Can an HOA sue me for unpaid dues a year after the home was foreclosed on?
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Can an HOA sue me for unpaid dues a year after the home was foreclosed on?
I was told that as long as I owned the home, I can be sued by the HOA for unpaid dues, but once it has been sold or foreclosed, they can no longer come after me for those costs. The home foreclosed last year, and I had not heard from the HOA in well over 10 months prior to foreclosure. I had filed for Chapter 7 a year ago and after that I received a notice that I’m being sued for unpaid dues on a home that I am no longer attached to. I did not list the HOA entity as a creditor on my bankruptcy because I thought they disappeared with the foreclosure.
Asked on June 16, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately, you were told wrong. What happens to an asset (like a home) after you have already incurred some debt or obligation in regards to it has no bearing on whether or not you are liable for that debt. If you owed money for unpaid dues, the home owner's association can sue you for it, regardless of whether you still live there, sold the house, lost the house to foreclosure, etc. It is true that the HOA is deprived of one of its most powerful tools--if not THE most powerful tool--to be paid: it can no longer itself foreclose on you. However, that still allows it to sue you, the same way anyone to whom you owe money can sue you. So yes...even if you've been foreclosed on, the HOA can pursue a debt, it just has fewer ways to collect.
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