Virginia HOA Foreclosure
Last verified: June 15, 2026. This is a stable reference page updated quarterly.
1. Overview
Virginia forecloses HOA and condominium assessment liens primarily through non-judicial trustee's sale — but only where the declaration grants a power of sale and the association meets strict statutory notice requirements. Two separate statutes govern the process: the Virginia Condominium Act at Va. Code § 55.1-1900 et seq. and the Virginia Property Owners' Association Act (POAA) at Va. Code § 55.1-1800 et seq., both relocated from the former Title 55 when the General Assembly's recodification took effect October 1, 2019.1, 2 The lien provisions sit at § 55.1-1966 for condominiums and § 55.1-1833 for property owners' associations. Under each statute, the association must perfect its lien by recording a memorandum of lien in circuit court land records within a short statutory window — after which the lien may be enforced for up to 120 months.3
The procedural sequence runs from a perfected memorandum of lien through a 60-day pre-sale notice and right to cure, appointment of a trustee, newspaper advertisement, and a trustee's sale that conveys title by special warranty deed — with no post-sale statutory right of redemption.4 The Common Interest Community Board within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation licenses community managers and registers associations, while federal overlays — including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the bankruptcy automatic stay — constrain how and when an association may proceed.5 The rest of this page details the statutory framework, the step-by-step procedural sequence, recent legislative and judicial developments, and Virginia's position relative to other states.
2. The statutory framework
2A. The Condominium Act and the Property Owners' Association Act
Virginia regulates common interest communities through two distinct statutes — and they are not interchangeable. The Virginia Condominium Act, codified at Va. Code § 55.1-1900 et seq. (Chapter 19 of Title 55.1), governs condominiums.6 The Virginia Property Owners' Association Act covers lot-based developments — single-family and townhouse subdivisions — and is codified at Va. Code § 55.1-1800 et seq. (Chapter 18).7 Both chapters moved from the former Title 55 effective October 1, 2019, when the General Assembly reorganized the Commonwealth's property statutes. The old numbers — § 55-508 et seq. for the POAA and § 55-79.39 et seq. for the Condominium Act — are out of date; use Title 55.1 for current citations.2 The POAA applies to developments under a declaration initially recorded after January 1, 1959, while the Condominium Act applies to condominiums created after July 1, 1974.7
Each statute creates a statutory assessment lien. Under § 55.1-1966, a unit owners' association holds a lien on each condominium unit for unpaid assessments levied under the chapter and the condominium instruments.8 Under § 55.1-1833, a property owners' association holds a lien on every lot for unpaid assessments levied under the chapter and the declaration.9 Both liens secure unpaid periodic and special assessments, and the prevailing association may also recover interest at the legal rate plus costs and reasonable attorney fees.9
Virginia has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, and neither statute creates a UCIOA-style super-priority lien. Under both § 55.1-1833 and § 55.1-1966, the perfected association lien is prior to other liens and encumbrances — except real estate tax liens, liens and encumbrances recorded before the declaration, and sums unpaid on a mortgage or deed of trust recorded before the association lien was perfected.9 The Condominium Act phrases the mortgage exception as first mortgages or first deeds of trust securing institutional lenders.8 The practical result: the association lien is generally junior to a prior recorded first deed of trust, and an association foreclosure does not extinguish that senior security interest.8
2B. The memorandum of lien, time limits, and non-judicial foreclosure
Both statutes require the association to perfect its assessment lien by filing a verified memorandum of lien in the clerk's office of the circuit court where the property sits, recorded in the deed books.9 The time limits are strict — and they differ between the two statutes. Under § 55.1-1833, a property owners' association must file the memorandum before the expiration of 12 months from the time the first assessment became due and payable.9 Under § 55.1-1966, a condominium unit owners' association must file within 90 days of the first assessment becoming due.8 The POAA also requires that, before filing the memorandum, the association must send written notice to the owner by certified mail at the owner's last known address at least 10 days before the filing date. The Condominium Act contains no equivalent pre-filing notice requirement — a distinction practitioners frequently overlook.9
