginia

Virginia draws a clear dividing line in how it handles assessment collection and liens, and that line runs between community types. Condominiums fall under the Condominium Act (Va. Code § 55.1-1900 et seq.) and planned communities fall under the Property Owners' Association Act (POAA, Va. Code § 55.1-1800 et seq.).^{1, 2} To enforce an unpaid assessment, the association must record a memorandum of lien within a statutory window — that step is what perfects the lien. The perfected lien sits behind a prior-recorded first mortgage. Where the total sum secured exceeds $5,000, the association may proceed by nonjudicial foreclosure using the statutory power of sale.^{1, 2}

Title 55 was recodified as Title 55.1 effective October 1, 2019. The operative citations are § 55.1-1966 for condominiums and § 55.1-1833 for planned communities. The older § 55-79.84 and § 55-516 numbers are obsolete.¹

The lien does not become enforceable on the day an assessment falls due. Each statute says the association "shall have a lien, once perfected," and perfection requires recording a verified memorandum of lien in the circuit court clerk's office — within 90 days for condominiums, within 12 months for planned communities.^{1, 2}

Virginia does not grant a super-priority lien. The perfected lien sits behind real estate tax liens, encumbrances recorded before the declaration, and sums unpaid on a first mortgage or deed of trust recorded before lien perfection.^{1, 2} The association can pursue foreclosure — judicial or nonjudicial — but only where the total sum secured exceeds $5,000, exclusive of attorney fees and costs.^{1, 2}

In the national picture, Virginia is neither a super-priority state like Nevada nor a CC&R-only state. It is a comprehensive-statute, threshold-restricted state with parallel condo and planned-community acts.³ The sections that follow detail the lien, its priority, the collection-to-foreclosure sequence, and recent activity.

Virginia HOA Collections & Liens at a glance

Source: Va. Code § 55.1-1966, § 55.1-1833, § 55.1-1819, § 55.1-1959, § 8.01-246, § 8.01-463. Last verified: June 10, 2026.

Section 2: The lien and its priority

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

The assessment lien is statutory, not merely contractual. For condominiums, § 55.1-1966(A) gives the unit owners' association a lien on each unit for unpaid assessments levied under the Condominium Act and the condominium instruments.¹ For planned communities, § 55.1-1833(A) gives the association a lien "once perfected" on every lot for unpaid assessments levied under the POAA and the declaration.² Each provision applies only to its respective community type.

The lien is not self-executing in the sense of attaching enforceably on the due date. Both statutes condition enforceability on perfection, which requires recording a memorandum of lien. For condominiums, the association must file a memorandum — verified by oath of the principal officer or another officer the condominium instruments specify — before the expiration of 90 days from the time the first assessment became due and payable (§ 55.1-1966(C)).¹ For planned communities, the deadline is 12 months from the first assessment becoming due (§ 55.1-1833(B)).² The memorandum is filed in the circuit court clerk's office for the county or city where the community is located and must identify the unit or lot, the owners, and the amount and dates of the unpaid assessments.^{1, 2}

In Wilburn v. Pinewood Lawns Condominium Phase I, 65 Va. Cir. 372 (Fairfax 2004), the Circuit Court of Fairfax County held that the condominium officer's verification duty is non-delegable and invalidated a memorandum of lien signed only by the association's attorney.⁶

The lien secures unpaid assessments. On enforcement, both acts provide that the judgment includes reimbursement for costs and attorney fees of the prevailing party, and that a prevailing association may recover interest at the legal rate on the secured sums from the date each became due (§ 55.1-1966(E); § 55.1-1833(F)).^{1, 2} Rule-violation charges are swept into the lien framework: § 55.1-1819(D) (POAA) and § 55.1-1959(D) (condominiums) provide that charges for violations — capped at $50 for a single offense or $10 per day for a continuing offense, not assessable for more than 90 days — are "treated as an assessment" for purposes of the lien statutes.^{4, 5} The lien attaches to the individual unit or lot, not to other property of the owner.^{1, 2}

2B. Lien priority and any super-priority component

Virginia does not grant a super-priority lien. This is the single most important priority fact for a multi-state operator. Both statutes place the perfected association lien ahead of most encumbrances but expressly behind the first mortgage.

