HOA and COA Laws and Foreclosures in Wisconsin

Homeowners' associations (HOAs) and condominium owners' associations (COAs) in Wisconsin help maintain property values and neighborhood standards. They also come with their own sets of rules, fees, and legal powers. Under Wisconsin HOA laws and COA laws, one of the most serious powers an HOA or COA holds is the ability to foreclose on a property for unpaid dues or violations.

Understanding the laws surrounding HOA and COA operations, as well as the foreclosure process in Wisconsin, can help you protect your home.

Wisconsin HOA Laws and COA Laws

Different sets of state laws often govern COAs and HOAs. In Wisconsin, the Condominium Ownership Act (Wis. Stat. §§ 703.01 through 703.38) governs COAs. HOAs in Wisconsin are often incorporated as nonprofit corporations and are subject to the state statutes that govern such corporations, including Wis. Stat. § 779.70, which covers maintenance liens by nonprofit corporations.

HOAs are also controlled by their governing documents, which include the Declaration of CC&Rs and bylaws.

Summary of Wisconsin HOA Laws and COA Laws

If your home is part of a COA or HOA in Wisconsin, and you fall behind in assessments:

• The COA or HOA can usually get a lien on your home if you become delinquent in paying the assessments.
• After you default on the assessments, the COA or HOA may foreclose.
• Lien priority determines what happens to other liens, like mortgages, if a COA or HOA lien is foreclosed.

If the COA or HOA initiates a foreclosure, you might have a defense to the action. Or you might be able to negotiate a way to get caught up on the overdue amounts and save your home.

Can an HOA or COA Foreclose in Wisconsin?

When you buy a single-family home, townhome, or condominium in a planned community with covenants, you'll most likely pay fees and assessments, often collectively called "assessments," to a COA or HOA. If you fall behind in the assessments, the association will likely initially try to collect the debt using traditional methods. For instance, the association will probably call you and send letters.

But if those tactics don't get you to pay up, the association might try other ways to collect from you. The association could take away your privileges to use the common facilities or file a lawsuit for a money judgment against you.

Based on the association's Declaration of Condominium or Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) and state law, most COAs and HOAs also have the power to get a lien on your property if you become delinquent in assessments. Once you fall behind in payments, a lien will usually automatically attach to your property. Sometimes, the association will record its lien with the county recorder to provide public notice that the lien exists, regardless of whether state law requires recording.

An assessments lien clouds the title to the property, hindering your ability to sell or refinance the home. In addition, the property can also be foreclosed to force a sale to a new owner, even if the property has a mortgage.

How Wisconsin HOA Liens Work

If an assessment remains unpaid for 60 days from the date of the levy, an HOA may file a claim of lien. The HOA must file its lien in the county records within six months of the due date. (Wis. Stat. § 779.70(4)(a) (2025).)

If you're part of an HOA, check the association's governing documents to learn more about the association's right to place a lien on your home if you don't pay the assessments.

How Wisconsin COA Liens Work

In Wisconsin, a COA is entitled to a lien if the association files a statement of lien within two years after the date the assessment becomes due. Once the lien is recorded, it's effective as of the date the assessment became due, regardless of when the claim is filed within the two-year period. (Wis. Stat. § 703.165(3) (2025).)

If you make a written request, the association must send a statement of the amount due within ten business days. If the COA fails to provide this statement, any lien that hasn't been recorded is extinguished. (Wis. Stat. § 703.165(4) (2025).)

What Types of Charges Can Lead to Foreclosure?

State law and the COA or HOA's governing documents will usually set out the type of charges that may be included in the lien.

Charges a COA may include in the lien. Under Wisconsin law, unless the governing documents provide otherwise, a COA is permitted to include the following in its lien:

• past due assessments
• fines
• actual collection costs, and
• interest at a rate set by the COA but no more than the legal rate. (Wis. Stat. § 703.165(1),(3),(6) (2025).)

Charges an HOA may include in the lien. To find out which charges a Wisconsin HOA may include in its lien, check the association's governing documents.

Wisconsin HOA and COA Foreclosure Process Overview

Once a COA or HOA has a lien, it might foreclose. State laws often place particular due process requirements on COAs and HOAs regarding how and when an association can foreclose an assessments lien. For instance, Wisconsin law requires COAs to send a preforeclosure notice and, for both COA and HOA liens, the foreclosure goes through the court system.

COA Must Provide Notice Before Foreclosing

A COA must mail a written notice to a condo owner ten days before starting a foreclosure. (Wis. Stat. § 703.165(7) (2025).)

How COA and HOA Foreclosures Work in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, a COA may foreclose its lien in the same way that a mortgage on real property is foreclosed. (Wis. Stat. § 703.165(7)) (2025).) Mortgage foreclosures in Wisconsin are judicial. So, the COA will file a lawsuit to begin the foreclosure. The COA must bring the action within three years after recording the lien. (Wis. Stat. § 703.165(7) (2025).)

Read the association's governing documents to find out about an HOA's right to foreclose if you become delinquent in paying the assessments. The foreclosure will be judicial, but the governing documents might have specific requirements.

COA or HOA Liens and Your Mortgage

A common misconception is that the association can't foreclose if you're current with your mortgage payments. But an association's right to foreclose isn't dependent on whether you're paid up on your mortgage. Instead, lien priority determines what happens in a foreclosure.

Generally, a foreclosure by a COA or HOA usually won't eliminate a first mortgage because the association's lien is normally lower in priority.

What Is Lien Priority?

The priority of liens establishes who gets paid first following a foreclosure sale and often determines whether a lienholder will get paid at all. Liens generally follow the "first in time, first in right" rule, which says that whichever lien is recorded first in the land records has higher priority than later recorded liens. A first lien has a higher priority than other liens and gets the first crack at the foreclosure sale proceeds.

If any proceeds are left after the first lien is paid in full, the excess proceeds go to the second lienholder until that lien is paid off. And so on. A lien with a low priority might get nothing from a foreclosure sale.

But state law or an association's governing documents might adjust lien priority.

Priority of COA Liens

In Wisconsin, a COA lien has priority over some other kinds of liens, but not others like:

• tax liens
• construction liens filed before the assessment became due, and
• a first mortgage lien recorded before the assessment became due. (Wis. Stat. § 703.165(5) (2025).)

Priority of HOA Liens

An HOA's governing documents often address lien priority and typically state that HOA liens are subordinate to a first mortgage. To find out the priority of an HOA lien in Wisconsin, check the association's governing documents.

How to Avoid or Stop an HOA or COA Foreclosure in Wisconsin

You might have several options for preventing an HOA or a COA foreclosure, such as:

• paying off the delinquency or fixing the violation
• negotiating a reduced payoff or payment plan
• filing for bankruptcy, or
• raising a defense.

Learn More About Wisconsin HOA Laws or COA Laws

For more information about HOAs in Wisconsin, visit the State of Wisconsin, Department of Financial Institutions, website.

If you're facing a COA or HOA foreclosure in Wisconsin, consider consulting with a foreclosure attorney to learn more about state laws and discuss all legal options available in your particular circumstances.