Arizona Real Estate Notebook

Conclusion

An HOA lien on a property in Arizona is wiped out during foreclosure so the new owner is not responsible to pay the previous owner’s past due HOA fees.

The previous (foreclosed upon) owner, however, is still responsible for paying their past due HOA fees, and according to a couple of phone calls I’ve received, some HOAs are going after previous owners for the unpaid HOA fees incurred before the property was foreclosed on.

I’m not a lawyer or an expert in this by any means but that’s what I gather from Chris Combs Arizona real estate law blog. A foreclosure wipes out the big debts, the mortgage or mortgages, but not debts to the HOA.

Homeowner’s Liability After Arizona Foreclosure Sale
… Third, you have liability for the HOA monthly dues until the date of the foreclosure sale.

I wanted to clarify this because I got a call yesterday from a woman who was distressed because her former HOA was going after her in small claims court for the unpaid HOA fees on her home that was foreclosed on.

She had read in this post or maybe this post that the HOA lien was wiped out, which is true. The HOA lien on the property was removed during the foreclosure but the previous owner is still personally responsible for paying the past due HOA fees, at least that’s my non-expert interpretation.

If you want an expert’s interpretation, try sending your question to Arizona real estate lawyer Chris Combs.