In Florida, condominium and homeowners associations can place a lien on a property for unpaid assessments and foreclose on that lien. Condominium associations act under Chapter 718 and homeowners associations under Chapter 720. The critical difference from a mortgage foreclosure is lien priority: an association lien is usually junior to the first mortgage, so buying at an association foreclosure sale can mean taking the property with that mortgage still attached.
Yes. Florida associations can record a lien for unpaid assessments and pursue foreclosure on that lien. Condominium associations operate under Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes; homeowners associations under Chapter 720.
Because it decides what survives the sale. A first mortgage recorded before the association lien is generally senior to it. When a senior lienholder forecloses, junior liens are extinguished. When a JUNIOR lienholder forecloses, the senior lien is not.
So a buyer at an association foreclosure sale may take title with the first mortgage still in place - and that mortgage does not disappear because the property changed hands.
No, and conflating the two is one of the more expensive mistakes available at a Florida auction. A sale that looks cheap relative to the property’s value may be cheap precisely because a mortgage survives it.
Florida statutes include provisions limiting what a purchaser at a foreclosure sale owes an association for the previous owner’s unpaid assessments. The limits differ between Chapter 718 and Chapter 720 and depend on who foreclosed.
This is worth confirming for the specific property and the specific association before bidding rather than assuming.
The case tells you. A foreclosure brought by a lender is a mortgage foreclosure; one brought by an association is an assessment lien foreclosure. The plaintiff on the case is the fastest signal.
The judgment amount is another clue - association foreclosures typically involve far smaller amounts than mortgage foreclosures on the same property.
They can be, for a buyer who understands the lien position and prices it in. They are risky for a buyer who assumes the sale clears everything.
The difference is not the property. It is whether the bidder knows what is still attached to it.
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