Florida Statute 720.3085: HOA Assessment Liens, Notice, and Foreclosure

Florida Statute 720.3085 is the law that governs how a homeowners’ association collects unpaid assessments, records a lien against your parcel, and forecloses if the debt is not paid. It fixes who is personally liable, caps the interest and late fees an association can charge, requires at least 90 days of written notice before a foreclosure lawsuit can be filed, and gives homeowners defensive tools including the right to contest a lien and force the association to sue within 90 days or lose it.

Who Owes the Assessment

Section 720.3085(2) makes you personally liable for every assessment that comes due while you own the parcel. It does not matter how you acquired title. Purchases at foreclosure sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure are covered, and you cannot shed the obligation by abandoning the property or refusing to use the common areas.¹

When a parcel changes hands, the buyer and the seller are jointly and severally liable for any assessments that went unpaid before closing. The association can pursue either party for the full amount. A buyer who skips due diligence and whose purchase contract is silent on the point can inherit the prior owner’s debt with no contractual right to reimbursement.¹

Institutional first mortgagees get a different deal. A bank that takes title through mortgage foreclosure or a deed in lieu is liable for pre-acquisition assessments only up to the lesser of 12 months of unpaid assessments or one percent of the original mortgage debt. On a $300,000 mortgage, that caps the lender’s exposure at $3,000 no matter how far the prior owner had fallen behind.¹

Interest, Late Fees, and Attorney’s Fees

Unpaid assessments accrue simple interest from the due date at whatever rate your community’s declaration or bylaws specify, up to Florida’s usury maximum of 18 percent per year. If the governing documents are silent, the default rate is also 18 percent. Compound interest is prohibited.¹²

Late fees are capped at the greater of $25 or five percent of each missed installment, and only if the declaration or bylaws authorize them. Reasonable attorney’s fees and collection costs can also be added, but with an important condition: the association must first send a written notice of late assessment stating the amount owed and giving you a chance to pay. Skip that step and the association cannot force you to pay for its lawyers.³

How partial payments are applied matters. Each dollar goes first to accrued interest, then to late fees, then to collection costs and attorney’s fees, and only the remainder reduces the assessment principal. Small or sporadic payments can be fully consumed by interest and fees without ever touching the underlying debt.¹

The Notice Sequence Before Foreclosure

An association cannot record a lien the day after you miss a payment. Section 720.3085(4) requires a written demand for the past-due amount, sent by both registered or certified mail (return receipt requested) and first-class mail to your last known address on file. If that address differs from the parcel address, the association must mail to both. From the date the notice is deposited in the mail, you have 45 days to pay in full and prevent a lien from being recorded.³

If you do not pay in that window, the association can record a claim of lien in the county’s public records. The lien itself must include the property’s legal description, the record owner’s name, and the amount due at the time of filing.³

Recording the lien is still only the first step. Before filing a foreclosure lawsuit, the association must send a second notice of its intent to foreclose, using the same dual-mail method. That notice triggers a second 45-day period to settle the account, and the association cannot even send it until the first 45-day window has expired. The practical result: you get a minimum of 90 days of cumulative notice before a foreclosure case can be filed. Both notices are mandatory, and a court can dismiss the case if either is skipped or improperly delivered.¹

How the Foreclosure Case Proceeds

Once the two notice periods have passed, the association can file suit. Florida HOA foreclosures follow the same judicial process as mortgage foreclosures: a complaint in circuit court, service of a summons, and a judgment before any sale. The association can also pursue a money judgment for the unpaid assessments without giving up its lien, so it may chase the debt and the property at the same time.¹

If the parcel is tenant-occupied during the case, the association can ask the court to appoint a receiver to collect the rent directly, with the receiver’s costs charged to the losing party. If you remain in the property after a foreclosure judgment, the court can require you to pay reasonable rent for the time you stay.³

Florida’s pre-suit mediation requirement for HOA disputes does not apply to assessment collection. The association does not have to offer mediation before suing.

If a foreclosure sale generates more than the judgment amount, the surplus goes first to subordinate lienholders with timely claims and then, by statutory presumption, to the owner of record at the time the lawsuit was filed. You must affirmatively claim the surplus. One year after the sale, unclaimed funds are reported to the state as unclaimed property.⁴

Contesting a Recorded Lien

Once a claim of lien is recorded, you can file a Notice of Contest of Lien in the public records to force the association’s hand. After the clerk mails a copy of the contest to the association by certified mail, the association has exactly 90 days to file a lawsuit to enforce the lien. If it fails to sue within that window, the lien becomes void. The 90-day clock is paused only if you or another person claiming an interest in the parcel files for bankruptcy.³

Filing a contest does not erase the debt. What it does is end the limbo. Many associations record liens and let them sit as leverage. A contest forces them to commit to litigation or walk away from the lien.

The Qualifying Offer

If the association has already sued, you have one more tool before judgment. A qualifying offer is a written, notarized proposal to pay the full amount secured by the lien, plus any amounts that accrue while the offer is pending. Filing it with the court automatically stays the foreclosure for the period you specify, up to 60 days.³

You get only one qualifying offer per foreclosure case. It is unavailable if the property is in a separate mortgage foreclosure, if you are in bankruptcy, or if trial is within 30 days. The offer must be signed by every owner (and any spouse claiming a homestead interest), notarized, and delivered to the association’s attorney by hand or certified mail. Break the terms, by missing a payment within the offer period for example, and the stay lifts immediately. The association can then proceed to judgment for the offer amount plus whatever accrued afterward.¹

Rent Demands When the Owner Rents the Property

If you rent out your parcel and fall behind on assessments, the association can bypass you and collect from your tenant. Under Section 720.3085(8), the association may send a written demand requiring the tenant to pay rent directly to the association. The tenant must comply, and rent continues flowing to the association until you clear your balance or the tenant moves out.¹

If the tenant has already paid you for the current rent period when the demand arrives, the tenant has 14 days to show proof of payment, and the obligation to redirect rent begins with the next period. A tenant who complies is completely immune from any claim you might bring for the redirected rent, and the statute requires the association’s notice to say so. The tenant receives a dollar-for-dollar credit against rent owed to you for each payment made to the association, so no one pays twice.¹

Estoppel Certificates at Closing

Before closing on a property in an HOA community, your title company will typically request an estoppel certificate from the association. The certificate itemizes every assessment, special assessment, and other amount the current owner owes as of its issue date. The association must deliver the certificate within 10 business days of a written or electronic request. If it misses that deadline, it cannot charge a fee.⁵

Fee caps under Section 720.30851 (subject to CPI adjustment every five years):

Up to $250 when no delinquent amounts are owed on the parcel.
An additional $150 if any past-due amount exists.
An additional $100 for delivery within three business days.

The certificate’s binding effect is what makes it valuable. Once issued, the association waives the right to collect any amounts above what the certificate states from anyone who relies on it in good faith. If the association understates the balance, it absorbs the loss. For a buyer, this is the single most reliable way to confirm what will be owed at closing.⁶

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.3085 – Payment for Assessments; Lien Claims
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 687.03 – Interest Rates; Usury
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.3085 – Payment for Assessments; Lien Claims
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 45.032 – Disbursement of Surplus Funds After Mortgage Foreclosure Sale by Clerk of the Court
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 720.30851 – Estoppel Certificates
6
Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code 720.30851 – Estoppel Certificates