Mary, read your Declaration. Our Declaration includes an automatic lien which runs with the land.
In Colorado there is a "super lien" which places the Association first in line for the last 6 months of assessments. Thus, if there is any equity in the property the HOA collects.
Yesterday I filed an updated lien on a property which is already in the foreclosure process by the mortgage company. It is currently owned by the estate of a person who died last year. Besides the lien, I also contacted the attoney who is handling the foreclosure. We try to cover all basis and often get all monies owed. The obligation remains; the problem is knowing the processes available for collection. We often receive the total delinquent amount which is collected by the title company at the time of the title transfer.
We have also filed with an out of state bankruptcy court on a previous owner who still owes money beyond the "super lien". It is interesting to note that the attorney for the Association could not file out of state so they asked us to do it. An example of when an attorney could not file but the managing agent could
