Liens & ForeclosureWA
Can a Washington HOA Foreclose Over Dues?
By The HOARebel Team · June 2, 2026 · 3 min read
Unpaid assessments in Washington are not just a private debt — the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act gives the association a statutory lien on the home, and a slice of that lien can even jump ahead of the first mortgage. For your specific situation, a licensed Washington attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.
The lien is automatic: RCW 64.90.485
Under RCW 64.90.485, "[t]he association has a statutory lien on each unit for any unpaid assessment against the unit from the time such assessment is due." No separate filing is needed for the lien to attach — it arises by statute when the assessment becomes due. The lien is generally prior to other claims except liens recorded before the declaration, security interests recorded before the assessment came due, and real estate tax liens.
The six-month super-priority
Washington's most consequential feature is the limited priority the lien holds ahead of a first mortgage. The lien is prior to a first security interest to the extent of the common-expense assessments, "excluding any amounts for capital improvements … which would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the six months immediately preceding the institution of proceedings to foreclose." That six-month slice of regular dues — plus the association's foreclosure costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, capped at $2,000, where the lender got at least 60 days' notice — can be collected ahead of the mortgage. It is why unpaid Washington dues get a lender's attention quickly.
How foreclosure works — and the 90-day floor
The association may enforce the lien "[j]udicially" under chapter 61.12 RCW or "[n]on-judicially" under chapter 61.24 RCW where the declaration provides for it. Washington builds in timing protections: the association cannot commence foreclosure unless "at least 90 days have elapsed" from when the minimum amount accrued, and it must send a second preforeclosure notice "no sooner than 60 days after the first preforeclosure notice." (That 90-day floor reflects a 2023 change that shortened the prior 180-day period, effective January 1, 2025.) A licensed Washington attorney can explain the steps and timeline that apply to a specific foreclosure.
New: foreclosure mediation (SB 5686, 2025)
In 2025 Washington enacted SB 5686, which expands the state's Foreclosure Mediation Program to reach HOA, condominium, and planned-community assessment-lien foreclosures, phasing in beginning January 1, 2026. For covered foreclosures it adds a mediation pathway — a notice, a standstill period, and a meet-and-confer/mediation process — before a sale can proceed. Whether a particular foreclosure qualifies, and how the timeline runs, is something a licensed Washington attorney can walk through.
A note for older communities
The RCW 64.90.485 lien is part of WUCIOA, which fully governs communities created on or after July 1, 2018. Owners in older communities may instead be under the lien provisions of RCW 64.38 (HOAs) or RCW 64.34 (condos) — the Condominium Act has long had its own six-month super-priority lien. Which applies is a question for a licensed Washington attorney. Note that Washington is mid-transition: as of January 1, 2028, WUCIOA (RCW 64.90) becomes the sole governing statute and the older chapters (RCW 64.32, 64.34, and 64.38) are repealed.
What people generally do
In a Washington assessment-debt situation, a few points commonly matter:
- The association's records and a payoff figure show what is actually owed.
- Disputed fines and undisputed common-expense assessments are treated separately, since the super-priority covers assessments rather than fines.
- The 90-day floor and the two preforeclosure notices must precede any sale.
- A payment plan, before costs and attorneys' fees accumulate, is something owners often raise with the board.
- A licensed Washington attorney is the resource early, while options remain open.