Can a Colorado HOA Foreclose Over Dues?

Unpaid assessments in Colorado create a lien with real teeth — including a slice that can jump ahead of a first mortgage. But reforms passed from 2022 through 2025 sharply narrowed when an association can actually foreclose. For your specific situation, a licensed Colorado attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

Can a Colorado HOA put a lien on my home?

Generally, yes. Under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316(1)(a), an association incorporated or organized as an LLC has a statutory lien on a unit for assessments and fines. Fees, charges, late charges, attorney fees, fines and interest may be liened but cannot be foreclosed under article 33.3.

Under § 38-33.3-316(1)(a), an association that is incorporated or organized as a limited liability company "has a statutory lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or fines imposed against its unit owner." The same subsection draws a line that matters for foreclosure: fees, charges, late charges, attorney fees, fines, and interest "may be subject to a statutory lien but are not subject to a foreclosure action under this article 33.3."

No separate lien filing is needed: "Recording of the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien" (§ 38-33.3-316(4)). The lien has a time limit too — it "is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within six years after the full amount of assessments become due" (§ 38-33.3-316(5)).

These lien and collection sections reach older communities as well. Section 38-33.3-117(1) applies §§ 38-33.3-316 and 316.3 to common interest communities "created within this state before July 1, 1992, with respect to events and circumstances occurring on or after July 1, 1992." The main exceptions are small or limited-expense communities that the act otherwise exempts (§§ 38-33.3-116 and 38-33.3-119), which can opt in to the full act by amending the declaration.

Does a Colorado HOA lien outrank my first mortgage?

Only for a six-month slice. The lien generally ranks behind a first security interest recorded before the assessment became delinquent, but C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I) gives part of it super-priority even over that first mortgage: up to the common-expense assessments that would have come due, absent acceleration, in the six months before an action or nonjudicial foreclosure is instituted.

The lien generally ranks ahead of other liens, with exceptions that include a first security interest "recorded before the date on which the assessment sought to be enforced became delinquent" (§ 38-33.3-316(2)(a)(II)). Colorado then gives part of the lien a super-priority even over that first mortgage, up to the common-expense assessments that "would have become due, in the absence of any acceleration, during the six months immediately preceding institution" of an action or a nonjudicial foreclosure to enforce or extinguish the lien (§ 38-33.3-316(2)(b)(I)). That priority slice is why unpaid Colorado dues get a lender's attention.

Can a Colorado HOA foreclose over unpaid fines?

No, not over fines alone. Under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-209.5(8)(c), added by HB 22-1137, an association shall not foreclose on an assessment lien if the debt securing it consists only of assessed fines, collection costs or attorney fees associated only with those fines, or both. Foreclosure is reserved for genuine assessment delinquencies.

HB 22-1137 added a direct bar. Under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-209.5(8)(c), an association shall not "Foreclose on an assessment lien if the debt securing the lien consists only of one or both of the following": "Fines that the association has assessed against the unit owner," or "Collection costs or attorney fees that the association has incurred and that are only associated with assessed fines."

How far behind before a Colorado HOA can foreclose?

Generally, at least six months of assessments. Under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316(11)(a), the lien may be foreclosed only if the balance it secures equals or exceeds six months of common expense assessments based on the association's periodic budget, and the executive board has formally authorized legal action against that specific unit by a recorded vote.

In a condominium or planned community, the lien "may be foreclosed in like manner as a mortgage on real estate," but only if two conditions are met (§ 38-33.3-316(11)(a)):

• Six months of assessments. "The balance of the assessments and charges secured by its lien" must equal or exceed "six months of common expense assessments based on a periodic budget adopted by the association."
• A recorded board vote. "The executive board has formally resolved, by a recorded vote, to authorize the filing of a legal action against the specific unit on an individual basis." The board can't hand that decision to its lawyer or manager, and "any legal action filed without evidence of the recorded vote authorizing the action must be dismissed."

A court judgment first, for owner-occupied homes

A 2024 law (HB 24-1337) added another precondition. To foreclose, the association generally "must have obtained a personal judgment against the unit owner in a civil action to collect the amounts due" (§ 38-33.3-316(10.5)(a)). The alternatives are narrow: the owner's death or incapacity prevented the suit, the association could not serve the owner within 180 days after a reasonable attempt, or the owner is in bankruptcy (§ 38-33.3-316(10.5)(b)–(d)). This requirement "Applies exclusively to a unit owned by an individual who occupies the unit as the unit owner's principal residence, unless the unit is used for workforce housing" (§ 38-33.3-316(10.6)(a)), and it also covers workforce-housing units.

