Florida Statute 718.116: Liens, Foreclosure, and Estoppel

Florida Statute 718.116 is the state’s condominium assessment collection law. It makes each unit owner liable for assessments that come due while they hold title, makes a buyer jointly and severally liable with the seller for anything unpaid at closing, gives the association an automatic lien on the unit, and lays out how interest, late fees, attorney fees, foreclosure, and even a tenant’s rent can be used to collect what’s owed.¹

Who Owes the Assessments When a Unit Changes Hands

Under Section 718.116(1)(a), every owner is liable for all assessments that come due while they own the unit. That rule applies no matter how the owner got title, including buyers at foreclosure sales and people who took a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The statute then adds a second layer of liability: the new owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for any assessments that were already unpaid at the time of transfer.¹

Joint and several means the association can collect the whole balance from either party. It doesn’t have to try the seller first or split the bill. A buyer who closes without confirming the account status can walk into thousands of dollars of inherited debt and be left suing the seller privately to recover it. The practical defense is the estoppel certificate covered below.

Interest, Late Fees, and How Your Payment Is Applied

Section 718.116(3) sets the ceilings on what an association can charge when an owner falls behind. Interest runs from the due date at whatever rate the declaration states. If the declaration doesn’t specify a rate, the default is 18 percent per year. If the declaration or bylaws authorize it, the association can also add an administrative late fee of up to $25 or 5 percent of the delinquent installment, whichever is greater.¹

The order in which the association must apply your payment is fixed by statute. Every dollar received is credited first to accrued interest, then to administrative late fees, then to collection costs and attorney fees, and only after that to the delinquent assessment itself. A partial payment can therefore leave the principal balance untouched. If you send in half of what you owe expecting the assessment to shrink, the money may be absorbed entirely by interest and fees, and the assessment stays fully due.¹

The association can also recover reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in collection, and those charges are added to the owner’s total balance. A single missed quarterly payment can grow quickly once interest, the late fee, and legal bills are stacked on top.

The Association’s Lien on the Unit

Section 718.116(5)(a) gives every condominium association an automatic lien on each unit to secure unpaid assessments. The lien’s priority generally relates back to the recording date of the original declaration of condominium, which in most communities predates any individual mortgage. Against a first mortgage of record, though, the lien is only effective from the date the association actually records its claim of lien in the county’s public records.¹

Section 718.116(5)(b) tells the association what a valid claim of lien must contain: a description of the condominium parcel, the name of the record owner, the name and address of the association, the amount due, and the due dates. An officer or authorized agent has to execute and acknowledge it. Once recorded, the lien secures both the past-due amounts and any later assessments that come due through the final judgment, plus interest, late fees, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.²

A recorded lien expires one year after it was filed unless the association starts a lawsuit to enforce it within that year. If the unit owner files bankruptcy, the one-year clock is paused for as long as the automatic stay prevents suit.²

Foreclosure and the 45-Day Notice

Section 718.116(6)(a) lets the association foreclose its assessment lien in the same manner as a mortgage foreclosure. It can also sue for a money judgment on the balance without giving up the lien. Reasonable attorney fees are recoverable in either action.¹

Before a foreclosure judgment can be entered, Section 718.116(6)(b) requires the association to send the owner a written notice at least 45 days in advance. The notice must identify the type of assessment, state the total owed including interest, and say the association intends to foreclose. Skipping this notice has a specific consequence: if the owner pays the full balance before final judgment, the association loses the right to recover its attorney fees and costs for that action.¹

Delivery has to be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the owner’s last known address. One exception applies: if a mortgage lender has already filed foreclosure and the association’s rights are affected, the association doesn’t need to send its own 45-day notice before intervening in that case.

The Cap When a First Mortgagee Takes the Unit

Section 718.116(1)(b) limits how much a first mortgage lender owes the association when the lender acquires the unit through foreclosure or a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The lender pays the lesser of these two amounts:

The regular periodic assessments and common expenses that came due during the 12 months immediately before the lender took title, minus anything the association already received.
One percent of the original mortgage debt, calculated on the original loan amount rather than the balance at foreclosure.

