RSMo §448.3-116
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Uniform Condominium Act — Lien for Assessments
Condominium association lien for assessments and fines from the time they become due, foreclosable like a mortgage or by power of sale under Chapter 443. Super-priority: six months of budget-based delinquent common expense assessments have limited priority over a mortgage or deed of trust recorded before the delinquency (purchase-money mortgages recorded before August 28, 2014 are exempt) — but ONLY in judicial foreclosure: an association that forecloses nonjudicially under Chapter 443 forfeits the priority (subsection 2(5)), and attorney's fees are excluded from the priority amount (subsection 7). Recording the declaration perfects the lien with no separate filing; enforcement must begin within three years (subsection 5). On written request the association must furnish a recordable payoff statement within ten business days, binding on the association (subsection 8). If a delinquency exceeds sixty days on a tenant-occupied unit, the association may demand the tenant's rent until cured (subsection 9).
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Statutory Text
Verified Jul 8, 2026 · REVISOR_MO_GOV
448.3-116. Lien for assessments. — 1. The association has a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or fines imposed against its unit owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due. The association's lien may be foreclosed in like manner as a mortgage on real estate or a power of sale pursuant to chapter 443. Unless the declaration otherwise provides, fees, charges, late charges, fines, and interest charged pursuant to subdivisions (10), (11), and (12) of subsection 1 of section 448.3-102 are enforceable as assessments pursuant to this section. If an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount of the assessment is a lien from the time the first installment thereof becomes due. 2. A lien pursuant to this section is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on a unit except: (1) Liens and encumbrances recorded before the recordation of the declaration; (2) Any mortgage or deed of trust securing a purchase money loan for the unit recorded prior to August 28, 2014; (3) Any mortgage or deed of trust on a unit recorded before the date on which the assessment sought to be enforced became due except that a lien under this section has limited priority over the mortgage or deed of trust for common expense assessments in an amount not to exceed six months of the delinquent common expense assessments based on the periodic budget adopted by the association under subsection 1 of section 448.3-115 which would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the six months immediately preceding the date of filing of a petition to enforce the association's lien or the date of sale by the holder of a mortgage or deed of trust; (4) Liens for real estate taxes and other governmental assessments or charges against the unit; (5) If the association forecloses its lien under this section in a nonjudicial manner under chapter 443, the association shall not be entitled to the limited lien priority for common expense assessments provided under subdivision (3) of subsection 2 of this section; (6) This subsection does not affect the priority of mechanics' or materialmen's liens, or the priority of liens for other assessments made by the association. The lien pursuant to this section is not subject to the provisions of section 513.475. 3. Unless the declaration provides otherwise, if two or more associations have liens for assessments created at any time on the same real estate, those liens have equal priority. 4. Recording of the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien. No further recordation of any claim of lien for assessment pursuant to this section is required. 5. A lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within three years after the full amount of the assessments becomes due. 6. This section shall not prohibit actions to recover sums for which subsection 1 of this section creates a lien, or prohibit an association from taking a deed in …
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Assessment
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 1 | The lien exists the moment a charge goes unpaid — and Missouri allows both judicial and nonjudicial (power-of-sale) foreclosure. |
| 2(3) | Missouri gives associations a six-month priority carve-out ahead of the mortgage — but only if they foreclose through the courts. |
| 4 | The lien is automatic — the association never has to record a separate lien document. |
| 9 | If a landlord-owner stops paying assessments, the association can collect the tenant's rent directly — and the tenant is protected for paying. |
Disclosure
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 8 | Closers can rely on the association's payoff letter — ten business days, and the number is binding. |
Other sections in this chapter
- RSMo §448.005 — Condominium Property Act — Title of Law
- RSMo §448.1-101 — Uniform Condominium Act — Short Title
- RSMo §448.1-102 — Uniform Condominium Act — Applicability
- RSMo §448.3-102 — Uniform Condominium Act — Powers of Unit Owners' Association
- RSMo §448.3-103 — Uniform Condominium Act — Executive Board Members and Officers
- RSMo §448.3-105 — Uniform Condominium Act — Termination of Contracts and Leases of Declarant
- RSMo §448.3-108 — Uniform Condominium Act — Meetings
- RSMo §448.3-113 — Uniform Condominium Act — Insurance
- RSMo §448.3-115 — Uniform Condominium Act — Assessments for Common Expenses
- RSMo §448.3-118 — Uniform Condominium Act — Association Records
- RSMo §448.4-109 — Uniform Condominium Act — Resales of Units
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Legal references last verified July 8, 2026.
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