This article is intended for educational purposes only and not as legal advice
April 20, 2016
Found at C.R.S. 38-33.3-101 et. seq., the Colorado Common Ownership Interest Act (referred to as “Kiowa” among Dirt lawyers), governs the creation and modification of common interest communities. It’s a massive amount of statutes, many quite complex, that deal with virtually every imaginable issue regarding HOA’s.
In Colorado, HOA’s are given super-priority for 6 months of unpaid HOA dues per C.R.S. 38-33.3-316 which provides for such a priority “in an amount equal to the common expense assessments based on a periodic budget adopted by the association under section 38-33.3-315(1) which would have become due, in the absence of any acceleration, during the six months immediately preceding institution by either the association or any party holding a lien senior to any part of the association lien created under this section of an action or a nonjudicial foreclosure either to enforce or to extinguish the lien.”
So, in a nutshell, up to 6 months of HOA dues will leapfrog over every other lien other than property taxes with a couple of extremely rare exceptions that I have yet to see come across such as a lien that existed prior to the recordation of the condominium declaration. Attorneys fees, late charges, fines and interest tied to the delinquent dues are included in the super-priority amount; however, the 6 months of dues is still the financial cap on the total. See First Atlantic Mortgage, LLC v. Sunstone North Homeowner Assn’ 121, P.3d 265 ( Colo. App. 2005). So, if 3 months dues are owed and the attorney fees and late charges increase the amount over the amount of the 6 month limit, the lien amount will be in the amount of the 6 month limit and not restricted to just the 3 months of dues.