Connecticut CIOA Assessment Lien Super-Priority Calculator — Nine-Month UCIOA Adoption

How this calculator works

This calculator splits a Connecticut HOA or condominium assessment lien into its super-priority and sub-priority components under the Connecticut Common Interest Ownership Act (CIOA). Given the monthly assessment, months delinquent, payments to date, first-mortgage balance, attorney fees and costs incurred, optional property value, and any late fees or fines, it returns:

1. The super-priority dollar amount under CGS Sec. 47-258(b) — nine months of the periodic budgeted assessment PLUS reasonable attorney fees and costs of enforcement (the Connecticut UCIOA adoption explicitly includes attorney fees within the super-priority position).
2. The sub-priority dollar amount — any portion of the lien beyond the nine-month window, plus late fees and fines.
3. The total lien net of payments to date.
4. Recovery probability bands for each priority class, with the sub-priority band sensitive to estimated equity (property value minus first mortgage).

Use the calculator before instituting foreclosure to compute the tender amount you expect the first-mortgage holder to pay, during settlement negotiations to validate the super-priority position, and after collection to memorialize the priority breakdown in the file.

The relevant CIOA / CGS statute

The Connecticut Common Interest Ownership Act lives at CGS Sec. 47-200 through 47-295 (Chapter 828 of the Connecticut General Statutes). The lien-priority provisions are concentrated in CGS Sec. 47-258:

CGS Sec. 47-258(a) — The association has a statutory lien on a unit for any assessment levied against the unit or fines imposed against the unit owner. The lien arises automatically when the assessment becomes due. No recording is required for the lien to attach against the unit owner; recording with the town clerk preserves priority against subsequent purchasers and lenders.

CGS Sec. 47-258(b) — The association lien is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on a unit except (1) liens recorded before the declaration; (2) a first or second security interest recorded before the assessment-sought-to-be-enforced became delinquent; and (3) governmental tax liens. The critical UCIOA carve-out: the association lien IS PRIOR TO the protected security interest "to the extent of the common expense assessments based on the periodic budget adopted by the association which would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the nine months immediately preceding institution of an action to enforce the lien, and to the extent of the association's reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in such enforcement."

CGS Sec. 47-258(j) — Lien priority over the first mortgage is confirmed and the procedure for asserting the priority through judicial foreclosure is laid out. The Connecticut Supreme Court confirmed the operation of the super-priority in Hudson House Condo. Ass'n v. Brooks, 223 Conn. 610 (1992).

CGS Sec. 47-258(m) — Foreclosure of the association lien proceeds judicially under the general Connecticut foreclosure statutes (CGS Sec. 49-24 for foreclosure by sale; CGS Sec. 49-29 for strict foreclosure).

Key thresholds and Connecticut-specific gotchas

ATTORNEY FEES ARE PART OF SUPER-PRIORITY. This is the most-missed Connecticut feature. Under CGS Sec. 47-258(b) the super-priority position includes the association's reasonable attorney fees and costs of enforcement, in addition to the nine months of assessments. Anderson v. Whitten, 100 Conn. App. 730 (2007), and Wilton Crest Condo. v. Stern, 165 Conn. App. 769 (2016), confirm and clarify the scope. Out-of-state practitioners who treat Connecticut as a "nine months of assessments" jurisdiction miss the attorney-fees inclusion and miscalculate the first-mortgage tender.

SUPER-PRIORITY USES THE PERIODIC BUDGET — NOT ACCELERATED ASSESSMENTS. The nine-month math is based on the periodic budget as assessments would have come due in the absence of acceleration. An association that accelerates the full annual assessment on default cannot stack accelerated future assessments into the super-priority. The calculator uses the monthly periodic assessment as the input for this reason.

LATE FEES AND FINES ARE NEVER SUPER-PRIORITY. Late fees on the assessments, fines for governing-document violations, and one-off special assessments outside the periodic budget process all fall to sub-priority status. The calculator collects late fees and fines in a separate input and assigns them entirely to the sub-priority bucket.

ONE NINE-MONTH WINDOW PER FIRST MORTGAGE. The predominant Connecticut view is that an association may assert only ONE nine-month super-priority window against any single first mortgage, even if multiple foreclosure actions are filed and dismissed. The "rolling nine months" theory occasionally pressed by aggressive collection counsel has not been adopted by Connecticut appellate courts. Attorney fees and costs accrue with each enforcement action.

RECORDING IS NOT REQUIRED FOR SUPER-PRIORITY — BUT RECORD ANYWAY. The lien attaches automatically under CGS Sec. 47-258(a). Recording with the town clerk is not a prerequisite for super-priority operation against the existing first mortgage; it IS a prerequisite for priority against subsequent purchasers and lenders. Universal practice is to record within 30-60 days of the delinquency aging past three months.

THE FIRST-MORTGAGE HOLDER USUALLY TENDERS. In Connecticut, the first-mortgage holder almost always tenders the super-priority amount shortly after receiving notice of the association foreclosure. The tender preserves the first mortgage's priority position; failure to tender risks losing the lien to the association at foreclosure. This is the central practical dynamic of Connecticut HOA collection.