Under § 55.1-1966(A), the condominium lien, once perfected, is prior to all other liens and encumbrances except: (i) real estate tax liens on the unit; (ii) liens and encumbrances recorded before the declaration was recorded; and (iii) sums unpaid on any first mortgage or first deed of trust recorded before the lien was perfected and securing institutional lenders.¹ The POAA lien under § 55.1-1833(A) is subordinate to: (i) real estate tax liens on the lot; (ii) encumbrances recorded before the declaration; and (iii) sums unpaid on any mortgage or deed of trust recorded before the lien was perfected.² Both statutes provide that they do not affect the priority of mechanics' and materialmen's liens.^{1, 2}

There is no month-count carve-out that jumps ahead of the first deed of trust. Unlike Nevada, where NRS 116.3116 grants a nine-month super-priority portion that, on proper foreclosure, can extinguish a first deed of trust (SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (en banc)), Virginia's association lien remains junior to a prior-recorded first deed of trust in full.⁷ The practical consequence: an association foreclosure in Virginia generally takes the property subject to the first mortgage — it does not wipe it out, and the economics of foreclosing are correspondingly different from super-priority states. Because Virginia has no super-priority portion, the "rolling lien" question does not arise; there is no priority amount to roll.^{1, 2}

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

Recorded declarations and condominium instruments supplement the statutory lien. Both acts tie the lien to assessments levied "in accordance with" the governing documents, so the declaration sets the assessments that the lien secures and may add procedural detail.^{1, 2} The declaration cannot override the statutory perfection deadlines, the priority ordering, the $5,000 foreclosure threshold, or the 60-day pre-foreclosure notice — those are fixed by statute.

The Court of Appeals of Virginia's 2023 decision in Burkholder v. Palisades Park Owners Ass'n held that the Act's "expressly authorized" standard imposes a clear-statement rule, requiring that the declaration "speak with unmistakable clarity before authorizing assessments to fund services or improvements unrelated to the common area" — a reading the General Assembly partly revised in 2024.⁸

The statute of limitations on the underlying assessment debt runs under general contract law. Under § 8.01-246(2), an action on a written contract carries a five-year limitations period — the period that governs recorded-covenant assessment obligations. Oral contracts carry three years under § 8.01-246(4).⁹ This is distinct from the lien-enforcement window: once a memorandum of lien is recorded, foreclosure must be initiated within 120 months under both acts.^{1, 2}

Three federal frameworks apply on top of Virginia's framework regardless of state law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.) can reach associations — and especially their attorneys and third-party collection agents — when they collect assessments. The automatic stay in bankruptcy (11 U.S.C. § 362) halts collection and foreclosure activity the moment an owner files. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA, 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq.) limits foreclosure and related remedies against active-duty servicemembers.

Section 3: The collection and foreclosure process

3A. Pre-lien collection sequence

The two acts diverge at the very first step, and that split matters operationally. For planned communities, § 55.1-1833(C) requires the association to send written notice to the property owner by certified mail at the owner's last known address, informing the owner that a memorandum of lien will be filed. The association must send that notice at least 10 days before the actual filing date.² This 10-day pre-lien notice is statutory and applies to POAA communities only.

For condominiums, the Condominium Act contains no analogous statutory pre-lien notice requirement. Section 55.1-1966 conditions perfection on recording within 90 days but does not, by its terms, require advance notice to the owner before the memorandum is filed.¹ Any pre-lien notice a condominium association sends is therefore a creature of the condominium instruments or association policy, not of statute.

Neither act contains a statutory mandate that the association offer a payment plan, accept a dispute, or furnish an itemized statement before recording a lien. A condominium owner who has contracted to sell the unit may demand a recordable statement of unpaid assessments under § 55.1-1966(H), and failure to furnish it within 10 days extinguishes the lien as to that unit.¹

3B. Recording and the pre-foreclosure sequence

Recording the memorandum of lien perfects the lien in both community types. The association files it in the circuit court clerk's office where the community is located, indexes it in the names of the owners and the association, and — for condominiums — identifies it in the general index as a lien for condominium assessments.^{1, 2} The memorandum must be verified by oath of the principal officer. The perfection deadlines are firm: 90 days for condominiums under § 55.1-1966(C); 12 months for planned communities under § 55.1-1833(B). Nothing in either section extends the time to perfect.^{1, 2}

Before a sale, both acts require a 60-day pre-foreclosure notice. Under § 55.1-1966(J)(1) and § 55.1-1833(J)(1), the association must give the owner notice specifying: (i) the debt secured by the perfected lien; (ii) the action required to satisfy it; (iii) a date not less than 60 days from the date the notice is given by which the debt must be satisfied; and (iv) that failure to satisfy the debt may result in sale of the unit or lot.^{1, 2} The notice must also inform the owner of the right to bring a circuit court action to assert the nonexistence of the debt or any other defense.

