Arizona · A.R.S. §§33-1807, 33-1256Arizona HOA and condo liens: priority, foreclosure limits and the ten-day statement

An Arizona planned-community association has a lien on a property for each assessment from the time it becomes due, and a condominium association has the same lien on a unit (A.R.S. §§33-1807(A), 33-1256(A)). The lien is prior to all other liens except those recorded before the declaration, a recorded first mortgage or first deed of trust (or a seller's interest in a first contract for sale recorded before the lien arose), and real estate taxes and other governmental charges; it doesn't affect mechanics' lien priority (§§33-1807(C)–(D), 33-1256(C)–(D)). Recording the declaration perfects the lien without a separate claim of lien (§33-1807(F)). The lien can be foreclosed like a mortgage only if the owner has been delinquent for 18 months or $10,000 or more, whichever comes first, after the board offers a reasonable payment plan; it is extinguished unless enforcement starts within six years after the assessment becomes due (§33-1807(A), (G)). Member expenses aren't common expense liens; they become a judgment lien only after a court judgment is recorded and are effective only on a conveyance (§33-1807(B)). On written request by a lienholder, escrow agent, owner or the owner's designee, the association must furnish a statement of unpaid liens within ten days; the statement binds the association when a licensed escrow agent requests it, and failing to give it to the escrow agent in time extinguishes any lien for assessments then due (§§33-1807(J), 33-1256(J)).