COA & HOA Checklist to Perfect a Lien

Every board eventually faces the same problem: an owner who has stopped paying. Florida gives a condominium or homeowners’ association strong remedies, from attorney’s fees to a recorded lien to foreclosure, but only if the association follows the assessment lien notice sequence that Chapter 718 and Chapter 720 lay out: specific notices, in a specific order, by specific mail methods, each followed by a statutory waiting period. Get one step wrong and the association can lose its fees, its lien, or both.

At Cox Law, PLLC, we handle assessment collections for condominium, homeowners’, and cooperative associations across the Tampa Bay area, and the sequence below is the one we run on every delinquent account. We wrote it up so boards and community association managers can see what the statute requires, and where a file tends to go wrong before it ever reaches a lawyer. Condominium citations are to Chapter 718; homeowners’ association citations are to Chapter 720. Cooperatives follow a parallel scheme in section 719.108. Our printable assessment lien notice sequence checklist, one page per account with every deadline blank to fill in, is linked below.

Why the Assessment Lien Notice Sequence Matters to Your Association

Each notice in the sequence is tied to a penalty for skipping it. No attorney’s fees may be charged to the owner until the 30-day notice of late assessment has been delivered and the 30 days have run (§ 718.121(5); § 720.3085(3)(d)). No lien may be recorded until 45 days after the notice of intent to record a claim of lien (§ 718.121(6); § 720.3085(4)). And if the notice of intent to foreclose is not given at least 45 days before suit, and the owner pays before final judgment, the association recovers no fees or costs at all (§ 718.116(6)(b); § 720.3085(5)).

That last penalty is the one that stings. The association has done everything right for months, the owner pays on the courthouse steps, and the legal bill lands on the other owners instead of the one who was delinquent. Most of what we do on a collection file is making sure that never happens.

One rule runs through all of it: the clock starts on the date of mailing, not the date of receipt. Notices are deemed delivered when deposited in the mail, which is why the mailing affidavit matters as much as the notice itself.

Before the First Notice: Set Up the File

The collection work that matters most happens before anything is mailed. We start with the governing documents and confirm the declaration’s interest rate and late-fee provision. If the declaration is silent, the statutory default is 18 percent simple interest, and the administrative late fee may not exceed the greater of $25 or 5 percent of the delinquent installment (§ 718.116(3); § 720.3085(3)).

Next comes the ledger. It has to be current and itemized: assessments, interest, late fees, and prior costs. Partial payments must be applied in the statutory order, first to interest, then to the late fee, then to costs and attorney’s fees, and only then to the assessment itself. An owner who sends a partial check with a note directing it to principal does not change that order, and a manager who applies it differently creates a ledger dispute that follows the file into court.

We also verify the owner’s last address in the association’s records and the address of the unit or parcel, and we review any notices already sent by a prior manager or law firm. If an earlier step was defective, we restart the sequence rather than build on it. Finally, we confirm the board has adopted or reviewed a collection policy authorizing these steps, so no owner can later argue the board never approved the lien.

Step 1: Notice of Late Assessment (30 Days)

The assessment lien notice sequence opens with the notice of late assessment, which gives the owner 30 days to pay before attorney’s fees can be added to the account (§ 718.121(5); § 720.3085(3)(d)). We use the statutory form substantially as written, itemizing the maintenance due, late fees, interest, and the total outstanding.

It goes by first-class U.S. mail to the owner’s last address of record, and also to the unit or parcel address if that is different. A board member, officer, manager, or agent signs a sworn mailing affidavit that goes in the file; the affidavit creates a rebuttable presumption that the notice was mailed as the statute requires. Many boards ask whether the manager can send this notice. The answer is yes, and many do, but it has to be right, because every later step depends on it.

Step 2: Notice of Intent to Record a Claim of Lien (45 Days)

Once the Step 1 deadline expires without payment in full, we send the notice of intent to record a claim of lien (§ 718.121(6); § 720.3085(4)). This notice also follows a statutory form and itemizes maintenance, late fees, interest, certified-mail charges, and other costs. Attorney’s fees and the cost of the demand may now be included, which is usually the point at which the file comes to us.

The mail method is stricter here. The notice must go by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and by first-class mail, and both mailings go to the owner’s last address of record and to the unit or parcel address if different. We keep the certified receipts, tracking history, and return cards in the file. The 45 days run from deposit in the mail.

Step 3: Record the Claim of Lien

After the 45 days run without full payment, we record the claim of lien in the official records of the county where the property sits (§ 718.116(5); § 720.3085(1)). The lien states the description of the unit or parcel, the name of the record owner, the association’s name and address, the amount due, and the due date. A condominium lien must be executed and acknowledged by an officer or authorized agent of the association.

