Liens & ForeclosureIL
Can an Illinois HOA Foreclose Over Dues?
By The HOARebel Team · June 1, 2026 · 2 min read
Illinois is unusual: the answer to "can my HOA foreclose over unpaid dues" depends almost entirely on whether you live in a condominium or in a non-condominium HOA, and on what your recorded declaration actually says. For your specific situation, a licensed Illinois attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.
Non-condominium HOAs: no statutory lien
The Common Interest Community Association Act, 765 ILCS 160, governs non-condominium HOAs (typical single-family-home, townhome, and master-planned communities). Unlike most modern community-association statutes, CICAA does not create a statutory lien for unpaid assessments. There is also no CICAA equivalent to the Condominium Property Act's "6 months" priority over a foreclosing first mortgagee.
In practice, that means for a CICAA HOA:
- The association's authority to record a lien for unpaid charges has to come from the recorded declaration — not from the act
- Whether and how unpaid fines can fold into that lien is likewise a declaration question
- The right to foreclose on the lien, and the procedure, run through the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law
The single most important document in an Illinois HOA collection dispute is therefore the recorded declaration. If it does not grant a lien, the association does not have one.
Condominiums: the § 9 lien and the six-month rule
Condominiums under the Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605, are in a different position. Section 9 creates an automatic lien for unpaid common expenses, late charges, fines, attorney's fees, and costs. Under § 9(g), the lien is senior to most other encumbrances, with limited exceptions.
The well-known "six-month rule" sits in § 9(g)(1): at a judicial foreclosure sale, the purchaser of a unit "shall have the duty to pay the proportionate share, if any, of the common expenses for the unit which would have become due in the absence of any assessment acceleration during the 6 months immediately preceding institution of an action to enforce the collection of assessments." That gives Illinois condo associations a meaningful slice of priority even after a mortgage foreclosure.
Condominium liens "may be foreclosed by an action brought in the name of the board of managers in the same manner as a mortgage of real property."
What people generally do
Owners facing an Illinois association collection action often:
- Identify whether the community is a condominium (605) or a CICAA HOA (160) — the lien analysis is fundamentally different
- For HOAs, request the recorded declaration to see exactly what lien and foreclosure rights it grants
- Request a written payoff and the association's records to confirm what is owed and how charges were calculated
- Separate disputed fines from undisputed assessments
- Watch deadlines closely once a foreclosure complaint is filed under the Mortgage Foreclosure Law
- Consult a licensed Illinois attorney early, while options remain open