Inherited Condo: HOA Dues, Arrears and Documents

An inherited condo keeps getting billed after the owner dies. Under California's Davis-Stirling Act, the association's regular and special assessments are a debt of the unit's owner, and unpaid ones can pick up late charges, interest and collection costs and, after a written notice, become a recorded lien. The estate or trustee should tell the association about the death, get a current ledger and keep the dues paid if it can. When the unit sells, Civil Code section 4525 lists the documents the seller gives the buyer, the association must supply them on request for a reasonable fee, and any arrears on the association's statement are paid from the proceeds through escrow.

This guide covers the estate's side of a condo or townhome in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties: the dues, what happens if they fall behind, the resale documents, and how each shows up in the net.

Do HOA dues keep accruing after the owner dies?

Yes. Civil Code section 5600 requires the association to levy assessments sufficient to meet its obligations, and the bills keep coming to the unit whether or not anyone lives there. Section 5650 makes each assessment, with any late charges, reasonable collection costs and interest, a debt of the owner of the unit. On a delinquent assessment the association may charge:

• reasonable costs of collection, including reasonable attorney's fees;
• a late charge of no more than 10 percent of the delinquent assessment or ten dollars, whichever is greater, unless the governing documents set a smaller one;
• interest of up to 12 percent a year on the delinquent amount and the related charges, starting after the period the section sets.

Small charges add up over the months it takes to settle authority. That is why the first call to the association matters more than it seems.

What the estate should do first

1. Find the association and its manager. The decedent's mail, bank autopay records or a coupon book usually name the management company.
2. Report the death in writing. Say who has authority to act, or that authority is still being settled, and ask where notices will be sent. Until the deed changes, the owner of record may still be the person who died.
3. Ask for a ledger. It should show regular and special assessments, any fines, late charges and interest, and any special assessment the board has approved that is not yet due.
4. Keep paying if the estate or trust can. If no account can pay yet, ask the estate's attorney who may pay and how an heir who advances the dues is credited later.
5. Ask about insurance and access. Find out what the association's master policy covers and what the owner must insure, and whether the association has rules for movers, contractors or a vacant unit.

The broader first steps for any inherited home, from keys to paperwork, are in the pillar guide, selling an inherited house in Southern California. If the unit also has a loan, read inherited house with an existing mortgage.

When the dues have fallen behind

The Davis-Stirling Act sets the steps an association follows before it can enforce a lien, and each step gives the owner a chance to respond. Who responds for an estate, and in whose name, is a question for the estate's attorney.

• The pre-lien notice. Under section 5660, before recording a lien the association must send the owner of record a notice by certified mail, in advance. It includes an itemized statement of what is owed, a general description of the collection procedures, the right to request a meeting with the board, the right to dispute the debt through the association's meet-and-confer process, and the right to request mediation or other alternative dispute resolution.
• A payment plan. Section 5665 lets an owner ask the board in writing to meet about a payment plan. Late fees do not accrue while the owner keeps to the plan, but a plan does not stop the association from recording a lien.
• The lien. Under section 5675, the unpaid amounts become a lien when the association records a notice of delinquent assessment with the county recorder, and a copy goes to the owner by certified mail.
• Foreclosure limits. Section 5720 bars an association from foreclosing to collect delinquent assessments below a dollar threshold, counted without late charges, fees, attorney's fees or interest, unless the assessments are more than 12 months delinquent. Smaller amounts can still be pursued in other ways, such as small claims court.
• The release. Under section 5685, once the sums in the notice are paid, the association must record a release of the lien and give the owner a copy.

A recorded lien shows up on the preliminary title report and gets paid at closing like any other lien. What matters for the heirs is how large it has grown by then.

The documents a condo buyer receives

Civil Code section 4525 lists what the owner of a unit provides to a buyer as soon as practicable before title transfers. In short:

• the governing documents, and a statement if the association is unincorporated;
• a statement about any age restriction that differs from Civil Code section 51.3;
• the association's most recent budget and annual disclosures;
• a written statement from the association of current assessments and fees, unpaid assessments, fines and penalties, and late charges, interest and collection costs that are or may become a lien;
• any unresolved violation notice sent to the owner;
• certain construction-defect disclosures, where they apply;
• approved changes to assessments that are not yet due;
• any rental or leasing prohibition;
• on the buyer's request, board-approved minutes from the previous 12 months;
• the most recent inspection report of balconies and similar elevated elements, where the association has one.

Section 4530 requires the association to provide copies of those documents to the owner, or to someone the owner authorizes, after a written request. It may charge a reasonable fee based on its actual cost, collected from the seller, with a written fee estimate on the form section 4528 describes and each document's fee stated separately. The seller may choose which documents to buy, and documents the seller already has must be given to the buyer without charge. Look through the decedent's files first: the governing documents and recent disclosures are often already there.

The assessment statement is the one escrow relies on. It tells everyone what has to be paid from the proceeds before the heirs receive anything.

How dues, arrears and fees show up in the net

Every figure below is a dash. The structure is what matters.

LineAmount

Sale price

-

Less: loan payoff, if any

-

Less: unpaid assessments, late charges, interest and collection costs on the association's statement

-

Less: association document and transfer fees the contract assigns to the seller

-

Less: property tax arrears, closing costs and transfer tax

-

Net to the estate or the heirs

-

List the condo or sell it as-is?

Listing usually nets the heirs more when the unit is in good condition, the dues are current, the association's documents raise no surprises, and the estate can keep paying dues, taxes and insurance through the months on market. A financed buyer's lender may also ask about the association itself, so a well-run association helps a listing.

A cash sale can be the better fit when the interior needs work, the belongings are still inside, arrears have built up and the estate has no cash to stop them, or the heirs live far away. The deductions are written on the offer, and the association's statement is paid through escrow at closing, once title is clear. The comparison is laid out in listing an inherited house vs. a cash sale.

Mr. Cali Offers puts an as-is cash offer from independent buyers and investors next to an open-market read, which is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal, with the comparable sales, the association lines and the net on one page. When listing nets more, the written recommendation says so, and the family is introduced to a designated local expert, an independently licensed California agent who works that neighborhood. Mr. Cali Offers never lists a house.

What this looks like in practice

These are the kinds of files that come in, described without names or figures.

• A Claremont condominium south of the 10, where the 1950s-1970s tracts give way to townhome and condo communities and the dues and association rules enter the net. Condo files on that side of the city are covered in cash offers on Claremont condos south of the 10.
• A Chino Hills townhome in one of the city's planned communities, where association dues, reserves and rules, and in places a community facilities district special tax, are all lines in the net.
• A unit where the dues stopped at the death and the association's notices went to an empty mailbox for months. The first job was a ledger and a conversation about a payment plan, not a price.

Next step

If you have inherited a condo or townhome in any of the six counties, start on our inherited house page or browse the other inherited houses guides. The walkthrough can happen while the association's documents are still on order. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report. Call (909) 498-3977.

Sources

• California Civil Code section 4525 (documents the seller provides to a prospective purchaser), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 4530 (association provides the documents on request; fees), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 5600 (levy of regular and special assessments), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 5650 (assessments as a debt of the owner; late charges, interest and collection costs), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 5660 (notice before recording a lien), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 5665 (request to meet with the board about a payment plan), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 5675 (notice of delinquent assessment and lien), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 5685 (release of the lien after payment), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Civil Code section 5720 (limits on foreclosure for delinquent assessments), copy read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026

Mr. Cali Offers is not a law firm and does not negotiate with homeowners associations. Cash offers come from independent buyers and investors who buy for their own account and may resell for profit; a cash offer is generally below what the open market would bring. Any value shown is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.