Iowa · HOAIowa condo assessment liens: second only to taxes and the first mortgage

Under Iowa's horizontal property (condominium) law, all sums assessed by the council of co-owners for an apartment's share of the common expenses and left unpaid are a lien on the apartment, prior to all other liens except tax liens in favor of an assessing unit or special district and all sums unpaid on a first mortgage of record (Iowa Code §499B.17). The council of co-owners may foreclose the lien by suit like a mortgage, may bid at the foreclosure sale unless the declaration prohibits it, and may sue for a money judgment for unpaid common expenses without foreclosing or waiving the lien (§499B.17). When the first mortgagee or another buyer takes title by foreclosing the first mortgage, that new owner isn't liable for the apartment's assessments that came due before it acquired title; those amounts become common expenses shared by all owners (§499B.18).