HOA and condo association foreclosure in North Dakota

HOA and condo collection rules in North Dakota, step by step

• Which law covers your community

  Check your recorded declaration

  Condominiums are governed by the Condominium Ownership of Real Property chapter, N.D.C.C. chapter 47-04.1. We found no North Dakota chapter on homeowners associations or planned communities, so for a non-condo HOA, the recorded declaration or covenants are the main source of the association's collection rights. Get a full copy from the county recorder or the association.

  N.D.C.C. ch. 47-04.1

• A condo lien starts when it is recorded

  From the day the notice of assessment is recorded

  A reasonable assessment made under the recorded declaration and bylaws is your debt when it is made. It becomes a lien on your unit only when the association records a signed notice with the county recorder stating the amount, any other charges and the record owner's name. Interest, costs and penalties can be added only if the declaration and bylaws provide for them. When you pay, the association must record a release of the lien.

  N.D.C.C. § 47-04.1-11

• Your bylaws set the assessment rules

  Before you dispute a charge

  The bylaws must cover how expenses are assessed, must be recorded with the declaration, and must be in writing and available to every owner. Bylaws cannot set different assessments based on whether the person living in the unit is an owner or a tenant. Ask the association in writing for the bylaws, any rules and an itemized ledger.

  N.D.C.C. § 47-04.1-07

• Lawsuits for unpaid sums or rule violations

  If the association sues

  If an owner does not follow the bylaws, rules or covenants, the association can sue to recover sums due, for damages or for a court order. The chapter does not mention fines or say how a condo lien is foreclosed. If you are served with a summons, you generally have 21 days to answer, and the North Dakota Legal Self Help Center explains how.

  N.D.C.C. § 47-04.1-08; N.D.R.Civ.P. 12(a)

• No state rules on notices, payment plans or priority

  Throughout collection

  The condo chapter does not require notice before a lien, a payment plan offer, a hearing, or limits on collection fees, and it does not give the association's lien any priority over your mortgage. Read your declaration and collection policy for those terms, ask for a payment plan in writing, and keep paying current dues if you can.

  N.D.C.C. §§ 47-04.1-07, 47-04.1-11

• Homestead protection

  If the association gets a money judgment

  Your homestead, up to $150,000 in value over liens and mortgages, is exempt from judgment liens and forced sale except for listed debts, such as a mortgage you signed, purchase money, taxes and certain construction liens. Association assessments are not on that list. Whether the exemption protects a home from an association's recorded lien was not confirmed, so ask a lawyer.

  N.D.C.C. §§ 47-18-01, 47-18-04

Common questions in North Dakota