Payment plans come first

Colorado requires a repayment offer before any judicial foreclosure. Under § 38-33.3-209.5(7)(a), an association "shall not commence a legal action to initiate a judicial foreclosure proceeding based on a unit owner's delinquency in paying assessments" unless it has made "a written offer to enter into a repayment plan" that lets the owner "repay the debt in monthly installments over eighteen months." The owner "may choose the amount to be paid each month, so long as each payment must be in an amount of at least twenty-five dollars until the balance of the amount owed is less than twenty-five dollars." Foreclosure becomes possible only if the owner doesn't accept the plan within thirty days, or accepts and then misses at least three monthly installments by more than fifteen days.

Section 38-33.3-316.3(3.5) adds that the association "shall not foreclose a lien created under section 38-33.3-316 if the unit owner is in compliance with the terms of a payment plan required by this section." One limit runs the other way: the association "is not obligated to negotiate a payment plan with a unit owner who has previously entered into a payment plan under this section" (§ 38-33.3-316.3(1)(b)(II)).

Required contact and notices

Before acting on a delinquency, the association must "First contact the unit owner to alert the unit owner of the delinquency" and keep a record of that contact (§ 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(a)(I)). That contact goes by certified mail plus two of: a phone call, a text message, or an email to contact information the owner has provided. HB 24-1233 (2024) amended this contact rule, and HB 25-1043 (2025) added regular mail as an option when the owner hasn't provided a phone number, cell number, or email address.

At least thirty days before filing a foreclosure action, § 38-33.3-316 now requires several more notices:

• Credit counseling — notice that the owner "has the right to participate in credit counseling at the unit owner's expense" (§ 38-33.3-316(10.3)(a)).
• Mediation — notice that the owner "has the right to engage in mediation prior to litigation"; the owner must respond within thirty days to start it (§ 38-33.3-316(10.7)(a)).
• Lienholders — notice to every lienholder on the property records of the pending action, including the amount owed (§ 38-33.3-316(10.7)(d)).
• Notice of intent to foreclose — sent by certified mail and at least two other means, telling the owner that if the court forecloses, it "will order the sale of the unit at auction to pay the delinquent assessments" and that the owner "could lose some or all of the unit owner's equity in the unit" (§ 38-33.3-316(10.8)(c)(I)–(II)).

Interest, payment application, and penalties

Three more limits matter to the balance. An association shall not "Charge a rate of interest on unpaid assessments, fines, or fees in an amount greater than eight percent per year" (§ 38-33.3-209.5(8)(a)). When an owner owes both, the association "shall apply the payment first to the assessments owed" and then to fines, fees, or other charges (§ 38-33.3-316.3(4)), which helps keep a fine dispute from snowballing into assessment delinquency. If an association "has violated any foreclosure laws," the owner may sue within five years, and the court "may award the unit owner damages in an amount of up to twenty-five thousand dollars, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees" (§ 38-33.3-316.3(5)).

After a foreclosure, board members, the association's management company and law firm, their employees, and their immediate family members "shall not purchase the foreclosed unit" (§ 38-33.3-316(12)(a)).

What people generally do

In a Colorado assessment-debt situation, a few points commonly matter:

• The association's records and a payoff figure show how much of the balance is assessments versus fines.
• Disputed fines and undisputed assessments are treated separately, since fines alone cannot support foreclosure.
• The statutory repayment plan runs over 18 months, with the owner choosing each monthly payment (at least $25).
• For an owner-occupied home, foreclosure generally requires a personal judgment first, plus a six-month minimum balance and a recorded board vote.
• A licensed Colorado attorney, or the HOA Information and Resource Center, are the resources while options remain open.

Sources

• C.R.S. § 38-33.3-117 — Applicability to preexisting common interest communities
• C.R.S. § 38-33.3-209.5 — Responsible governance policies; due process for imposition of fines
• C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316 — Lien for assessments; limitations
• C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316.3 — Collections; limitations; violations
• Colorado House Bill 22-1137 — HOA Board Accountability & Transparency
• Colorado HB 24-1233 — HOA delinquency payments & enforcement procedures
• Colorado HB 24-1337 — Real Property Owner Unit Association Collections
• Colorado HB 25-1043 — Owner Equity Protection in HOA Foreclosure Sales