Lien Enforcement
An assessment lien is the association's strongest collection tool, and a poorly recorded or wrongly enforced one is a liability instead. We record, perfect, and foreclose assessment liens for HOA and condominium boards, and we use the association's limited priority over a first mortgage to get the attention of owners and lenders alike. Our HOA lien attorneys work with associations in Bellevue, Seattle, and across the Eastside.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
3
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Assessment lien attorneys for Bellevue and Seattle community associations
Oseran Hahn handles the assessment lien from start to finish: confirming the lien has attached, recording it correctly against the unit, asserting the association's six-month priority over a first mortgage, and foreclosing in superior court when an owner will not cure. A lien done right secures the debt and usually gets it paid without a sale; a lien done carelessly hands the owner a defense. We treat it as the serious property interest it is, and the firm's litigators run the foreclosure when it comes to that.
An assessment lien is real property leverage, and it works only when it is created, recorded, and enforced correctly. We confirm the lien has attached and covers the right amounts; we assert the association's limited priority over a first mortgage, the leverage that makes lenders pay; we record and perfect the lien against the unit; we foreclose it judicially when voluntary cure does not come; and we recover the association's fees and resolve most matters before a sale.
The assessment lien and how it attaches
Unpaid assessments become a lien on the owner's unit automatically, from the moment they come due, and the lien secures not just the assessments but the interest, late fees, and collection costs that accumulate on the account (RCW 64.90.485). Communities under the older Condominium Act have the same automatic lien (RCW 64.34.364). The lien exists by statute without any filing, but recording a notice of lien against the unit puts lenders, buyers, and title companies on notice and is usually the prudent step. We confirm the lien has attached and covers the correct amounts before anything is recorded.
Priority and the six-month super-priority
Lien priority is what determines who gets paid in a foreclosure, and here the association holds an unusual card. WUCIOA gives the association's lien a limited priority over a first mortgage for up to six months of regular common-expense assessments, counted back from the start of the foreclosure (RCW 64.90.485). The Condominium Act grants a similar six-month priority, counted back from the sale date instead (RCW 64.34.364). The association keeps that priority only if it forecloses in court; a nonjudicial sale gives it up under both statutes. That slice ahead of the lender is the association's real leverage: a bank foreclosing on the unit has to account for it, which is why a properly asserted super-priority claim often gets the association paid even in a lender's foreclosure. We make sure the claim is asserted correctly and on time.
Perfecting and recording the lien
A recorded lien is only as good as its accuracy. We prepare and record the notice of assessment lien against the unit with the correct legal description, owner, and amounts, and we serve the owner as required. The details matter, because an error in the recorded lien, a wrong legal description, an overstated balance, or an amount the documents do not actually authorize, is exactly what a delinquent owner's lawyer uses to challenge the lien and delay the foreclosure. We record liens that hold up.
Judicial foreclosure of the lien
When voluntary payment does not come, the association forecloses the lien much like a mortgage, through a judicial foreclosure action in superior court that ends in a sheriff's sale of the unit (RCW 61.12). After the sale, the former owner has a statutory period to redeem the property (RCW 6.23), which affects timing and strategy. Foreclosure is not always the right tool; sometimes a straightforward suit on the debt is faster and cheaper. We weigh the two for each account and pursue the one that actually recovers the money.
Fee recovery and resolving short of sale
Most lien foreclosures never reach a sale. Once the association files, the owner or, frequently, the owner's lender pays the balance to stop the foreclosure, because the alternative is losing the unit or the lender's position. The association recovers its interest, costs, and reasonable attorney fees along the way (RCW 64.90.485; RCW 64.90.685), so a well-run lien matter collects the debt and the cost of collecting it. We coordinate with the unit's lender on the super-priority, push the case only as far as it needs to go, and bank the recovery rather than a judgment that sits uncollected.
Two decades recording and foreclosing assessment liens for Eastside associations, with attorneys who know how the six-month priority works, how lenders respond to it, and how a sloppy lien gets attacked. We treat the lien as the property interest it is and foreclose it when that's what gets the association paid.
We record liens that hold up.
The legal description, the owner, the amounts the documents authorize. A clean recorded lien is what survives a challenge and clears the path to foreclosure; a careless one just buys the owner time.
We use the priority lenders respect.
The association's six-month priority over a first mortgage is real leverage. We assert it correctly and on time, which is often what gets the balance paid even when a bank is foreclosing.
We foreclose only when it collects.
Foreclosure is one tool, a suit on the debt is another. We pick the one that recovers the money for a given account and tell the board honestly when a balance isn't worth a foreclosure.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
Do we have to record a lien, or does it exist automatically?
The lien attaches automatically when assessments go unpaid, without any filing (RCW 64.90.485). But recording a notice of lien against the unit puts lenders, buyers, and title companies on notice and protects the association's position, so it's usually the prudent step before foreclosure. We confirm the lien and record it correctly.
We heard our lien comes ahead of the owner's mortgage. Is that true?
Partly. The association has a limited priority over a first mortgage for up to six months of regular assessments (RCW 64.90.485; RCW 64.34.364 for condos). The rest of the balance sits behind the mortgage. That six-month slice is real leverage, because a foreclosing lender has to account for it, and asserting it correctly is often what gets the association paid.
What happens when an association forecloses on a lien?
In Washington, an association usually forecloses its lien in court, the same way a lender forecloses a mortgage. It files a judicial foreclosure action in superior court, and if the debt isn't paid, the unit is sold at a sheriff's sale (RCW 61.12; RCW 64.90.485). The former owner then has a statutory redemption period (RCW 6.23). A nonjudicial foreclosure is possible only if the declaration grants a power of sale, and taking that route costs the association its six-month priority over the mortgage (RCW 64.90.485; RCW 64.34.364). Most cases settle once the action is filed, because the owner or their lender pays to stop the sale.
How long before an HOA can foreclose?
An HOA in Washington can't start a lien foreclosure until the owner owes at least three months of assessments or $2,000 of assessments, whichever is greater, not counting fines, late charges, interest, or fees. The association must also have sent the two required notices of delinquency, waited at least 90 days after the owner reached that minimum, and had the board approve foreclosure against that specific unit (RCW 64.90.485; RCW 64.34.364). Because the association can recover its collection costs and reasonable attorney fees (RCW 64.90.485), and because most foreclosures settle before a sale, pursuing the lien is often worthwhile even on a modest balance. But we tell boards honestly when an account isn't worth a foreclosure and a suit on the debt makes more sense.
What happens to our HOA lien when the owner's bank forecloses?
The part of the lien that sits behind the mortgage can be wiped out, but the association's six-month priority generally survives and must be paid (RCW 64.90.485). Whoever takes the unit through the bank's foreclosure isn't liable for the older assessments beyond that priority amount, so asserting it on time matters. We monitor lender foreclosures on units in the community and assert the association's priority so that slice gets paid out of the sale.
When should an HOA bring in a lien attorney?
An HOA should bring in a lien attorney before it records a lien and before it starts any foreclosure. Getting the recorded lien right and asserting the super-priority on time are what make the lien work, and both are easy to get wrong without counsel. The early engagement usually costs far less than fixing a defective lien later.
Recording, perfecting, and foreclosing assessment liens, asserting the six-month priority, and recovering fees for Washington community associations.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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