Once the association perfects a lien, it may enforce that lien by judicial foreclosure in the circuit court or by non-judicial foreclosure — but no foreclosure may be initiated after 120 months from the date the memorandum of lien was recorded.3 As § 55.1-1833(E) provides: "No foreclosure of any lien perfected under this section shall be initiated after 120 months from the time when the memorandum of lien was recorded" — with identical language at § 55.1-1966(D).3 This 120-month (ten-year) window reflects the 2024 amendment enacted as Chapters 55 and 349; as Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP summarized, "this legislation extends the statute of limitations for lien foreclosures from 36 months to 120 months."10 An association may foreclose only if the total sums secured by one or more perfected liens exceed $5,000, exclusive of attorney fees and costs.9
Non-judicial foreclosure is conditional — not automatic. It is available only where the governing instruments authorize a power of sale and the association complies with the statutory sequence in § 55.1-1833 and § 55.1-1966.9 That sequence requires the association first to give the owner a notice specifying the debt, the action required to satisfy it, a date not less than 60 days out by which the debt must be satisfied, and a warning that failure to satisfy the debt may result in sale. 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.9 After the 60-day period expires, the association may appoint a trustee — whose appointment the association records in the circuit court — to conduct the sale.9 The sale must be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for four successive weeks, or on five days where the property lies in or contiguous to a city. The trustee conducts the sale and conveys the property by trustee's deed.9 The general deed-of-trust framework in Va. Code § 55.1-321 et seq. supplies related notice and advertisement standards.11
2C. The Common Interest Community Board, redemption, court structure, and federal overlays
Virginia maintains a dedicated regulator. The Common Interest Community Board, created within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation under Va. Code § 54.1-2345 et seq., licenses common interest community managers, certifies certain management employees, and requires property owners', condominium, and cooperative associations to register and file annual reports.12 Any firm offering management services to a common interest community must hold a manager's license.13 The Office of the Common Interest Community Ombudsman, housed within the same department but distinct from the Board, operates a complaint process for association members.12
Virginia provides no post-sale statutory right of redemption after a properly conducted trustee's sale. The trustee's deed conveys title by special warranty, and the purchaser's title is generally final — subject only to a narrow statutory window in which a court may set aside the sale.9 Trial-level disputes proceed in the Virginia Circuit Courts. Effective January 1, 2022, the Court of Appeals of Virginia gained jurisdiction over appeals of right in all civil cases; before that date, most civil appeals went directly to the Supreme Court of Virginia by discretionary petition.14 Civil appeals now run from the Circuit Court to the Court of Appeals of Virginia, then — by discretionary petition — to the Supreme Court of Virginia.14
Federal law overlays the state framework. In Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 586 U.S. 466 (2019), the Supreme Court held unanimously that "a business engaged in no more than nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings is not a 'debt collector' under the FDCPA, except for the limited purpose of §1692f(6)" — though third-party collectors pursuing assessments by other means remain exposed.15 The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act generally requires a court order before foreclosing on a pre-service obligation against an active-duty servicemember and restricts default judgments.16 The bankruptcy automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 halts any foreclosure the moment a petition is filed; the association must obtain relief from the stay before proceeding.17
3. The Virginia HOA foreclosure procedural sequence
3A. Lien establishment, the memorandum of lien, and time limits
The lien arises from unpaid assessments levied under the governing instruments, but enforcement depends on perfection through a recorded memorandum of lien. For a property owners' association under § 55.1-1833, the POAA requires written notice to the owner by certified mail at least 10 days before filing, then filing of the verified memorandum within 12 months of the first assessment becoming due.9 For a condominium under § 55.1-1966, the Condominium Act requires filing within 90 days of the first assessment becoming due and contains no pre-filing notice requirement — a distinction practitioners frequently overlook between the two statutes.8 The association records the memorandum in the circuit court deed books, indexed against the owners and the association.9 Once recorded, the lien may be enforced for up to 120 months from recording under both statutes.3 Priority is fixed by recordation: the lien is generally junior to a first deed of trust recorded before the association lien was perfected, so foreclosure proceeds subject to that senior encumbrance.9 The declaration or condominium instruments may add procedural requirements, but they cannot shorten the statutory windows or waive perfection.9