After the 60-day period expires, the association may appoint a trustee to conduct the sale and must file the trustee appointment in the circuit court clerk's office.^{1, 2} Neither act statutorily requires a recorded board vote, a mandatory payment-plan offer, or mediation as a prerequisite to foreclosure; those steps, where present, derive from the governing documents.

3C. Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds

The association may choose between judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure. Under § 55.1-1966(D) and § 55.1-1833(E), a perfected lien may be enforced by a civil action in circuit court or by nonjudicial foreclosure under the power-of-sale procedures in subsections I and J of each section.^{1, 2} Nonjudicial foreclosure is permitted because the statute itself confers the power of sale and deems the association the owner's statutory agent for transferring title.^{1, 2}

The minimum debt threshold is exact and identical across both acts: the association may conduct a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure sale only where the total sums secured by one or more perfected liens exceed $5,000, exclusive of attorney fees and costs (§ 55.1-1966(I); § 55.1-1833(I)).^{1, 2} A parallel limit in § 8.01-463 bars a bill to enforce a judgment lien on a primary residence where the association's judgment total does not exceed $5,000, exclusive of interest and costs.¹⁰ Virginia sets no minimum delinquency duration; the trigger is the dollar threshold, not elapsed time.

Because rule-violation charges are "treated as an assessment" under § 55.1-1819(D) and § 55.1-1959(D), such charges can count toward the secured sum and therefore can, in combination with assessments, support a foreclosure — subject to the per-offense and 90-day caps on those charges.^{4, 5}

The sale process is prescribed. Following the 60-day notice and trustee appointment, the association advertises the sale once a week for four successive weeks — or, if the property lies in a city or a county immediately contiguous to a city, on five different days that may be consecutive.^{1, 2} The sale is held on a day after the last advertisement that is no earlier than eight days after the first advertisement and no more than 30 days after the last. The association must also mail the advertisement or an equivalent notice to the owner by certified or registered mail no less than 14 days before the sale, and to junior lienholders of record. No foreclosure may be initiated more than 120 months after the memorandum of lien was recorded (§ 55.1-1966(D); § 55.1-1833(E)).^{1, 2}

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

Virginia provides no general post-sale right of redemption for a properly conducted trustee's sale, and that holds for association-lien foreclosures. What the statutes provide instead is a finality-with-challenge window: under § 55.1-1966(J)(11) and § 55.1-1833(J)(11), the purchaser's title is not disturbed unless, within 12 months from confirmation of the trustee's accounting by the commissioner of accounts, a court sets aside the sale or an appeal is filed in the Court of Appeals or granted by the Supreme Court.^{1, 2} That is a window to attack a defective sale, not a right to redeem by paying the debt after sale.

The owner has a statutory right to reinstate before the sale. Under § 55.1-1966(J)(3) and § 55.1-1833(J)(3), if the owner satisfies the debt secured by the lien and pays all expenses and costs incurred in perfecting and enforcing the lien — including advertising costs and reasonable attorney fees — before the date of the sale, the owner has the right to have enforcement discontinued.^{1, 2}

Surplus proceeds follow a statutory distribution order. Under § 55.1-1966(J)(8)(c) and § 55.1-1833(J)(8)(c), the association applies proceeds first to reasonable sale expenses including attorney fees; second to taxes, levies, and assessments with costs and interest; third to the association's assessment lien; fourth to remaining inferior claims of record in priority order; and fifth, any residue to the former owner or assigns.^{1, 2}

As to a deficiency, the acts preserve a separate action at law to recover the sums for which the lien arises (§ 55.1-1915 for condominiums; § 55.1-1828 for planned communities). An association may pursue a personal money judgment against the owner for the debt independent of the sale, subject to the underlying statute of limitations.^{1, 2}

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

4A. Recent bills

The 2024 session produced two companion bills that together reshaped the core mechanics of association lien enforcement in Virginia — setting the foreclosure threshold, extending the enforcement window, and tightening the record-keeping requirements that support a valid lien.

