Virginia HOA Fining Authority

Section 1: Overview — Fining authority in Virginia

Ask whether a Virginia community association can fine you, and the answer runs through two statutes, not one. Virginia governs condominiums under the Virginia Condominium Act (Title 55.1, Chapter 19) and planned communities under the Property Owners' Association Act — the POAA — at Title 55.1, Chapter 18.¹ Three things set Virginia apart right away. It hasn't adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA). It keeps a dedicated state regulator and requires community-association managers to hold a license. And both acts cap violation charges in the statute itself — a number the legislature fixed, not one each association picks. One more point to pin down before you cite anything: the General Assembly recodified both acts out of the old Title 55 and into Title 55.1, effective October 1, 2019. So the old § 55-79.x, § 55-508, and § 55-513 citations are dead. Only the current Title 55.1 sections control.¹

That fining power sits alongside an unusually active regulatory structure. The Common Interest Community Board — the CICB, housed inside the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) — registers communities, licenses community-association managers, and runs the Common Interest Community Ombudsman, the office an owner turns to after a final adverse association decision.² So don't file Virginia under "no regulator." It has one, and it's busy.

Both acts follow the same sequence before a charge attaches: written notice, a chance to correct a violation you can still fix, and a chance to be heard. Both cap the charge — a single-offense amount and a per-day amount for a continuing violation — and both stop the per-day clock at 90 days.³ The question every treasurer eventually asks is the one that matters most: does an unpaid charge become a lien that can support foreclosure? In Virginia the answer comes loaded with conditions, and we lay them out in the table below and again in Section 3C. The Quick-Reference table that follows sets each parameter side by side for both community types.

Section 2: Quick-Reference Fining Mechanics Table

Here's Virginia's fining mechanics at a glance. The Condominiums column reflects the Virginia Condominium Act (Chapter 19); the Planned Communities column reflects the Property Owners' Association Act (Chapter 18). Every citation points to the current Title 55.1, and Section 3 sources each value in detail. Where a statute doesn't address a parameter, the cell says so instead of guessing. And note what makes Virginia rare: it's one of only a handful of states that fixes the maximum violation charge in the statute itself.

The Condominiums column reflects the Virginia Condominium Act (Title 55.1, Chapter 19); the Planned Communities column reflects the Property Owners' Association Act (Title 55.1, Chapter 18). Both acts cap violation charges by statute at $50 for a single offense and $10 per day for a continuing offense, limited to 90 days. Last verified: July 14, 2026.

Section 3: Fining mechanics in detail

3A. Source and outer limits of fining authority

Start with condominiums. The charge authority lives in Va. Code § 55.1-1959. The unit owners' association may assess charges against an owner for any violation of the condominium instruments or the rules adopted under them — but only to the extent those instruments or rules expressly say so.³ The same section fixes the ceiling. The statute says "the amount of any charges assessed shall not exceed $50 for a single offense, or $10 per diem for any offense of a continuing nature," and that "the total charges for any offense of a continuing nature shall not be assessed for a period exceeding 90 days." Do the math: 90 days times $10 caps a single continuing violation at $900.³ And a charge assessed under this section counts as an assessment against the unit for purposes of the lien statute, § 55.1-1966.³

Planned communities run the parallel track at Va. Code § 55.1-1819. The board may assess charges against a member for any violation of the declaration or rules, but — same rule — only to the extent the declaration or duly adopted rules expressly provide.⁴ The dollar cap is identical: no more than $50 for a single offense or $10 per day for a continuing one, and continuing-offense charges stop at 90 days. The charge is treated as an assessment against the member's lot for purposes of the POAA lien statute, § 55.1-1833.⁴ Notice the common thread: because the authority to charge has to be expressly granted in the governing documents, an association whose declaration and rules stay silent on violation charges can't impose them at all.

Two structural features frame how this authority gets used. First, Virginia licenses the managers who run these processes. Any firm offering management services to a common interest community has to hold a common interest community manager license from the CICB, and its principal or supervisory employees have to be certified.⁵ Second — worth repeating — Virginia isn't a UCIOA state. Both acts are bespoke Virginia statutes with their own Title 55.1 numbering, renumbered in the 2019 recodification, and both operate against a backdrop where the CICB itself can levy monetary penalties against an association or a manager for certain violations.¹ Within each statutory ceiling, the governing documents set the actual schedule of charges and the categories of violation.

