HOA and condo association foreclosure in Colorado

HOA and condo collection rules in Colorado, step by step

• Which law covers your community

  First step

  The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act covers condos, planned communities and cooperatives. The lien section, the payment plan section and the collection policy rules also apply to communities created before July 1, 1992, for events after set dates. The state's HOA Information and Resource Center has free information on collections and foreclosure.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-33.3-117(1)(k), (1)(k.5), (1.5)(c), 38-33.3-209.5(5)(a)(V)(E)

• Notice and a repayment plan offer first

  Before any referral to a collector or lawyer

  The association must contact you about the delinquency by certified mail plus two other ways, and the board must vote to refer your account to a collector or attorney. The notice must give the total owed, how to get your ledger within seven business days, and the payment plan option. Before suing to foreclose, it must make a written offer of a plan that lets you pay over 18 months, choosing your own monthly amount of at least $25.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(a), (5)(a)(V), (7)(a), 38-33.3-316.3(2)

• Caps on interest and fines

  Any time

  Interest on unpaid assessments, fines or fees cannot exceed 8 percent a year, and late fees and fines cannot be charged daily. For most rule violations you get two 30-day chances to cure, and total fines for one violation are capped at $500. Payments go to assessments before fines and fees.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(b), (8)(a), 38-33.3-316.3(4)

• No foreclosure over fines, or during a plan

  Any time

  Fines, late charges, fees and attorney fees can be part of the lien but cannot be the basis of a foreclosure, and the association cannot foreclose if the debt is only fines and related costs. It also cannot foreclose while you are keeping up with a payment plan. Missing three agreed payments or falling behind on regular dues breaks the plan.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-33.3-316(1)(a), 38-33.3-209.5(8)(c), 38-33.3-316.3(2), (3.5)

• What must happen before a foreclosure case

  At least 30 days before filing

  You must owe at least six months of regular assessments, and the board must vote on your unit by a recorded vote. If you own and live in the home, the association generally must first win a money judgment against you in a separate case. At least 30 days before filing, it must send notice of its intent to foreclose, your right to credit counseling and your right to mediation, which you must answer within 30 days.

  C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316(10.3), (10.5), (10.6), (10.7), (10.8), (11)(a)

• Priority, and a stay to sell at market value

  Before the sale date

  Up to six months of regular assessments can come ahead of your first mortgage. After the association files to foreclose, you can ask the court to stay the auction for nine months so you can list the home at fair market value, and the court can extend it for good cause.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-33.3-316(2)(b), 38-38-109.5

• Redemption after an HOA sale

  After the sale

  Since 2024, when an association forecloses its lien, the unit owner is treated as a first-priority alternate lienor who can redeem, behind lienholders with debts on the property. Board members, management and the association's lawyers and their families cannot buy the unit at the sale. If the association broke the foreclosure laws, you may sue within five years for up to $25,000 plus costs and fees.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-38-305.5, 38-33.3-316(12), 38-33.3-316.3(5)

Common questions in Colorado