Can an Illinois HOA Foreclose Over Dues?

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.

Can a non-condo HOA foreclose on my home in Illinois?

It depends on the recorded declaration. The Common Interest Community Association Act (765 ILCS 160) creates no statutory lien for unpaid assessments; its only lien reference is a notice carve-out in § 1-85(g). Any lien comes from the declaration, and how it can be foreclosed also depends on other Illinois law, including the Mortgage Foreclosure Law.

The Common Interest Community Association Act, 765 ILCS 160, governs non-condominium HOAs (typical single-family-home, townhome, and master-planned communities). CICAA does not create a statutory lien for unpaid assessments — the act has no lien section, and its only reference to liens is a notice carve-out in § 1-85(g). There is also no CICAA equivalent to the Condominium Property Act's six-month rule in § 9(g)(4), described below.

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
• Whether the association can foreclose on that lien, and by what procedure, also depends on the declaration and other Illinois law, including 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, CICAA does not supply one.

Can an Illinois condo association put a lien on my unit?

Yes. Under 765 ILCS 605/9, a condo association has an automatic lien for unpaid common expenses, late charges, fines, attorney's fees and costs. It ranks ahead of other liens and encumbrances except taxes and encumbrances recorded before the owner's failure to pay, and the board of managers may foreclose it like a mortgage.

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)(1), the lien is "prior to all other liens and encumbrances, recorded or unrecorded," except taxes and encumbrances recorded before the owner's failure to pay.

The "six-month rule" sits in § 9(g)(4), and who it binds matters. A mortgagee that takes title through foreclosure owes common expenses only "from and after the first day of the month after the date of the judicial foreclosure sale" (or the deed in lieu or court-ordered possession), and that payment "confirms the extinguishment" of the prior owner's lien (§ 9(g)(3)). But "[t]he purchaser of a condominium unit at a judicial foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee," and "a purchaser who acquires title from a mortgagee" must also pay the unit's share of the common expenses that "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." So the rule does not put the association ahead of a foreclosing mortgage lender; it lets the association recover up to six months of pre-suit assessments from a later buyer.

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."

A written collection policy starting January 1, 2027

Public Act 104-734 (SB 3527), approved July 31, 2026, adds a collection-policy requirement to both acts effective January 1, 2027 — § 1-45(j) of CICAA and § 18.4(t) of the Condominium Property Act (the subsection (t) added by P.A. 104-734). The board "must adopt policies and procedures concerning the collection of unpaid assessments," and the association or a holder or assignee of its debt "shall not take legal action to collect common expenses unless the association or a holder or assignee of the association's debt has adopted, and follows, a written policy governing the collection of unpaid assessments." At a minimum, the policy must address when assessments are due and become delinquent, any late fees, interest, and returned-check charges, the circumstances (if any) under which an owner may enter into a payment plan and its minimum terms, when a delinquent account goes to an attorney, how payments are applied, and the legal remedies available. From the same date, a copy of the policy is among the documents made available to a prospective purchaser on a resale (CICAA § 1-35(d)(8); Condominium Property Act § 22.1(a)(10)). For HOAs, CICAA's § 1-75 small-association exemption still governs whether that act applies at all.

What people generally do

Steps owners facing an Illinois association collection action commonly take:

• Identifying whether the community is a condominium (605) or a CICAA HOA (160) — the lien analysis is fundamentally different
• For HOAs, requesting the recorded declaration to see exactly what lien and foreclosure rights it grants
• A written payoff and the association's records can confirm what is owed and how charges were calculated
• Separating disputed fines from undisputed assessments
• Deadlines matter once a foreclosure complaint is filed under the Mortgage Foreclosure Law
• Early on, while options remain open, a licensed Illinois attorney is the right resource

Sources

• 765 ILCS 160 — Common Interest Community Association Act
• 765 ILCS 605/9 — Condominium Property Act lien
• 735 ILCS 5/15-1101 et seq. — Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law
• Public Act 104-0734 — collection-policy requirement, effective Jan. 1, 2027