3B. The required fining procedure

Both acts impose a prescriptive, multi-step procedure before any charge attaches, and the two tracks read almost word for word alike. Under § 55.1-1819 for planned communities and § 55.1-1959 for condominiums, the association first has to give the owner written notice of the alleged violation and a reasonable chance to correct it. If the violation stands, the owner gets an opportunity to be heard — and to bring counsel — before the board or another tribunal the governing documents name. Notice of that hearing, spelling out what the association may do, has to be hand delivered or sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 14 days ahead. And within seven days after the hearing, the association has to deliver the result to the owner the same way.^3,4

The Common Interest Community Ombudsman adds a route out of the association entirely. The Ombudsman has to be a member in good standing of the Virginia State Bar.⁶ Every association has to maintain a written complaint procedure, and an owner who gets a final adverse decision may file a notice of that decision with the Ombudsman. Under Va. Code § 54.1-2354.4(B), the notice "shall be filed within 30 days of the final adverse decision ... and shall be accompanied by a $25 filing fee," though "the Board may, for good cause shown, waive or refund the filing fee upon a finding that payment of the filing fee will cause undue financial hardship for the member."⁷ Understand the limits of this review, though. The Ombudsman looks only at whether the decision conflicts with common interest community law or regulation, and the determination is non-binding. As the statute puts it, "if within 365 days of issuing such determination the Ombudsman receives a subsequent notice of final adverse decision for the same violation, the Office shall refer the matter to the Board."⁶

Per-day charges are allowed under both acts — but only for an offense of a continuing nature, only up to the 90-day ceiling, and only where the governing documents authorize continuing charges. The practical takeaway is blunt: a Virginia charge imposed without the statutory notice, cure opportunity, and hearing, or one that blows past the $50 / $10-per-day / 90-day limits, is exposed to challenge. Virginia's procedure is more prescriptive than what you'll find in states where fining rests mostly on the CC&Rs, because here the day-counts, the delivery methods, and the dollar ceilings all sit in the statute rather than in each association's documents.

3C. Enforcement of unpaid fines: assessments, liens, and foreclosure

Because the statute treats a violation charge as an assessment, that charge can feed the association's assessment lien. But the lien and foreclosure mechanics carry conditions that matter more than the fine itself, so stick close to the text of each act here. For condominiums, § 55.1-1966 gives the unit owners' association a lien on each unit for unpaid assessments. The association has to perfect that lien by filing a memorandum in the circuit court clerk's office within 90 days of the first unpaid assessment. Once perfected, the lien outranks other liens — except real estate tax liens, encumbrances recorded before the declaration, and sums unpaid on any first mortgage or first deed of trust recorded before the lien was perfected and securing an institutional lender. Translation: a first mortgage generally beats the association.⁸

Planned communities get the parallel lien statute at § 55.1-1833. There, the association has to send written notice by certified mail at least 10 days before filing, and it has to file the memorandum within 12 months of the first unpaid assessment. The priority scheme mirrors the condominium track — behind prior real estate tax liens, encumbrances recorded before the declaration, and prior recorded mortgages or deeds of trust.⁹

Virginia lets an association foreclose the assessment lien either judicially or nonjudicially under both acts. The critical limit — added by HB 880 / SB 341 in 2024 — is that foreclosure may proceed only where the total sum secured by one or more perfected liens tops $5,000, not counting attorney fees and costs. Section 55.1-1966(I) now says an association "may conduct a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure sale ... if the total sums secured are in excess of $5,000, exclusive of attorney fees and costs."¹⁰ The association also has to give the owner at least 60 days' written notice before appointing a trustee, and the same 2024 legislation stretched the enforcement window to 120 months — ten years — after the memorandum is recorded.¹⁰ Here's why that matters for fines specifically. Because violation charges cap out at $900 per continuing offense, a fine-only balance will almost never reach the $5,000 foreclosure threshold on its own. In practice, that means associations collect fines as money judgments or as riders on a broader assessment lien — not as standalone foreclosure triggers. Both acts also let an association suspend an owner's right to use facilities or services, including utility service the association provides directly, for nonpayment of assessments more than 60 days past due — provided the governing documents expressly allow it and the association doesn't cut off access to the lot or unit itself. Suspension of voting rights? Neither statute addresses it; that one turns on the governing documents.^3,4

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

C. Active legislative debates

Virginia's General Assembly keeps coming back to common interest community collection and management rules, session after session. Community-association advocates have signaled interest in further refining the post-Burkholder charge provisions and the foreclosure threshold. But no measure touching the statutory fine cap itself passed in either the 2025 or the 2026 session.¹¹

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Step back and Virginia lands in its own category. It's a two-statute, bespoke state — condominiums under the Condominium Act, planned communities under the POAA — and it fixes the maximum violation charge in the statute itself, an approach few states take. That sets Virginia apart from full UCIOA states like Nevada, Vermont, West Virginia, and Colorado, and from CC&R-primary states that leave fining almost entirely to the governing documents. The other defining Virginia feature is the Common Interest Community Board, its mandatory manager licensing, and the Ombudsman complaint process behind it — a level of state oversight most states simply don't have. And on enforcement, the statutory fine cap plus the $5,000 foreclosure threshold means Virginia fines rarely support foreclosure on their own. Put it together and the Commonwealth sits toward the more owner-protective end of the spectrum.

HOA Weekly updates its Virginia Fining Authority coverage every quarter, as the General Assembly, the Common Interest Community Board, and the Virginia appellate courts act. And federal frameworks reach Virginia associations no matter what the state acts say. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can govern third-party collection of fines, and the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the OTARD rule all apply as well — a fuller treatment of each is coming once that coverage is built.

