Civil Code Assessments & Liens
Delinquent Assessments
Chapter 8 · Assessments and Assessment Collection · Assessment Payment and Delinquency
Text current as of 2026-07-07 · Last amended by AB 805, eff. 2014-01-01
The code says CIV §5650
(a) A regular or special assessment and any late charges, reasonable fees and costs of collection, reasonable attorney’s fees, if any, and interest, if any, as determined in accordance with subdivision (b), shall be a debt of the owner of the separate interest at the time the assessment or other sums are levied.
(b) Regular and special assessments levied pursuant to the governing documents are
delinquent 15 days after they become due, unless the declaration provides a longer time period, in which case the longer time period shall apply. If an assessment is delinquent, the association may recover all of the following:
(1) Reasonable costs incurred in collecting the delinquent assessment, including reasonable attorney’s fees.
(2) A late charge not exceeding 10 percent of the delinquent assessment or ten dollars ($10), whichever is greater, unless the declaration specifies a late charge in a smaller amount, in which case any late charge imposed shall not exceed the amount specified in the declaration.
(3) Interest on all sums imposed in accordance with this section, including the delinquent assessments, reasonable fees and costs of collection, and reasonable attorney’s fees, at an annual interest rate not to
exceed 12 percent, commencing 30 days after the assessment becomes due, unless the declaration specifies the recovery of interest at a rate of a lesser amount, in which case the lesser rate of interest shall apply.
(c) Associations are hereby exempted from interest-rate limitations imposed by Article XV of the California Constitution, subject to the limitations of this section.
(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 180, Sec. 2. (AB 805) Effective January 1, 2013. Operative January 1, 2014, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 180.)
In plain English
Editorial summary — not the statute’s text.
When an owner falls behind, the association can add limited late fees, interest, and actual collection costs — but only within statutory caps.
What this means for you
Editorial summary — not the statute’s text.
- Apply only the late charge and interest the statute permits.
- Adopt a written delinquency/collection policy and follow it uniformly.
- Keep a clean ledger — you’ll need it if you lien or foreclose.
Where this sits in the process
Editorial summaries — not the statute’s text.
Collecting a delinquent assessment
After: §5660 — The lien cannot come first: the association must notify the owner in writing by certified mail at least 30 days before it records a lien for the §5650 debt.
≥30 days before recording a lien
How courts have read this
Editorial summaries — not the court’s words.
- In re: Maria A. Basave De Guillen 604 B.R. 826 · 2019 Assessment liens secure only the amounts stated in the recorded notice.
central to this opinion — cited 7×
- Diamond Heights Village Ass'n v. Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. 196 Cal. App. 4th 290 · 2011 Assessment liens merge into the judgment when judicially foreclosed.
decided before the current text (eff. 2014-01-01, AB 805)
- Dey v. Continental Central Credit 170 Cal. App. 4th 721 · 2008 Statutory fee caps bind associations, not their outside vendors.
decided before the current text (eff. 2014-01-01, AB 805)
- Bear Creek Master Ass'n v. Edwards 130 Cal. App. 4th 1470 · 2005 Unbuilt condominium units still owe association assessments.
decided before the current text (eff. 2014-01-01, AB 805)
- Brown v. Professional Community Management, Inc. 127 Cal. App. 4th 532 · 2005 The fee-cost limit binds associations, not their managing agents.
decided before the current text (eff. 2014-01-01, AB 805)
- Park Place Estates Homeowners Assn. v. Naber 29 Cal. App. 4th 427 · 1994 Owners cannot offset assessments against grievances with the association.
decided before the current text (eff. 2014-01-01, AB 805)
- Cerro de Alcala Homeowners Ass'n v. Burns 169 Cal. App. 3d Supp. 1 · 1985 Vacating a unit does not excuse an owner from paying assessments.
Relies on former §1356 of the 1963 Condominium Act, whose ‘debt of the owner’ clause this section carries forward: an assessment is the personal debt of whoever owns the unit when it is levied, so an owner who moves out but keeps title still owes it.
decided before the current text (eff. 2014-01-01, AB 805)
- Huntington Continental Townhouse Ass'n v. Miner 230 Cal. App. 4th 590 · 2014 Associations must accept partial payments toward delinquent assessments.
cited 13×
- Zakia Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell 845 F.3d 984 · 2017 HOA pre-lien collection notices must honor federal debt-dispute rights.
mentioned in passing