HOA and condo association foreclosure in Pennsylvania

HOA and condo collection rules in Pennsylvania, step by step

• Two Pennsylvania laws, and they reach older communities too

  Check your deed and declaration first

  Condominiums are governed by the Uniform Condominium Act, 68 Pa.C.S. Part II, Subpart B, and planned communities such as subdivisions and townhome communities by the Uniform Planned Community Act. The lien sections apply to communities created before each act took effect as well, for events after that date, though some small planned communities and ones that only share things like storm water facilities or open space are covered by only a few sections. The lien sections were last amended in 2016 and the fine powers in 2018.

  68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3102(a), 5102(a), (b)

• The lien starts the day a charge is due

  From the due date

  The association's lien covers assessments and fines from the time they come due, and recording the declaration is all the notice the law needs, so no separate lien filing is required. Unless the declaration says otherwise, late charges, interest and reasonable collection and legal costs are collected as assessments. If one installment is missed, the whole year's assessment can become a lien from that date.

  68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3315(a), (c); 5315(a), (c)

• Fines need notice and a chance to be heard

  Before a fine is levied

  An association can charge late fees, but it can levy a reasonable fine, or suspend your voting or amenity rights, only after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Once a fine is properly levied, it is part of the lien. Your payments go first to interest, then late fees, then collection costs and attorney fees, and only then to the assessments, unless the declaration says otherwise.

  68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3302(a)(11), 3315(a), (h); 5302(a)(11), 5315(a), (h)

• How the association forecloses

  Within 4 years after the charge became payable

  The association forecloses through a court case and sheriff's sale, the same way a mortgage is foreclosed, or it can just sue for the money. It must start within 4 years after the assessments became payable or the lien ends. The winner of the case gets costs and reasonable attorney fees, and Pennsylvania's general $300 exemption does not apply against this lien. We found no statute requiring a payment plan or a minimum debt.

  68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3315(a), (b)(3), (d) to (f); 5315(a), (b)(3), (d) to (f)

• Priority: behind taxes and a first mortgage recorded first

  Depends on recording dates

  The lien comes ahead of everything except liens recorded before the declaration, real estate taxes and other government charges, and a first mortgage recorded before the assessment came due. A sale on the association's lien does not wipe out that first mortgage, so your mortgage stays on the home and stays your debt.

  68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3315(a), (b)(1); 5315(a), (b)(1)

• Unpaid dues can survive your lender's sheriff's sale

  At any judicial sale

  When the home is sold at a sheriff's sale, the association's lien is wiped out only for the 6 months of regular assessments before the sale, and only to the extent the sale money pays them. Older unpaid regular assessments are not wiped out and stay with the home, and if there is money left after the costs and senior liens, they are paid before any surplus goes to you.

  68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3315(b)(2), 5315(b)(2)

• Get a statement of what you owe

  Within 10 business days of your written request

  Ask the association in writing for a statement of the unpaid assessments on your home. It must give you a recordable statement within 10 business days, and that statement binds the association. Compare it with your own records and dispute errors in writing.

  68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3315(g), 5315(g)

Common questions in Pennsylvania