In Florida, before an HOA can put a lien on your home for unpaid assessments, it must send you a written notice giving you 45 days to pay, and it must send a second 45-day notice before it can start foreclosure (Fla. Stat. §720.3085). Your payments must be applied in a specific order set by law, and you have a "qualifying offer" tool that can pause a foreclosure. This is the highest-stakes area of HOA law, so read carefully and talk to a Florida attorney if a lien or foreclosure is on the table.

This is the hub for HOA assessments, liens, and foreclosure in Florida.

Assessments are a real obligation, so keep paying

Start with the honest part: assessments are almost always a valid, enforceable debt, and Florida law gives associations strong tools to collect them. Even if you are in a dispute with your board over something else, the most important step is to keep paying your assessments under protest. Withholding dues converts a dispute you might win into a delinquency the association can lien and foreclose on. Pay first, dispute second.

The lien: two 45-day notices

An HOA cannot lien and foreclose in one silent step. There are two separate 45-day notices.

First 45-day notice, before recording the lien

Before it records a claim of lien, the association must give you written notice of its intent to record, and that notice must give you 45 days to pay the amount due (Fla. Stat. §720.3085(4)). The notice has statutory language telling you the amount owed and that you have 45 days.

Second 45-day notice, before foreclosure

After a lien is recorded, the association may not bring a foreclosure action until it has given you a second written notice, again with 45 days to pay, of its intent to foreclose (Fla. Stat. §720.3085(5)).

From a missed payment to a foreclosure suit, the law builds in two full 45-day windows. If the association skipped either notice, its lien or foreclosure is procedurally defective.

How your payments must be applied

This rule protects you from a common trap. When you make a partial payment, the association must apply it in this order (Fla. Stat. §720.3085(3)):

  1. Interest that has accrued.
  2. Then any administrative late fee.
  3. Then costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred in collection.
  4. Then, last, the delinquent assessment itself.

Any payment you make is applied this way regardless of a note on the check, even if it means the assessment principal is paid last. This is why a "paid" balance can still show a delinquency: fees and interest come first.

The qualifying offer: pausing a foreclosure

Florida gives owners a tool called a qualifying offer. In a foreclosure proceeding, you may file a qualifying offer, a written commitment to pay the amounts owed on an agreed schedule, which can create a stay of the foreclosure action for a period that may not exceed 60 days while you pay (Fla. Stat. §720.3085(6)). It is not a way to avoid the debt, but it can buy time if you can pay within the window. Because the requirements are technical, use an attorney to file it.

Detailed accounting: you can demand the numbers

You are entitled to know exactly what you owe. On written request, the association must give you a detailed, itemized accounting of the amounts it claims you owe within 15 business days (a right added by the 2024 HOA reforms, HB 1203). Get this before paying a demanded lump sum, because it lets you check the math and see whether fees were added improperly.

What the board must do

  1. Send the first 45-day notice before recording a lien.
  2. Send the second 45-day notice before filing foreclosure.
  3. Apply your payments in the statutory order (interest, late fee, costs and fees, then assessment).
  4. Provide a detailed accounting within 15 business days of your written request.
  5. Honor a valid qualifying offer stay.

How to tell if the board broke the rules

  • You were liened with no 45-day pre-lien notice.
  • Foreclosure was filed with no separate 45-day pre-foreclosure notice.
  • Your payments were applied in the wrong order, so fees ballooned.
  • They tried to lien a fine under $1,000 (not allowed, Fla. Stat. §720.305(2)).
  • You requested a detailed accounting and got nothing within 15 business days.

Your options, step by step

Rung 1: Demand the accounting and pay under protest. Request the detailed accounting in writing, and keep your current assessments current. Use the assessment accounting request letter.

Rung 2: Dispute defects in writing. If a notice was skipped or payments were misapplied, put it in writing citing §720.3085. Use the assessment dispute letter.

Rung 3: Get a lawyer, now. Pre-suit mediation does not apply to assessment collection disputes (Fla. Stat. §720.311), so the association can move toward court faster here than in other disputes. A lien, and especially a foreclosure, are exactly the situations where you should have a licensed Florida attorney. If a qualifying offer is your best move, an attorney should file it.

DBPR does not handle assessment or foreclosure disputes. This is a court matter, and the stakes are your home.

What you can do next

  1. Send the assessment accounting request letter and keep paying current dues under protest.
  2. If a notice was skipped or payments misapplied, send the assessment dispute letter.
  3. If a lien or foreclosure is filed, talk to a licensed Florida attorney immediately about defenses and the qualifying offer.