Nevada HOA superpriority lien and your purchase

Most liens fall in line behind the first mortgage. Nevada Revised Statutes 116.3116 carves out an exception for HOAs. The association's assessment lien is split into two pieces. One piece is given priority over a first deed of trust: the common assessments that would have come due during the 9 months before the association records its notice of default, any charges for maintenance or abatement work the association did on the unit, and the costs of enforcing the lien up to fixed caps. Those caps are $165 for a demand or intent to lien letter, $325 for the notice of delinquent assessment, $90 for an intent to record a notice of default letter, $400 for the notice of default, and $400 for a trustee's sale guaranty. That is the 'superpriority' portion.

The consequence is unusual and serious. If the HOA forecloses the superpriority portion, the sale can wipe out the first mortgage, which is why this rule has been heavily litigated in Nevada. The limits are tight. Assessments count for 9 months at most, costs count only up to the listed caps, and no attorney fees can be included. If Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac rules call for a shorter period, that period applies, but never less than 6 months. Older articles say costs are left out entirely; that was true before the Legislature amended the statute in 2015. Everything else the HOA is owed stays behind the mortgage in the normal order.

For a normal resale, the risk is a seller who is behind on dues. If the seller owes the HOA, that debt carries a lien with a superpriority piece, and you do not want it following the property to you. The fix is to make sure the HOA balance is paid in full at closing, which your title and escrow team handles from the association's demand or resale package. The other side of the rule is the auction market: buying at a Nevada HOA foreclosure sale can deliver title free of the mortgage, but that path is litigated and risky and is not a normal purchase.

Read these together before you remove contingencies:

• The HOA demand or resale package for any delinquent assessment balance owed by the seller.
• Confirmation that the full HOA balance, including any superpriority amount, is paid at closing.
• The association's financial statements for a high delinquency rate, which signals active collection and foreclosure pressure.
• Recent board minutes for HOA foreclosures in the community.

A superpriority lien is the rare HOA issue that can reach past the mortgage, so a clean payoff at closing is not a formality in Nevada, it is the protection. And a community with heavy delinquency is a financial and governance risk on top of it.

An HOA Notes brief reads the resale package, the financial statements, and the minutes together, flags a delinquency or collection pattern, and cites the page behind every finding.

Nevada Revised Statutes section 116.3116 (HOA superpriority lien). Under NRS 116.3116(3), the association's lien is prior to a first deed of trust to the extent of: (a) charges the association incurred under NRS 116.310312; (b) unpaid assessments, not to exceed the common assessments that would have come due during the 9 months immediately preceding recording of the notice of default and election to sell; and (c) the costs of enforcing the lien, not exceeding the caps in subsection 5 ($165 demand or intent to lien letter, $325 notice of delinquent assessment, $90 intent to record a notice of default letter, $400 notice of default, $400 trustee's sale guaranty). No attorney's fees may be included in the superpriority amount. If Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac regulations require a shorter priority period, that period applies, but not less than 6 months. A buyer should confirm there are no delinquent assessments, because an unpaid balance carries this lien. The association may foreclose its lien after following the notice procedures in NRS 116.31162 to 116.31168; a foreclosure of the superpriority portion can extinguish the first deed of trust, which is why lenders monitor HOA delinquency and may pay off the superpriority amount. Collection fees above the superpriority caps remain part of the lien but sit behind the first deed of trust.

When you read the disclosure packet, watch for association claiming superpriority lien priority for amounts exceeding nine months of regular assessments, and failure to disclose delinquent assessments in sale transactions. HOA Notes flags each of these against the statute and tells you which restrictions are actually enforceable.