HOA and condo association foreclosure in New Hampshire

HOA and condo collection rules in New Hampshire, step by step

• Which law covers your community

  Check your deed and declaration

  The Condominium Act applies to all condominiums, and it replaced the older Unit Ownership of Real Property Act (RSA 479-A) for condos created on or after September 10, 1977. Condos created earlier under RSA 479-A are generally still governed by their own instruments. If you live in a planned community that is not a condominium, read the declaration and any collection policy, because they set the rules.

  RSA 356-B:2

• The lien and the memorandum

  Memorandum must be recorded within 6 months after each assessment is due

  The association has a lien for unpaid assessments, but it is perfected only when the association records a sworn memorandum at the registry of deeds within 6 months after the assessment became due. The memorandum lists the owners, the amounts and the date each fell due. Once you pay, the association must release the lien the same way a mortgage is released.

  RSA 356-B:46, II, III, VI

• Priority over your mortgage: 6 months

  Notice within 70 days of the delinquency; lender notice 30 days before the memorandum

  Usually the lien comes after a first mortgage held by an institutional lender. But up to 6 months of regular monthly assessments, plus collection costs and reasonable attorney's fees, can come first if the association sends you and the lender written notice within 70 days that the account is at least 60 days late, and tells the lender at least 30 days before it records the memorandum. That priority amount cannot include special assessments, late charges, fines, penalties or interest.

  RSA 356-B:46, I(a), (c), (d)

• Shutting off privileges and services

  After 30 days' written notice

  If the association has authorized it, the board can, after 30 days' written notice to you and your first mortgage lender, cut off your unit's common privileges and stop services the association normally supplies or pays for. They must be restored when all assessments are paid.

  RSA 356-B:46, IX

• Collecting rent from your tenant

  60 days late, then 30 days after the association's notice

  If the owners have adopted this remedy by majority vote at an annual meeting, an association can collect rent directly from a tenant in your unit once you are 60 days behind. It must first send you a notice by first class and certified mail with the exact amount, and you have 30 days to pay or show proof you already paid. You cannot withhold assessments to protest a charge without first getting a court ruling that it was unlawful.

  RSA 356-B:46-a

• Enforcing the lien in court

  Suit within 6 years after the memorandum is recorded

  The association enforces its lien by a suit, and it must bring that suit within 6 years after recording the memorandum. A judgment includes costs, attorney's fees and interest at the maximum lawful rate. We found no Condominium Act rule requiring a payment plan, so ask the association in writing for one and check your bylaws.

  RSA 356-B:46, IV, V; RSA 356-B:15

Common questions in New Hampshire