HOA and condo association foreclosure in Oregon

HOA and condo collection rules in Oregon, step by step

• Two Oregon laws: the Condominium Act and the Planned Community Act

  Check your deed and declaration first

  Condominiums are governed by ORS chapter 100. Subdivisions and other planned communities with a homeowners association are governed by the Oregon Planned Community Act, ORS 94.550 to 94.783. Many planned communities created before 2002 under older rules are still covered by the lien and collection sections, to the extent they fit the community's documents. The lien sections were last changed in 2017; the 2025 edition of the statutes shows no newer change.

  ORS 100.450; ORS 94.572(1), 94.709

• The lien is automatic, but a notice must be recorded before foreclosure

  As soon as an assessment goes unpaid

  Recording the declaration creates and perfects the lien, so no separate lien filing is needed for it to exist. But before the association can file a foreclosure suit, it must record a sworn notice of claim of lien in the county deed records stating the amount due after credits. Later unpaid assessments keep adding to it without a new filing.

  ORS 100.450(2), (3); ORS 94.709(2), (3)

• What the lien can include, and fines

  Fines only after notice and a chance to be heard

  The lien includes interest, late charges, attorney fees, costs and other amounts allowed by your governing documents. Fines can be enforced as assessments unless your documents say otherwise, but the association can levy a fine only after written notice and an opportunity to be heard, and only under a fine schedule or board resolution that was delivered or mailed to every owner. Oregon law does not set a dollar cap on late fees.

  ORS 100.405(4)(k), 100.450(1), (5); ORS 94.630(1)(n), 94.709(1), (5)

• How the association forecloses

  Within 6 years of when each assessment was due

  The association forecloses by a suit in circuit court, following the procedure for construction liens as closely as possible. The lien can be kept in force for up to 6 years from when each assessment came due. The association can also just sue you for a money judgment without foreclosing, and the winner of an HOA case can recover reasonable attorney fees. We found no Oregon statute requiring a payment plan or a minimum debt before foreclosure.

  ORS 100.450(4); ORS 94.709(4), (7), 94.719; ORS 87.060(1)

• Priority: ahead of your homestead, usually behind your first mortgage

  Depends on the type of community

  The association's lien comes before your homestead exemption and every other lien except property taxes and a first mortgage or trust deed of record. For a condo, the lien can also come ahead of the first mortgage if the association gives your lender 90 days' written notice of your default with a required warning, the lender does not start foreclosure or take a deed in lieu within those 90 days, you are also behind on the mortgage, and the notice and an affidavit are recorded. Planned communities do not have this rule.

  ORS 100.450(1), (7); ORS 94.709(1)

• A condo association can ask for rent during the case and can bid

  While the foreclosure is pending

  If your condo bylaws say so, the court can make you pay a reasonable rent for your unit during the foreclosure and appoint a receiver to collect it. Unless the declaration forbids it, the board can buy the unit at the sale and then own, rent or sell it. A condo association also cannot sue to foreclose or collect unless its required annual reports with the state are current.

  ORS 100.450(4)(d), 100.460

• Redemption after the sale, and your mortgage

  180 days after an execution sale

  A court foreclosure ends in a sheriff's execution sale, and Oregon law generally gives the judgment debtor 180 days after an execution sale to redeem. In a planned community, if your lender forecloses instead and takes the home, it does not owe dues that came due before it took title; those become a shared common expense. Your mortgage is a separate debt and stays in place.

  ORS 18.964(1); ORS 94.712(4), 94.723

Common questions in Oregon