Montana · HOAMontana condo common expense lien: the recorded claim, priority and foreclosure

Under Montana's Unit Ownership Act, when an association of unit owners, acting through its manager, furnishes a unit services, labor or material lawfully chargeable as common expenses, it has a lien on the unit and the unit's undivided interest in the common elements for the reasonable value of those common expenses. The lien is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on the unit except tax and assessment liens and a first mortgage or trust indenture of record – but only once the association records in the county a claim with a true statement of the account due after credits, the owner's or reputed owner's name and a description of the unit. The claim must be verified by oath of someone with knowledge of the facts and recorded and indexed with construction liens under Title 71, chapter 3, part 5 (MCA 70-23-607). Foreclosure follows the construction lien foreclosure procedure, the manager may enforce the lien for the association, and the association may sue for a money judgment for unpaid common expenses without foreclosing or waiving the lien (MCA 70-23-608).