3B. Pre-foreclosure notice and demand
Before any sale, both § 55.1-1833 and § 55.1-1966 require the association to give the owner a statutory notice fixing a date not less than 60 days out by which the secured debt must be satisfied, identifying the debt and the action required to cure it, and advising the owner of the right to file a circuit court action asserting the nonexistence of the debt or any other defense.9 The owner retains a right to cure at any time before the sale by satisfying the debt and paying all expenses and costs incurred in perfecting and enforcing the lien, including advertising costs and reasonable attorney fees.9 Associations relying on third-party debt collectors should account for FDCPA exposure for collection conduct that goes beyond the steps strictly required for non-judicial foreclosure.15 Before proceeding, the association should also confirm the owner is not an active-duty servicemember protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and is not under the bankruptcy automatic stay.16, 17
3C. Trustee's sale procedure
After the 60-day notice period expires, the association may appoint a trustee — whose appointment is recorded in the clerk's office of the circuit court — and the association may from time to time remove and substitute the trustee.9 One precondition to the entire non-judicial route: the governing instruments must authorize a power of sale. Absent that authorization, the association must proceed judicially.9 The trustee advertises the sale in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for four successive weeks — or on five days where the property lies in or contiguous to a city — with the sale held no earlier than eight days after the first advertisement and no more than 30 days after the last.9 A copy of the advertisement or equivalent notice must go to the owner by certified or registered mail no less than 14 days before the sale, and to recorded lienholders.9 The general deed-of-trust advertisement and notice provisions at Va. Code § 55.1-321 et seq. supplement these requirements.11 The trustee conducts the sale, may require a bidder deposit of up to ten percent, and the association may bid.9 Failure to comply with the advertisement requirements renders the sale voidable on petition.9
3D. Post-sale rights and remedies
The trustee delivers a trustee's deed conveying the property with special warranty of title, and Virginia provides no post-sale statutory right of redemption after a properly conducted sale.9 The sole post-sale challenge is the narrow statutory window: the purchaser's title stands unless, within 12 months from the commissioner of accounts' confirmation of the trustee's accounting, a court sets aside the sale or an appellate court reverses it.9 Sale proceeds are applied in statutory order: first to the expenses of sale including attorney fees, then to taxes and assessments, then to the association assessment lien, then to inferior claims of record in priority order, and finally any residue to the former owner.9 Because the association lien is generally junior to a prior first deed of trust, the sale is made subject to that senior lien, and a purchaser takes subject to it.8 Eviction of the former owner proceeds post-sale under ordinary unlawful detainer procedures, and a personal deficiency requires a separate action.9
4. Recent legislative and judicial activity
4A. Recent bills
HB 880 / SB 341 · 2024 Acts of Assembly Chapters 55 and 349 · 2024 Regular Session
These identical bills amended both § 55.1-1833 and § 55.1-1966 on a recommendation from the Virginia Housing Commission. The legislation extended the lien enforcement period from 36 months to 120 months, set a $5,000 threshold of secured sums before a statutory lien foreclosure may commence, and reduced the judgment threshold for judicial enforcement against a primary residence from $25,000 to $5,000. The acts also require associations to maintain individual assessment account records and records of recorded liens.10, 18
| Property managers | The ten-year enforcement window allows staged collection, but it demands durable lien recordkeeping to use it effectively. |
| HOA board members | Foreclosure cannot commence until secured sums exceed $5,000 — budget collection timing accordingly. |
| Community association attorneys | Combine multiple perfected liens to reach the $5,000 threshold and recalibrate limitations calendars to 120 months. |
| Homeowners | Virginia now enforces a notably longer window for associations to act on unpaid assessments — the clock runs for a full decade. |
HB 2750 · 2025 Regular Session
HB 2750 amended § 55.1-1837 of the POAA and § 55.1-1940.1 of the Condominium Act to require a departing manager to transfer and release association funds and close association accounts within a reasonable time at no additional cost, and to clarify termination of auto-renewing management contracts.19
