Liens & ForeclosureMD
Can a Maryland HOA Foreclose Over Dues?
By The HOARebel Team · June 1, 2026 · 3 min read · Updated June 2, 2026
A Maryland association can ultimately foreclose for unpaid assessments — but it has to walk through a notice-and-hearing process first, and what it can collect through foreclosure is limited. Those two features make Maryland one of the more owner-protective states on assessment liens. For your specific situation, a licensed Maryland attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.
A lien starts with notice: Md. Real Property §14-203
Under the Maryland Contract Lien Act, an association cannot simply record a lien. Section 14-203(a)(1) requires that "[a] party seeking to create a lien as the result of a breach of contract shall, within 2 years of a breach of contract, give written notice to the party against whose property the lien is intended to be imposed." The notice has to describe the basis for the lien and the amount claimed, putting the owner on notice before anything attaches to the property.
The owner's right to a court hearing
Maryland then gives the owner a way to test the lien before it is established. Section 14-203(c)(1) provides that a party who receives the notice "may, within 30 days after the notice is served on the party, file a complaint in the circuit court … to determine whether probable cause exists for the establishment of a lien." That is a meaningful checkpoint: a disputed lien can be put in front of a judge at the outset, rather than after the association has already foreclosed.
How a lien is foreclosed: Md. Real Property §14-204
Once a lien is validly established, §14-204 allows it to be "enforced and foreclosed … in the same manner, and subject to the same requirements, as the foreclosure of mortgages or deeds of trust" containing a power of sale. A foreclosure action must be brought within 12 years. Because the lien is foreclosed like a mortgage, Maryland's mortgage-foreclosure procedures and protections apply.
What can — and cannot — be foreclosed
This is the protection worth circling: §14-204 limits the amount that may be foreclosed on a community-association lien to delinquent assessments, interest, and reasonable costs and attorney's fees. Fines are excluded. A board cannot fold violation fines into the sum it forecloses on, which is why the assessment-versus-fine distinction matters so much in Maryland.
A small slice can outrank a first mortgage: §11B-117
Maryland also gives a narrow part of the association lien priority over a first mortgage. Under Md. Real Property §11B-117, when a mortgage or deed of trust on a lot is foreclosed, a portion of the HOA's lien has priority over "the holder of a first mortgage or a first deed of trust that is recorded against the lot on or after October 1, 2011." The statute keeps that priority slice deliberately small: it "shall consist solely of not more than 4 months, or the equivalent of 4 months, of unpaid regular assessments for common expenses," and it "may not exceed a maximum of $1,200." It expressly excludes interest, collection costs, late charges, fines, attorney's fees, special assessments, and other sums. (Maryland condominiums have a parallel rule in §11-110.) So a first-mortgage foreclosure does not wipe out the entire association balance — but the association's priority recovery against the senior lender is capped at roughly four months of regular dues, or $1,200, whichever is less.
What people generally do
In a Maryland assessment-debt situation, a few points commonly matter:
- The §14-203 notice and the 30-day window to file a circuit-court complaint if the lien is disputed.
- A written payoff and the association's records show what is actually owed.
- Disputed fines and assessments are treated separately, since only assessments can be foreclosed.
- A payment plan, before costs and attorney's fees accumulate, is something owners often raise with the board.
- A licensed Maryland attorney is the resource early — especially before the 30-day hearing window closes.