Two deadlines attach to the assessment lien notice sequence at this point, and we calendar both. A condominium lien is void one year after recording unless a foreclosure action is filed within that year (§ 718.116(5)(b)). An HOA lien has no fixed expiration, but if the owner records and serves a notice of contest of lien, the association must sue within 90 days or the lien is void (§ 720.3085(1)(b)). We also mail the owner a copy of the recorded lien. The statute does not require it, but a recorded lien in the mailbox resolves more accounts than any letter before it.

Step 4: Notice of Intent to Foreclose (45 Days)

The fourth notice in the assessment lien notice sequence is the notice of intent to foreclose, a separate notice that comes after the lien is recorded. It cannot be folded into the Step 2 letter, and we see that shortcut in inherited files more often than any other. For a condominium, no foreclosure judgment may be entered until 45 days after the association gives written notice of its intention to foreclose, delivered personally or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the owner’s last known address (§ 718.116(6)(b)).

For an HOA, the foreclosure action may not be filed until 45 days after the parcel owner has been provided written notice of the intent to foreclose (§ 720.3085(5)). We send both the same way, certified and first-class, so proof of delivery is never in question.

The penalty for getting this step wrong is the one described above: if the 45-day notice was not given before suit and the owner pays before final judgment, the association may not recover its attorney’s fees or costs. The work of the first three steps is done for free.

Step 5: Foreclose, Sue for a Money Judgment, or Both

With the Step 4 deadline expired, the board chooses its remedy: a lien foreclosure, an action for a money judgment, or both, since filing for a money judgment does not waive the lien (§ 718.116(6)(a); § 720.3085(1)(c), (6)). This is a business decision as much as a legal one, and we walk the board through it. A title search tells us whether a first mortgage sits ahead of the lien, how much equity is above it, and what other liens are in line, and that drives whether foreclosure, a money judgment, or a rent demand is the better path. The board’s authorization to file goes in the minutes.

Two more timing points. A condominium complaint must be filed before the one-year lien expiration. In an HOA case, the owner may serve a qualifying offer, a written offer to pay all amounts due, which stays the foreclosure for up to 60 days (§ 720.3085(6)). We prepare the board for that possibility before filing so it does not read as a setback when it arrives.

The Rent Demand: A Tool Available at Any Point

If the unit or parcel is tenant-occupied, the association has a remedy it can use at any time once the owner is delinquent, independent of the steps above. It may send the tenant a written demand to pay rent directly to the association until the owner’s account is paid in full, mailing a copy to the owner. A tenant who ignores the demand may be evicted under Chapter 83, and a tenant who complies is protected from a claim by the landlord for the amounts paid (§ 718.116(11); § 720.3085(8); § 719.108(10)). For an investor-owned unit, this is often the fastest route to a paid account, and it is underused.

Six Mistakes That Forfeit Fees or the Lien

The same errors recur in the files we inherit, and each one undercuts the assessment lien notice sequence. Skipping Step 1 and charging attorney’s fees anyway. Sending the Step 2 notice by certified mail only, with no companion first-class mailing. Mailing to one address when the statute requires two. Sending the notice of intent to foreclose before the lien is recorded. Counting the days from receipt instead of from mailing. And, for condominiums, letting a lien pass its one-year anniversary with no suit on file. None of these is hard to avoid. All of them are hard to fix after the fact.

Build the File as You Go

Every notice should be provable months later, in front of a judge, by someone who was not there when it was mailed. We keep a copy of each notice exactly as sent, the mailing affidavits for Steps 1, 2, and 4, the certified-mail receipts and return cards, the recorded claim of lien with its recording data, the ledger as of each notice date, and the board minutes authorizing the lien and the suit.

When an association changes managers or counsel mid-stream, that file is what lets the new team pick up the assessment lien notice sequence rather than restart it, and it is the first thing we ask for when a board brings us an account that is already in progress.

Working With Cox Law on Association Collections

Boards and managers usually come to us at one of three points: when a delinquent account is ready for the Step 2 notice, when an inherited file needs to be audited before anyone spends more money on it, or when the association wants a written collection policy so every account is handled the same way. We are glad to help at any of them. We prepare and send each statutory notice in the prescribed form and on the statutory clock, record and foreclose assessment liens, pursue money judgments, and serve rent demands on tenants. We also represent owners responding to a demand or claim of lien, which means we know how the other side reads these notices.

If your association has an account that has gone quiet, or a stack of notices you are not sure were sent correctly, call (813) 685-8600 or request a consultation online. A short review now is far cheaper than a fee award lost at final judgment.

This post is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. It summarizes