Few homeowner fears are bigger than losing a house over a few hundred dollars of missed HOA dues. Arizona law does let an association foreclose — but the legislature has fenced that power in with a high dollar threshold, a time requirement, a mandatory payment-plan offer, and a hard rule that fines and other “member expenses” can never be foreclosed on at all. Here is what A.R.S. § 33-1807 actually says.
The foreclosure threshold: 18 months or $10,000
An HOA gets a “common expense lien” on your property automatically the moment an assessment becomes due. But a lien is not a foreclosure. The statute sharply limits when the association can actually foreclose:
“The association’s common expense lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage on real estate but may be foreclosed only if the owner has been and remains delinquent in the payment of any assessment or portion of the assessment for a period of eighteen months or in the amount of $10,000 or more, whichever occurs first, as determined on the date the action is filed.” — § 33-1807(A)
So an association cannot foreclose over one or two missed payments. The delinquency must have run 18 months or reached $10,000 or more — measured on the day the lawsuit is filed. And critically, that figure is about assessments, not the pile of late fees, fines, and attorney charges an account can accumulate.
Fines can’t be foreclosed — ever
This is the protection homeowners most often don’t know about. Arizona separates ordinary assessments from what it calls “member expenses” — things like fines for rule violations and other individual charges. Those are treated completely differently:
“Notwithstanding any provision in the community documents, member expenses are not enforceable as common expense liens under this section. … The association’s judgment lien for member expenses may not be foreclosed and is effective only on conveyance of any interest in the real property.” — § 33-1807(B)
The board must offer a payment plan first
Before an association can file a foreclosure action, § 33-1807(A) requires a genuine attempt to work it out:
“The association board of directors shall exercise reasonable efforts to communicate with the member and offer a reasonable payment plan before filing a foreclosure action.” — § 33-1807(A)
“Shall” is mandatory. A reasonable payment-plan offer is a precondition, not a courtesy.
How your payments must be applied — you control the priority
One of the most abused tactics in HOA collections is applying a homeowner’s payment to fines and fees first, leaving the assessments perpetually “delinquent” so the account stays foreclosure-eligible. Arizona law forbids that ordering:
“Notwithstanding any provision in the community documents or in any contract … unless the member directs otherwise, all payments received on a member’s account shall be applied first to any unpaid assessments, due but not delinquent assessments, unpaid charges for late payment of those assessments …, unpaid reasonable collection fees and costs …, and unpaid attorney fees and costs … in that order, with any remaining amounts applied next to other unpaid fees, charges and monetary penalties …” — § 33-1807(K)
Assessments come first. Fines and penalties come last. That means a homeowner who keeps assessments current — or pays a lump sum toward them — cannot be pushed into foreclosure eligibility by an association steering the money toward fines instead. And note the opening words: “unless the member directs otherwise” — you can specify in writing exactly what your payment is for.
The 30-day warning before collections
Before an association can hand your account to an attorney or an outside collection agency, it must send a specific written warning — by certified mail, return receipt requested, in bold or all-caps — at least 30 days in advance, telling you the account is delinquent, that you have 30 days to bring it current or arrange an approved plan, and who to contact about payment (§ 33-1807(L)).
Other protections built into § 33-1807
- Six-year clock. A common expense lien is extinguished unless the association starts enforcement within six years of the full assessment becoming due (subsection G).
- Behind your mortgage. The HOA lien is junior to a recorded first mortgage or deed of trust, to property-tax liens, and to encumbrances recorded before the declaration (subsection C).
- Payoff statement in 10 days. On written request, the association must provide a statement of unpaid liens within 10 days; if it fails to give that statement to a licensed escrow agent in time, the lien for the amounts then due is extinguished (subsection J).
- Sign violations forfeit lien rights. If an association improperly restricts your for-sale/for-rent signs in violation of § 33-1808(G), it forfeits its lien rights against your property for six months (subsection M).
Bottom line for homeowners
An Arizona HOA’s foreclosure power is real but narrow: it applies to assessments, kicks in only at 18 months or $10,000, requires a payment-plan offer and a 30-day certified warning first, and can never reach a debt made up of fines. If your balance is mostly penalties and fees, or your assessments are current, the ground for foreclosure may simply not exist — and it’s worth demanding an itemized statement (subsection J) to see exactly what the association claims you owe, and for what.