An HOA Lien or Unpaid Dues on Your House? We Buy As-Is

Yes. A recorded HOA lien does not stop a sale, but it generally has to be identified and paid off, or otherwise resolved, through escrow as part of the transaction. A cash, as-is sale often avoids the requirement a retail buyer's lender would impose to bring the account current before funding.

Under Civil Code section 5720, an association generally cannot foreclose on an assessment lien unless the delinquent balance, not counting late fees, interest, or collection costs, is at least $1,800, or the debt is more than 12 months delinquent. Below that floor, the lien can be recorded but the statute doesn't let the association force a sale over it.

Yes. Civil Code section 5660 requires the association to send written notice, generally by certified mail, at least 30 days before recording a lien. That notice has to itemize what's owed and describe your right to dispute the charges or request board-level or alternative dispute resolution first.

It's a written statement from the association, required under Civil Code section 4525, showing current assessments, any unpaid balance, and any fines on your unit. Under section 4530, the association generally has to provide it within 10 days of a request and can only charge a reasonable fee based on its actual cost to prepare it.

In most cases it's paid out of the sale proceeds in escrow, and once it's paid, Civil Code section 5685 requires the association to record a lien release within 21 days and give you a copy. It doesn't disappear from title on its own — it has to be paid or otherwise resolved before the sale can close clean.

Generally, yes. Under Civil Code section 5650, an assessment becomes a debt of the owner at the time it's levied, whether or not it's been turned into a recorded lien yet. Selling the property doesn't erase a debt that's already accrued; it generally gets settled through escrow at closing.

Generally nothing on our end. We do not charge a fee, a deposit, or an inspection charge to buy a house or condo with an HOA lien attached. Every association and every recorded lien is different, though, so treat that as the starting point, never a blanket guarantee.

This overview of California HOA lien law is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for guidance from a licensed California attorney about your specific situation.

If you own a house, condo, or townhome inside a homeowners association in Los Angeles County and you've fallen behind on regular or special assessments, the HOA can turn what you owe into a lien recorded against your property. Under California Civil Code section 5650, a regular or special assessment, along with any late charges, reasonable collection costs, and interest, becomes "a debt of the owner of the separate interest at the time the assessment or other sums are levied." That debt is generally delinquent 15 days after it's due, unless the association's own governing documents set a longer grace period. Falling behind does not by itself put a lien on title. The association has to go through its own notice and recording process first, and that process gives you a chance to act before it does.

Before an association can record a lien against your unit, Civil Code section 5660 requires it to notify you in writing, generally by certified mail, at least 30 days ahead of time. That notice has to include an itemized statement of what's owed, a general description of the association's collection and lien-enforcement procedures, and specific statutory warning language telling you the property could eventually be sold without court action if the debt goes unresolved. It also has to describe your right to dispute the charges and request a meeting with the board, or pursue alternative dispute resolution, before things move further. If you're behind on assessments and haven't received a notice like this yet, a lien has likely not been recorded against the property.

The lien doesn't exist against your property until the association actually records it. Under Civil Code section 5675, an assessment becomes a lien on the property "from and after the time the association causes to be recorded with the county recorder ... a notice of delinquent assessment." Once that notice of delinquent assessment is recorded with the Los Angeles County Recorder, the lien attaches to the unit itself, not to you personally, and it shows up on a title report from that point forward the same as any other recorded lien. That is one of the first things a title company checks before a sale can close, whether you go the traditional listing route or sell to a cash buyer directly.

A recorded HOA lien is not the same as the HOA taking your house. Under Civil Code section 5720, an association generally cannot foreclose on a lien unless the delinquent assessments secured by it, not counting late fees, interest, or collection costs, "equal[] or exceed[] one thousand eight hundred dollars ($1,800)" or the underlying assessment debt itself "[is] more than 12 months delinquent." Below that floor, the lien can stay recorded against the property, but the statute doesn't let the association force a sale over it. Once crossed, section 5700 allows the lien to be enforced by any manner permitted by law, including a trustee's sale, but only after 30 days since recording. Section 5705 adds guardrails: the foreclosure decision must be made by the board itself, approved at least 30 days before any sale, and the association must offer dispute resolution first.

An HOA lien is generally resolved through escrow at the time of sale: the unpaid balance, plus accrued costs and interest, is paid from the sale proceeds, and the association supplies a current payoff figure. Once paid, Civil Code section 5685 requires the association to record a lien release, or notice of rescission, "within 21 days of the payment," and give you a copy. If the property tax bill is behind too, here's how to sell a house with back property taxes owed. The same layered-lien pattern shows up often when a unit passed through an estate, where you'll want to sell a house held in a probate estate while an HOA lien is still open. Each of those liens generally clears through the same escrow, on its own priority track rather than by which balance is largest.

Before closing, escrow generally needs a current statement from the HOA showing exactly what's owed, sometimes called an estoppel or demand statement. Civil Code section 4525 requires the association to provide "a true statement in writing" showing its current assessments, any amount unpaid on your unit, and any fines or penalties on the books. Under section 4530, the association generally must produce those documents within 10 days of a written request and can only charge "a reasonable fee ... based upon the association's actual cost." A demand statement that takes a while, or shows a higher payoff than expected, is a normal part of closing inside an association, not a sign of trouble.

HOA liens come up most often on condos and townhomes, since those units are almost always inside a common interest development with mandatory assessments, but a single-family house in a planned community with its own HOA works under the same statute. Selling as-is to a cash buyer doesn't erase the lien or the amount owed. That debt still gets paid through escrow the same way it would in a traditional sale. It does mean you're not required to bring the account current or make repairs out of your own pocket before a buyer will make an offer.

There's no single timeline for resolving an HOA lien before a sale. It depends on how far behind the account is, how quickly the management company turns around a demand statement, and whether the $1,800/12-month threshold has already been crossed. In many cases, a lien can be identified and paid off inside a normal escrow window once the payoff figure comes back. A slower management company, a disputed charge, or a lien already in the section 5700 foreclosure-enforcement stage can take longer, and we never promise a specific number of days. We do not charge sellers anything to buy a house or condo with an open HOA lien. There is no upfront fee, no inspection charge, and nothing taken from your proceeds that you weren't told about first.

These FAQs about California HOA lien law are general information, not legal advice; consult a licensed California attorney about your specific circumstances.