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, and one piece, equal to the common assessments that would have come due during the 9 months immediately before the association starts to enforce the lien, is given priority over a first deed of trust. 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. Two limits matter: the superpriority is capped at those 9 months of assessments, and the Nevada Supreme Court has held it does not include the association's collection fees or foreclosure costs. The rest of the HOA's lien 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). Nevada HOA assessment liens have 'superpriority' status under NRS 116.3116: the association's lien has priority over a first deed of trust or mortgage for an amount equal to nine months of common assessments; this means a buyer who acquires property at an HOA foreclosure sale takes it free of the first mortgage for that nine-month superpriority amount; buyers and lenders must independently verify there are no delinquent HOA assessments because an undisclosed lien could survive the sale. The association may foreclose its superpriority lien (the nine-months-of-assessments portion) in a manner that extinguishes the first deed of trust; lenders typically protect themselves through escrow by monitoring HOA delinquency; the association must follow all required notice and procedural steps before foreclosing the superpriority portion.

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.