| Property managers | On termination, transfer funds and close accounts promptly — the statute now makes the timeline explicit. |
| HOA board members | Expect smoother transitions when you replace a management company. |
| Community association attorneys | Review management agreements against the clarified termination standard before disputes arise. |
| Homeowners | This law reduces the risk of association funds being held up during a management changeover. |
HB 1704 / SB 808 · 2025 Regular Session
These bills amended § 55.1-2310 to require the Common Interest Community Board's resale certificate form to disclose that governing documents may make an owner responsible for the association's master-policy deductible on a claim.19
| Property managers | Update resale certificate templates to include the new deductible disclosure. |
| HOA board members | Confirm deductible-allocation provisions in governing documents before the next resale. |
| Community association attorneys | Advise sellers and buyers on deductible exposure at resale. |
| Homeowners | When you sell, the resale certificate now tells buyers that they may owe the deductible on an insurance claim. |
4B. Recent appellate rulings
Burkholder v. Palisades Park Owners Association, Inc.
In a published opinion by Judge Stuart A. Raphael, reported at 76 Va. App. 577, 882 S.E.2d 906, the Court of Appeals held that under § 55.1-1805 of the POAA, an association cannot make an assessment or impose a charge against a lot or owner unless the charge is a fee for services provided or related to use of the common area — unless the declaration expressly authorizes it. The court invalidated an annual assessment funding lot-compliance inspections that the declaration did not expressly authorize, reversed the Arlington County Circuit Court's award of $67,481.68 in attorney fees to the association under § 55.1-1828, and held the homeowners were the prevailing parties entitled to fees. Judge Clifford L. Athey, Jr. dissented.20
| Property managers | Confirm each assessment line item is expressly authorized in the declaration before levying. |
| HOA board members | Unauthorized assessments expose the association to fee-shifting liability — the homeowners collect fees, not the board. |
| Community association attorneys | Apply strict construction to declaration-based assessment authority in Virginia. |
| Homeowners | Virginia courts narrowly construe association charging power — if the declaration doesn't expressly authorize a charge, challenge it. |
Telegraph Square II, a Condominium Unit Owners Association v. 7205 Telegraph Square, LLC
The panel opinion, reported at 77 Va. App. 375, held that a condominium association's reallocation of common-element parking for the exclusive use of certain unit owners impermissibly converted common elements into limited common elements without following the Condominium Act's amendment procedures, and barred the association from assessing the affected owner for those elements.21 The Court of Appeals granted rehearing en banc on June 6, 2023, which stays the panel mandate; the final en banc disposition could not be independently confirmed and carries a status caveat.22
| Property managers | Reallocating common elements requires statutory amendment procedures — informal reassignments create legal exposure. |
| HOA board members | Improper reallocation can void related assessments against the affected owner. |
| Community association attorneys | Monitor the en banc disposition before relying on the panel holding in live matters. |
| Homeowners | Condominium element reallocation is tightly regulated in Virginia — informal arrangements by the board may not hold up in court. |
4C. Active legislative debates
Following Burkholder, the General Assembly amended the POAA and the Condominium Act in 2024 to confirm that associations may levy charges to pay contractual and legal obligations. The Virginia Housing Commission continues to study association collection and foreclosure practices, signaling further activity in upcoming sessions.23
5. National positioning and related coverage
Virginia is a non-judicial trustee's sale state for association liens — but the remedy is conditional rather than automatic. It depends on a power of sale in the governing instruments plus strict statutory notice; it carries distinctive memorandum-of-lien deadlines (12 months for property owners' associations, 90 days for condominiums) and a 120-month enforcement window; and the Common Interest Community Board oversees it all, licensing managers and registering associations. This places Virginia apart from states with no HOA oversight regime. Unlike UCIOA super-priority states, Virginia grants no portion of the association lien priority over a prior first deed of trust. Unlike strict judicial-only states, it permits a faster trustee's sale where the governing instruments authorize one. And unlike states with post-sale redemption, Virginia provides none once the sale is properly conducted. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is clear: Virginia rewards disciplined lien-perfection calendars and declaration review while offering a relatively efficient — if tightly conditioned — enforcement path.