Whichever figure is smaller controls.²

The cap only works for a lender that joined the association as a defendant in the foreclosure. That joinder requirement is excused only if, on the date the foreclosure complaint was filed, the association was dissolved or had no office or agent for service at a reasonably discoverable location.¹

Any balance above the cap doesn’t disappear. It’s simply absorbed by the association and, in practice, spread across the remaining owners through future assessments.

Redirecting a Tenant’s Rent to the Association

Section 718.116(11)(a) lets the association intercept rent when the landlord-owner is delinquent. The association sends the tenant a written demand requiring all future rent to be paid to the association instead of the landlord. The obligation continues until the owner’s monetary obligations are paid in full, the association releases the tenant, or the tenant moves out.¹

The demand has to be delivered to the tenant by hand or U.S. mail, and the association also has to notify the owner. If the tenant already paid rent for the current period before the demand arrived, the tenant has 14 days to provide written proof of payment, and payments to the association start with the next rental period.²

A tenant who pays the association is immune from any claim by the landlord for that rent. The tenant’s total liability is capped at the rent owed to the landlord, and the landlord has to credit the tenant for every dollar redirected. Refusing to comply is risky: the association can issue a three-day notice and pursue eviction under Florida’s landlord-tenant statutes.¹

The Estoppel Certificate a Buyer Should Insist On

The estoppel certificate rules that once lived inside Section 718.116 have been moved to a separate statute, Section 718.1216, which governs condominium estoppel certificates specifically. The certificate is a document from the association that locks in the financial status of a unit at a moment in time. It states the current assessment amount, the payment frequency, the date through which assessments are paid, and any outstanding special assessments or fees.

The association has to deliver the certificate within 10 business days of a written request. Expedited delivery within 3 business days is available for an added fee. Florida law caps the base fee at $250 when nothing is delinquent, adds up to $150 if the account is delinquent, and adds up to another $100 for expedited service, for a potential total of $500 in the worst case.

The value of the certificate is that it binds the association to the figures inside it. If it says the account is current, the association generally cannot come back after closing and claim more was owed. For a buyer facing joint and several liability for whatever the seller left unpaid, requesting and reading this certificate before closing is the most direct protection available.

Bankruptcy and Active-Duty Military

When a delinquent owner files bankruptcy, the federal automatic stay stops all collection activity, including a lien foreclosure. Section 718.116 accommodates this by pausing the association’s deadlines. Both the one-year window to enforce a recorded claim of lien and the 90-day period following a notice of contest of lien are tolled for as long as the automatic stay is in place.²

Federal bankruptcy law adds a separate layer. Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(16), assessments that come due after the bankruptcy filing are not dischargeable for as long as the debtor or trustee holds an ownership interest in the unit. Pre-petition assessments are dischargeable as personal obligations, but the lien itself typically survives the bankruptcy and remains enforceable against the property.³

The practical result is that a bankruptcy discharge can wipe out personal liability for old assessments while leaving the association free to foreclose the lien, and any new assessments that accrue while the debtor still owns the unit remain a personal obligation on top of the lien.

If the owner is on active-duty military, federal law overrides Florida’s collection procedures. Under 50 U.S.C. § 3953, a sale, foreclosure, or seizure of property is not valid if it occurs during the servicemember’s period of military service or within one year afterward, unless the association first obtains a court order.⁴ A court hearing a foreclosure involving a servicemember can stay proceedings for as long as justice requires, or adjust the obligation to protect all parties’ interests, if the servicemember shows that military service materially affects the ability to pay.

1
Florida Statutes. Florida Code 718.116 – Assessments; Liability; Lien and Priority; Interest; Collection
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 718.116 – Assessments; Liability; Lien and Priority; Interest; Collection
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3953 – Mortgages and Trust Deeds