Lien for assessments - liens for fines, fees, charges, costs, and attorney fees - limitations - definition
The Colorado HOA assessment lien statute. Subsection (1) creates a statutory lien on every unit for any assessment levied against the unit; fees, fines, late charges, interest, and similar charges may be subject to the lien but are NOT subject to foreclosure under Article 33.3. Subsection (2) gives the lien six-month super-priority status — six months of common-expense assessments prime a first security interest. Subsection (5) extinguishes the lien six years after the most recent unpaid assessment due date unless enforcement proceedings are instituted within that period. Subsection (8) IS the Colorado "status letter" (resale-certificate) statute: a written statement of unpaid assessments must be furnished within 14 calendar days of written request, is binding on the association, executive board, and every unit owner, and failure to furnish extinguishes the lien for assessments due as of the request date. Subsection (10.5) requires personal-judgment-first (or specified alternatives) before foreclosure. Subsection (11) authorizes foreclosure in like manner as a mortgage but only when the unpaid balance equals six months of common expense assessments AND the board has formally resolved by recorded vote to authorize the specific filing. Subsection (12) bars purchase of foreclosed units by board members, management-company employees, law-firm employees, their immediate families, and the management company itself. The bar reaches back five years before the sale and extends to business entities owned by or affiliated with any of them. Subsections (10.3), (10.8), and (11.2), added by HB 25-1043 effective October 1, 2025, add three pre- and post-filing notice duties: thirty days' written and electronic notice of the right to credit counseling, thirty days' notice of intent to foreclose sent by certified mail and by at least two further means in the owner's preferred language, and notice to every identified lienholder within five business days after filing, of the right to cure and the right to move to stay the sale. Subsection (14), added by the same act, defines "assessment" for this section to mean a payment for common expense obligations or for limited common elements and to include fees specific to delinquent payments and reasonable collection costs. The act applies to enforcement actions instituted on or after October 1, 2025.
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HB 25-1043 (Chapter 433, Session Laws of Colorado 2025) added notice steps around an association's foreclosure of its lien under C.R.S. §38-33.3-316. "At least thirty days before initiating a legal action to foreclose an association lien", the association must give the owner written and electronic notice that the owner "has the right to participate in credit counseling at the unit owner's expense" and where information on it is available (10.3). Also at least thirty days before, it must send a notice of its intent to foreclose by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by at least two of phone, text, email, or regular mail, stating that if the court forecloses it will order the unit sold at auction, that the owner could lose some or all equity in the unit, and that the owner has rights to credit counseling and mediation (10.8). "No later than five business days after an association initiates legal action to foreclose", it must give written and electronic notice to "all lienholders identified in the unit owner property records" of the right to cure and of the owner's right to move to stay the sale (11.2). New (14) defines "assessment" as a budget-based common expense payment or a payment for limited common elements, and it "includes fees specific to delinquent payments and reasonable collection costs for collecting delinquent payments." The act applies to enforcement actions instituted on or after October 1, 2025. Effective October 1, 2025.
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (14) | Colorado now defines "assessment" inside the lien statute, and the definition sweeps in delinquency fees and reasonable collection costs. Read with (1)(a), which still says fees, late charges, attorney fees, fines, and interest may be liened but cannot be foreclosed on, the two provisions do different work: (14) says what the word covers, (1)(a) says what a foreclosure may be based on. |
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (8) | The Colorado "status letter" is the statutory equivalent of a resale certificate. Any owner, their designee, or any lender or their designee can demand it in writing (certified mail to the registered agent). The HOA has 14 calendar days to deliver. The statement is BINDING — the HOA cannot later claim additional unpaid assessments. If the HOA fails to deliver, it forfeits its lien for any assessments due as of the request date. This is the most consequential disclosure under CCIOA. |
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (10.3) | Before a Colorado association can file to foreclose, it must tell the owner in writing and electronically, thirty days ahead, that credit counseling is available and where to find it. The owner pays for the counseling. This runs alongside the separate thirty-day mediation notice under (10.7) and the thirty-day notice of intent to foreclose under (10.8). |
| (10.5) | For an owner's principal residence (and workforce-housing units), the HOA cannot foreclose without first getting a personal judgment — or proving the owner died, is incapacitated, couldn't be served despite reasonable attempts, or is in a bankruptcy that covers the amount owed to the HOA. This is a 2024 HB 24-1337 addition that significantly raises the procedural bar before foreclosure on owner-occupied homes. |
| (10.8) | A Colorado association must give thirty days' notice that it intends to foreclose, sent certified mail plus two other channels, and in the owner's preferred language if the owner named one. If it lacks the owner's phone number, cell number, or email address, it must ask for them before sending; regular mail counts as a channel only when the owner has not given a phone number, cell number, or email address. The notice has to say plainly that the unit could be sold at auction and that the owner could lose their equity, and it must tell the owner of the rights to credit counseling and mediation and of the state's free online information on association foreclosure. Time shares are excluded. |
| (11.2) | Once an association actually files a foreclosure, it has five business days to tell every lienholder on record two things: that the debt can be cured, and that the owner can ask the court to stop the auction. This is separate from the thirty-day pre-filing notice to lienholders under (10.7)(d). |
| (11)(a) | Even after the personal-judgment requirement is met, foreclosure requires (1) the unpaid balance equals at least six months of common-expense assessments AND (2) a board vote, recorded in the minutes, authorizing this specific filing against this specific unit. The board cannot delegate the authorization to attorneys or managers. Skip the recorded vote and the case is dismissed — owner pays no fees. |
| (1)(a) | In Colorado, the HOA's lien on a unit arises automatically from any assessment or fine. Fees, late charges, attorney fees, and interest can be secured by the lien — but the HOA cannot foreclose to recover only those amounts. Foreclosure must be based on unpaid common-expense assessments themselves. This aligns with §209.5(8)(c) (fines-only foreclosure prohibited). |
| (2)(b)(I) | Colorado is a "super-priority" state. The HOA has lien priority over the first mortgage for SIX MONTHS of past-due common-expense assessments. If the HOA forecloses (or the first mortgage forecloses and takes the unit), the first mortgage lender must either pay the six months of super-priority assessments or risk losing its lien — a powerful collection tool. |
| (5) | The HOA has six years from the due date of the most recent unpaid assessment to file an enforcement action. If no action is filed within six years, the lien is extinguished. Boards must track delinquency timing carefully — late filing means losing the lien entirely. |
C.R.S. §38-33.3-316 drives 12 required disclosure items in the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act resale certificate.
- (8) Statement of unpaid assessments currently levied against the unit
- (2)(a) Fiscal year commencement date
- (2)(b) Current operating budget
- (2)(c) Current assessments by unit type, including regular and special assessments
- (2)(d) Annual financial statements with reserve amounts for preceding fiscal year
- + 7 more disclosure items
- Colorado HOA Foreclosure After HB 24-1337 (13), (12), (10.7), (11.2), (10.8), (10.3), (10.6), (10.5) Primary
- Colorado Resale Certificates: What CCIOA Requires (and What It Costs to Skip) (8) Primary