HOA and condo association foreclosure in Massachusetts

HOA and condo collection rules in Massachusetts, step by step

• Which law covers your community

  Check your deed and master deed

  Condominiums created under M.G.L. chapter 183A follow the lien and collection rules on this page. If you live in a subdivision or planned community that is not a condo, we did not find a general Massachusetts statute on its liens or foreclosure, so the declaration or covenants recorded at the registry of deeds, and the association's bylaws, set its collection rights.

  M.G.L. c. 183A, § 6

• The lien starts automatically

  From the day each charge is due

  The condo association has a lien on your unit for each common expense assessment from the time it is due. Recording the master deed perfects the lien, so the association does not have to record a separate claim of lien. Late charges, fines, collection costs, lawyer fees and interest charged under the law can also be added to the lien.

  M.G.L. c. 183A, § 6(a), (c)

• The 60-day delinquency notice

  After a charge is at least 60 days late

  The association must send you a notice stating the amount you are behind, by certified mail and first class mail. It must also notify your first mortgage lender if the lender gave the association its name and address, and send the lender 30 days' notice before it files a lawsuit to enforce the lien.

  M.G.L. c. 183A, § 6(c)

• A court case comes before any sale

  Complaint recorded within 30 days of filing

  The association enforces its lien by a civil lawsuit in the Superior Court or District Court where the unit is. It must record a copy of the complaint at the registry of deeds within 30 days of starting the case, or the lien is dissolved. Answer the lawsuit by the deadline in the summons.

  M.G.L. c. 254, § 5

• Court-ordered sale and notice in the newspaper

  Ad runs 3 weeks in a row, first at least 21 days before the sale

  Once the court sets the amount of the lien, it enters an order allowing the unit to be sold. No sale counts unless notice is published once a week for three weeks in a row, with the first notice at least 21 days before the auction.

  M.G.L. c. 254, § 5A

• Six months can come ahead of your mortgage

  The 6 months before the lawsuit was filed

  The lien is ahead of a first mortgage for up to six months of regular budget charges that came due before the lawsuit started, plus costs and reasonable lawyer fees in that lawsuit. Special assessments, late charges, fines, penalties and interest are not part of that priority amount. The association's lien comes after real estate taxes and municipal charges.

  M.G.L. c. 183A, § 6(c)

• If you rent out your unit, the association can collect the rent

  After you are 25 days late

  The association can send you a notice, by a mail or delivery service that gives a signed receipt, saying it plans to collect what you owe from your tenant's rent. You have 10 days after you receive it to file a written response signed under the pains and penalties of perjury, with proof of payment or the reasons the amount is wrong.

  M.G.L. c. 183A, § 6(c)

Common questions in Massachusetts