4B. Recent appellate rulings

No published opinion of the Court of Appeals of Virginia or the Supreme Court of Virginia in the 2023–2025 window squarely interprets the assessment-lien, lien-priority, or foreclosure mechanics of § 55.1-1833 or § 55.1-1966. The most relevant recent appellate decision — one that directly bears on what a lien can secure — is below. Virginia appeals run from the circuit court to the Court of Appeals of Virginia, with discretionary review by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Court of Appeals gained general appellate jurisdiction over civil cases effective January 1, 2022.

4C. Active legislative debates

The 2024 amendments largely settled the most contested recent questions. SB 672 revised § 55.1-1805 and its condominium counterpart to confirm associations may levy declaration-based assessments to pay contractual and legal obligations, directly responding to Burkholder. No pending proposal would alter the no-super-priority rule, the $5,000 threshold, or the 120-month enforcement window. Virginia practitioners continue to monitor Housing Commission recommendations for future adjustments to collection mechanics.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Virginia sits in the middle of the national collections spectrum. It is not a super-priority state: unlike Nevada, whose nine-month NRS 116.3116 lien can extinguish a first mortgage, and unlike Connecticut and other UCIOA jurisdictions that grant a limited priority portion, Virginia's association lien stays junior to a prior-recorded first deed of trust in full.⁷

Virginia sits closer to the threshold-restricted group — like California, Arizona, and Colorado — that bar foreclosure below a dollar or time minimum, because Virginia conditions foreclosure on more than $5,000 in secured sums.^{1, 2} It stands far from CC&R-primary states with no assessment-collection statute, since Virginia codifies the lien, perfection, notice, and sale process in detail.

For a multi-state operator, the lesson is direct: a collection sequence and notice package valid in one state can be defective or even barred in another. A Nevada super-priority playbook overshoots in Virginia. A Virginia notice that omits the 60-day cure or fires below $5,000 is defective. Virginia's recent direction mixes tightening — the $5,000 primary-residence judgment floor — with stronger association tools: the 120-month enforcement window.

1. Va. Code § 55.1-1966, Lien for assessments; foreclosure (Virginia Condominium Act). law.lis.virginia.gov ↩
2. Va. Code § 55.1-1833, Lien for assessments; foreclosure (Property Owners' Association Act). law.lis.virginia.gov ↩
3. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116, Liens against units for assessments (for contrast with super-priority states). leg.state.nv.us ↩
4. Va. Code § 55.1-1819(D), Adoption and enforcement of rules (POAA; charges treated as assessment). law.lis.virginia.gov ↩
5. Va. Code § 55.1-1959(D), Suspension of services; assessment of charges for violations (Condominium Act; charges treated as assessment). law.lis.virginia.gov ↩
6. Wilburn v. Pinewood Lawns Condominium Phase I, 65 Va. Cir. 372 (Fairfax 2004) (officer verification of memorandum non-delegable), as discussed in Cowherd PLC, "Memorandum of Association Assessment Lien." cowherdplc.com ↩
7. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (en banc) (NRS 116.3116 super-priority lien extinguishes first deed of trust on proper foreclosure). law.justia.com ↩
8. Burkholder v. Palisades Park Owners Ass'n, Inc., Record No. 0187-22-4 (Va. Ct. App. Feb. 7, 2023) (published; 76 Va. App. 577, 882 S.E.2d 906). vacourts.gov ↩
9. Va. Code § 8.01-246, Personal actions based on contracts (five years written; three years oral). law.lis.virginia.gov ↩
10. Va. Code § 8.01-463, Enforcement of lien when judgment does not exceed $25,000 (association assessments; $5,000 floor on primary residence). law.lis.virginia.gov ↩
11. Virginia LIS, HB 880 (2024), Common interest communities; foreclosure remedy (Chapter 55). legacylis.virginia.gov ↩
12. Virginia LIS, SB 341 (2024), Common interest communities; foreclosure remedy (Chapter 349; identical to HB 880; Virginia Housing Commission recommendation). legacylis.virginia.gov ↩
13. 2024 Acts of Assembly, Chapters 55 and 349 (enrolled SB 341 text amending §§ 8.01-463, 55.1-1833, 55.1-1966). legacylis.virginia.gov ↩
14. Va. Code § 55.1-1805 (current text reflecting 2024 SB 672 revision authorizing assessments for contractual and legal obligations). law.lis.virginia.gov ↩