Recommendations

Before you impose any charge (do this first). Confirm two things in writing: that the declaration or duly adopted rules expressly authorize a charge for the specific violation, and that the community is a validly formed association with charging authority in the first place. Burkholder and Terrace View both tell you Virginia courts read this authority narrowly, and a charge issued without an express textual basis is the most common way a Virginia fine gets thrown out. If the governing documents are silent, amend them before you charge — not after.

Run the statutory procedure exactly. Send written notice of the violation, give a reasonable cure period, and if the violation persists, send a hearing notice by hand delivery or registered/certified mail (return receipt requested) at least 14 days ahead. Then deliver the written decision the same way within 7 days. Keep the charge inside $50 per single offense or $10 per day, and stop the per-day clock at 90 days. Document every step — the paper trail is the defense.

Treat fines and foreclosure as separate questions. Don't assume a fine can be foreclosed. A fine-only balance capped near $900 will almost never clear the $5,000 secured-balance threshold that HB 880 / SB 341 now requires. Collect fines as money judgments — now available up to $50,000 in general district court after SB 1291 — or roll them into a broader assessment lien, and save foreclosure for cases where combined perfected liens genuinely top $5,000.

Benchmarks that would change this guidance: a General Assembly amendment raising or removing the $50 / $10 / 90-day cap; any change to the $5,000 foreclosure threshold or the 120-month enforcement window; a Supreme Court of Virginia decision reviewing Burkholder or Terrace View; or a CICB regulatory change to the ombudsman complaint process. Re-verify each quarter against law.lis.virginia.gov.

Caveats

A few things to keep straight. The $50 / $10-per-day / 90-day cap and the 14-day/7-day procedure are verified against the current official text of §§ 55.1-1819 and 55.1-1959. The $5,000 foreclosure threshold and the 120-month window reflect the 2024 HB 880 / SB 341 amendments, as codified in §§ 55.1-1833 and 55.1-1966. This page covers the fining mechanics only; for which statute governs a given community and the broader framework, see the Governing Statute coverage. None of this is legal advice — an association with a live dispute should confirm the current statutory text and consult Virginia counsel. And one open item: we did not independently confirm the Supreme Court of Virginia's disposition of any petition for appeal in Burkholder. Practitioner commentary and the 2024 legislative response both indicate the Court of Appeals decision stands, but editors should verify the appellate docket before treating that as settled.

1. Property Owners' Association Act, Title 55.1, Chapter 18, and Virginia Condominium Act, Title 55.1, Chapter 19 (recodified from Title 55 effective Oct. 1, 2019), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
2. Office of the Common Interest Community Ombudsman and Common Interest Community Board, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (dpor.virginia.gov). ↩
3. Va. Code § 55.1-1959 (Suspension of services; corrective action; assessment of charges for violations; notice; hearing), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
4. Va. Code § 55.1-1819 (Adoption and enforcement of rules), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
5. Va. Code § 54.1-2346 (License required; certification of employees), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
6. Va. Code § 54.1-2354.3 (Common Interest Community Ombudsman; appointment; powers and duties), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
7. Va. Code § 54.1-2354.4 (Association complaint procedures; final adverse decisions), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
8. Va. Code § 55.1-1966 (Lien for assessments; foreclosure), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
9. Va. Code § 55.1-1833 (Lien for assessments; foreclosure), Code of Virginia (law.lis.virginia.gov). ↩
10. 2024 HB 880 / SB 341 (foreclosure remedy; $5,000 threshold; 120-month enforcement window), amending §§ 55.1-1833 and 55.1-1966; summarized in Woods Rogers, "2024 Virginia Legislative Changes Affecting Community Associations." Verify current statutory text at law.lis.virginia.gov. ↩
11. Virginia SB 1291 (2025), General district courts; increases jurisdictional limits (amending Va. Code § 16.1-77; effective July 1, 2025), LegiScan; jurisdictional placement of §§ 55.1-1819 and 55.1-1959 disputes per Va. Code § 16.1-77. ↩
12. 2024 SB 672 (association charges; authority to levy assessments to pay legal obligations), amending Va. Code §§ 55.1-1805 and 55.1-1904; summarized in Woods Rogers, "A Legislative Fix for Virginia Community Associations After Palisades Park." Verify current statutory text at law.lis.virginia.gov. ↩
13. Burkholder v. Palisades Park Owners Ass'n, Inc., 76 Va. App. 577, 882 S.E.2d 906, Record No. 0187-22-4 (Va. Ct. App. Feb. 7, 2023) (published). Full-text opinion at vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opncavwp/0187224.pdf. ↩
14. Terrace View Property Owner's Ass'n, Inc. v. Jannah, Record No. 2007-24-3 (Va. Ct. App. Feb. 3, 2026) (published). Opinion published at vacourts.gov; digest in Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Editors should confirm the citation against the vacourts.gov opinion PDF. ↩