What this calculator does NOT model

This is a priority-breakdown calculator. It does NOT:

• Model the procedural timeline of strict foreclosure under CGS Sec. 49-29 or foreclosure by sale under CGS Sec. 49-24. Use the companion Connecticut HOA foreclosure-timeline calculator for that math.
• Compute the resale-certificate disclosure obligations under CGS Sec. 47-270. Use the resale-certificate calculator.
• Validate the form of the assessment lien recording (the format requirements differ by town clerk).
• Compute interest, late-fee accrual, or attorney-fee reasonableness — the inputs are taken as the reasonable amounts the association has incurred.
• Model the "rolling nine months" minority theory of super-priority stacking across successive foreclosure actions.
• Address allocation of partial payments between super-priority and sub-priority — Connecticut association collection policies vary on this point, and the allocation can materially affect the super-priority tender amount.
• Model the bankruptcy treatment of the association lien (the super-priority operates differently in Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 13; consult bankruptcy counsel).

For any consequential collection action, retain Connecticut counsel with CIOA enforcement experience and current knowledge of the trial-court trends in your county.

Worked example: nine months of delinquency with attorney fees

Monthly assessment $400, twelve months delinquent, $4,000 in reasonable attorney fees and costs, $0 paid to date, first mortgage $250,000, property value $325,000, $350 in late fees.

• Super-priority months: nine (capped at the CGS Sec. 47-258(b) ceiling).
• Super-priority assessments: $400 × 9 = $3,600.
• Super-priority position: $3,600 + $4,000 attorney fees = $7,600.
• Sub-priority months: three (months 10, 11, 12).
• Sub-priority assessments: $400 × 3 = $1,200.
• Sub-priority position: $1,200 + $350 late fees = $1,550.
• Total lien: $9,150 gross, $9,150 net (no payments to date).
• Estimated equity: $325,000 - $250,000 = $75,000 — well above the $1,550 sub-priority position. Sub-priority recovery band: HIGH.

The first-mortgage holder is expected to tender the $7,600 super-priority position. The association then either settles the remaining $1,550 sub-priority with the owner or continues foreclosure on the sub-priority, which the equity comfortably supports.

Worked example: short delinquency, fully super-priority

Monthly assessment $300, four months delinquent, $2,500 attorney fees, $0 paid, first mortgage $180,000, property value $200,000, $100 in late fees.

• Super-priority months: four (less than the nine-month ceiling).
• Super-priority assessments: $300 × 4 = $1,200.
• Super-priority position: $1,200 + $2,500 = $3,700.
• Sub-priority months: zero (the four months fit entirely within the nine-month window).
• Sub-priority position: $0 assessments + $100 late fees = $100.
• Total lien: $3,800.
• Equity: $20,000.

Note that even on a short delinquency the attorney fees are the dominant component of the super-priority. Foreclosure attorney fees recoverable through the super-priority make filing economically rational for the association on relatively small assessment balances.

Worked example: underwater property

Monthly assessment $500, eighteen months delinquent, $5,000 attorney fees, $0 paid, first mortgage $300,000, property value $260,000, $800 in late fees and fines.

• Super-priority assessments: $500 × 9 = $4,500.
• Super-priority position: $4,500 + $5,000 = $9,500.
• Sub-priority months: nine (months 10-18).
• Sub-priority assessments: $500 × 9 = $4,500.
• Sub-priority position: $4,500 + $800 = $5,300.
• Equity: $260,000 - $300,000 = -$40,000 (underwater).
• Sub-priority recovery band: MINIMAL.

The first-mortgage holder still tenders the $9,500 super-priority because the alternative — losing the first mortgage to the association at strict foreclosure — is much worse than paying. The $5,300 sub-priority is effectively uncollectible on an underwater property; the association typically writes it off after the super-priority tender.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 against:

• CGS Sec. 47-200 through 47-295 (Connecticut Common Interest Ownership Act, Chapter 828).
• CGS Sec. 47-258(a) — statutory association lien arising automatically.
• CGS Sec. 47-258(b) — nine-month super-priority over first mortgage with reasonable attorney fees and costs included.
• CGS Sec. 47-258(j) — lien priority confirmation.
• CGS Sec. 47-258(m) — judicial foreclosure of the association lien.
• CGS Sec. 49-24 — foreclosure by sale.
• CGS Sec. 49-29 — strict foreclosure (the Connecticut default for HOA liens).
• Hudson House Condo. Ass'n v. Brooks, 223 Conn. 610 (1992) — super-priority confirmed.
• Anderson v. Whitten, 100 Conn. App. 730 (2007) — attorney fees included in super-priority.
• Wilton Crest Condo. v. Stern, 165 Conn. App. 769 (2016) — attorney-fees scope clarified.
• CAI Connecticut Chapter practitioner materials on CIOA enforcement.