Homeowners associations (HOAs) across the United States are adopting an increasingly aggressive posture toward unpaid dues, escalating foreclosure actions against delinquent homeowners as communities confront growing financial strain. Roughly 75 million Americans live in association-governed communities, according to the Foundation for Community Association Research, meaning the scale of HOA collection practices touches a substantial share of the U.S. housing market.

Real estate experts attribute the tougher collection efforts to rising operating costs, shrinking reserve funds, and mounting concerns that unpaid assessments could leave associations unable to meet essential obligations.

According to real estate analytics firm ATTOM, HOA-related foreclosures surged nearly 40% compared with two years prior, The Wall Street Journal reported. The findings also indicated that HOA foreclosures are climbing at a faster pace than overall mortgage foreclosure rates.

"HOAs are being forced into more aggressive collections to avoid their own financial collapse," Brian Fox, co-founder of real estate technology firm Benutech, which tracks HOA delinquency trends and foreclosures, told the WSJ.

HOAs generally depend on monthly or annual dues from residents to finance maintenance, repairs, insurance, landscaping, and other community services. However, as some homeowners contend with higher living costs and mounting expenses, a growing number of associations are seeing an uptick in delinquent accounts.

Rather than granting extended grace periods, some associations are referring delinquent accounts to attorneys more rapidly or filing liens against homeowners who fall behind on assessments. The crackdown spans a broad range of communities, from suburban condominium complexes to luxury neighborhoods. The intensity of enforcement also varies widely by state: some permit non-judicial foreclosure processes that bypass court oversight, while others require a judicial proceeding before a property can be seized over unpaid assessments.

Benutech Data Insights found that homeowner associations have filed a sharp increase in liens — legal claims placed on a property when a homeowner falls behind on assessments, fees, or fines. In many states, unpaid liens can ultimately lead to foreclosure.

In 2025, HOAs filed 284,933 liens against homeowners, approximately one every 90 seconds. That figure represents an 8.6% increase from 2024, according to property records compiled by Benutech Data Insights.

Financial pressure has also intensified within the associations themselves. A late-2025 Reserve Study report found that nearly three-quarters of association-governed communities are underfunded. Specifically, 74% of associations were less than 70% funded, meaning they may lack sufficient reserve savings to cover expected repairs and capital projects.

Concerns about underfunded reserves intensified after the 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, which killed 98 people and drew national attention to deferred maintenance and inadequate association savings. In response, Florida enacted legislation requiring milestone structural inspections and fully funded structural reserve studies for older condominium buildings, and several other states have considered similar reserve-study mandates.

Concurrently, HOAs have been hit with escalating costs for staffing, landscaping, maintenance, and building materials.

Insurance has emerged as one of the most significant cost drivers. According to the Foundation for Community Association Research, 93% of surveyed associations reported increases in property and casualty insurance premiums. More than half of those associations saw premiums rise between 11% and 25%, while roughly 10% reported increases exceeding 100% — adding further strain to HOA budgets and intensifying the need to collect assessments from homeowners on time. Lawmakers in states including Colorado, Florida, and Texas have moved in recent years to place additional restrictions on HOA foreclosure authority or require mediation and payment-plan options before associations can pursue foreclosure, reflecting growing legislative scrutiny of HOA enforcement powers.