HOA and condo association foreclosure in Nevada

HOA and condo collection rules in Nevada, step by step

• Which law covers your community

  Check your declaration

  NRS Chapter 116 covers condominiums, planned communities and cooperatives created in Nevada, and the older condo and planned development laws in NRS Chapters 117 and 278A do not apply to them. A planned community of 12 or fewer units with no developmental rights is mostly exempt unless its declaration adopts the whole chapter, but a residential planned community of more than 6 units is still covered by the chapter's rules on assessments, liens and foreclosure.

  NRS 116.1201; NRS 116.1203

• The lien is automatic

  From the day an assessment or fine is due

  The association has a lien on your home for assessments, fines and construction penalties from the date each one comes due, and recording the declaration is enough to perfect it. You can ask in writing for a statement of what you owe, and the association must send it within 10 business days. The lien ends unless the association records a notice of default or sues within 3 years after the assessments come due.

  NRS 116.3116(1), (9), (10), (13)

• Repayment plan, fee schedule and hearing notice first

  No sooner than 60 days after a payment is past due, then 30 days to respond

  Before an intent to lien letter or any other collection step, the association must mail you a schedule of fees it may charge, a proposed repayment plan and notice of your right to contest the debt at a hearing before the board. You then have 30 days to pay, sign the plan or ask for the hearing. If you enter the plan, the association can move ahead only if you miss a payment by more than 10 days.

  NRS 116.31162(4)

• Caps on collection fees

  Throughout collection

  State regulations cap the collection fees the association or its collector can charge for the notice of delinquent assessment and later foreclosure steps at a total of $2,925, plus actual outside costs such as title and recording fees with no markup. Each step has its own cap, such as $240 for a demand or intent to lien letter. For 15 business days after you first ask for a payoff amount, most new collection fees cannot be added.

  NAC 116.470; NRS 116.310313

• Notice of delinquent assessment, then notice of default

  Notice of default at least 30 days after the first notice; 90 days to pay after that

  The association mails a notice of delinquent assessment by certified mail, then at least 30 days later records a notice of default and election to sell. That notice must warn in bold type that you could lose your home even if the amount is in dispute. The sale cannot happen until you have failed to pay for 90 days after the notice is recorded or mailed to you, whichever is later. A servicemember on active duty, or within 1 year after it ends, is protected from foreclosure unless a court rules otherwise.

  NRS 116.31162(1), (3); NRS 116.311625

• Fines alone, and mortgage mediation

  Before the sale

  The association cannot foreclose over a fine for a rules violation unless the violation is an imminent threat to health, safety or welfare, or the penalty is for missing a required construction schedule. It also cannot foreclose while your mortgage is in Nevada's foreclosure mediation program, as long as you keep paying the dues that come due during mediation.

  NRS 116.31162(6), (7)

• Priority over your mortgage, the sale and redemption

  Sale after the 90 days; redeem within 60 days after the sale

  Up to 9 months of budget assessments, certain maintenance charges and capped collection costs come ahead of your first mortgage. If the mortgage lender pays that amount at least 5 days before the sale, the sale does not wipe out the mortgage; if not, the sale may. Board members, the manager, the collector and their relatives cannot buy at the sale, money left over goes to you after the lien and other liens, and you can redeem within 60 days by paying the price plus 1 percent a month and certain costs.

  NRS 116.3116(3), (5); NRS 116.31164(7), (8); NRS 116.31166

Common questions in Nevada