Lien Claims for Unpaid Assessments

Almost every community association’s assessments are secured by a lien on the association member’s real property. The lien secures unpaid assessments, collection costs, interest, and attorney’s fees (including assessments, costs, interest, and attorney’s fees that accrue subsequent to recording the lien claim). Lien claims cannot be enforced until they are perfected. In order to perfect a lien for unpaid assessments, the community association must first comply with the notice requirements of the declaration and the appropriate Florida Statutes, Chapter 718 (Condo Associations) or Chapter 720 (Homeowner Associations). Once the notice(s) have been properly served and the time limit has expired, the community association must record the lien in the public record of the county where the property is located, and the lien must include certain information, including:

a description of the property being liened
the name of the record owner
the name of the association
the address of the association
the assessment due date
the amount due.

acknowledgement of an officer or agent of the association

Please note that a lien recorded without first properly serving the association member with the notice required by Chapter 718 or Chapter 72o will be unenforceable. For more information on the notices please see the Statutory Notices page.