This page is a stable quarterly reference; the statutory citations, bill statuses, and appellate dispositions above were verified against primary sources on the date noted. Readers handling active matters should confirm current text and case status before acting.
Editorial note on Section 4 verification
All three bills and the Burkholder ruling were verified against primary sources. For the second appellate slot, the Telegraph Square II panel opinion (77 Va. App. 375, April 25, 2023) is verified as a real published Court of Appeals decision, but the Court of Appeals granted rehearing en banc on June 6, 2023, which stayed the panel mandate, and the final en banc disposition could not be independently confirmed against a primary-source opinion as of June 15, 2026. The case is presented with that status caveat rather than as settled precedent. No additional appellate slot beyond these two was filled, because no third case interpreting the Condominium Act, the POAA, or association lien foreclosure within the past 36 months could be verified against a primary source without qualification.
- Va. Code § 55.1-1833, Lien for assessments; foreclosure; Va. Code § 55.1-1966, Lien for assessments; foreclosure ↩
- Code of Virginia, Property Owners' Association Act (popular names; historical citations noting 2019, c. 712 recodification) ↩
- Va. Code § 55.1-1833(E), Lien for assessments; foreclosure; Va. Code § 55.1-1966(D), Lien for assessments; foreclosure ↩
- Va. Code § 55.1-1833(J); Va. Code § 55.1-1966(J) ↩
- Common Interest Community Board, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Va. Code § 54.1-2346, License required; certification of employees ↩
- Va. Code § 55.1-1900 et seq., Virginia Condominium Act, Chapter 19 of Title 55.1 ↩
- Va. Code § 55.1-1800, Definitions; § 55.1-1801, Applicability ↩
- Va. Code § 55.1-1966, Lien for assessments; foreclosure ↩
- Va. Code § 55.1-1833, Lien for assessments; foreclosure ↩
- Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP, 2024 Virginia Legislative Updates for Common Interest Communities (HB 880 & SB 341) ↩
- Va. Code § 55.1-321, Notices required before sale by trustee ↩
- Common Interest Community Board, Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation ↩
- Va. Code § 54.1-2346, License required; certification of employees ↩
- Va. Code § 17.1-405 (jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals; effective Jan. 1, 2022, per SB 1261, 2021 Acts); Sands Anderson, Expanded Civil Jurisdiction of the Virginia Court of Appeals ↩
- Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, 586 U.S. 466 (2019) ↩
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3953 ↩
- 11 U.S.C. § 362, Automatic stay ↩
- HB 880 (2024), LIS Bill Tracking; HB 880 full text via Richmond Sunlight ↩
- Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP, Client Alert: 2025 Virginia Legislative Updates for Common Interest Communities (HB 2750; HB 1704/SB 808) ↩
- Burkholder v. Palisades Park Owners Ass'n, Inc., 76 Va. App. 577, 882 S.E.2d 906 (Ct. App. Va. Feb. 7, 2023) (Record No. 0187-22-4) ↩
- Telegraph Square II, a Condominium Unit Owners Ass'n v. 7205 Telegraph Square, LLC, 77 Va. App. 375 (Ct. App. Va. Apr. 25, 2023) (Record No. 0222-22-4) ↩
- Telegraph Square II, rehearing en banc granted June 6, 2023 (VLW 023-7-199), Virginia Lawyers Weekly ↩
- Woods Rogers, 2024 Virginia Legislative Changes Affecting Community Associations (legislative response to Burkholder/Palisades Park) ↩