Massachusetts Condo Assessment-Lien Super-Priority Calculator (M.G.L. c.183A § 6(c))

How this calculator works

This calculator computes the M.G.L. c.183A § 6(c) six-month super-priority dollar amount for a single enforcement window, projects the cumulative rolling-lien recovery available under Drummer Boy Homes Ass'n v. Britton, 474 Mass. 17 (2016), and caps the projected first-mortgagee recovery at the outstanding first-mortgage balance.

Inputs:

1. Monthly common-area fee for the unit (allocated by beneficial interest under § 6(a)).
2. Months currently delinquent.
3. Number of prior six-month super-priority recordings already initiated under the rolling-lien doctrine.
4. First-mortgage outstanding principal balance.
5. Attorney's fees per enforcement action (optional; defaults to 20% of the six-month assessment amount).
6. Other enforcement costs per action (optional; defaults to $1,500).

Outputs:

1. The single-window super-priority dollar amount (six months of assessments plus reasonable fees and costs).
2. The cumulative rolling super-priority across all available windows under Drummer Boy.
3. The projected recovery from the first mortgagee, capped at the first-mortgage balance.
4. Strategy guidance for the board treasurer and association counsel.

Use the calculator before instructing counsel on enforcement strategy to size the recovery; use it during a settlement conversation with the first mortgagee to anchor the cure amount; use it during board-treasurer collection-policy review to project cumulative recovery on chronic-delinquency units.

The relevant M.G.L. c.183A statute

Massachusetts condominium common-expense liability and lien priority are governed by M.G.L. c.183A § 6:

§ 6(a) — Common expenses are assessed against unit owners in proportion to their beneficial interest in the common areas as stated in the master deed. The trustees' adopted budget allocates the total common-expense burden across all units by beneficial interest; the unit's monthly assessment is the unit's beneficial-interest fraction of the annual common-expense budget, divided by twelve.

§ 6(c) — The condominium organization of unit owners has a lien on each unit for unpaid common expenses. The lien is PRIOR to a first mortgage of record up to the sum of (a) six months of common-area assessments most recently due and (b) reasonable costs and attorney's fees incurred in enforcement. This is the "super-priority" — the dollar amount that ranks ahead of the first mortgage in the foreclosure distribution.

§ 6(d) — The trustees furnish a "6(d) certificate" (the statutory resale certificate) on request, stating the amount of unpaid common-area assessments, special assessments, and other charges against the unit. A § 6(d) certificate is required for any unit conveyance and binds the association as to the amount stated.

M.G.L. c.254 — The mechanic's-lien statute provides the procedural mechanism for perfecting and enforcing the § 6(c) lien. The association records a verified statement at the registry of deeds under c.254 § 5, sends notice to the unit owner and first mortgagee, and enforces by petition under c.254 § 11 if the delinquency is not cured.

Drummer Boy and the rolling super-priority doctrine

The Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Drummer Boy Homes Ass'n, Inc. v. Britton, 474 Mass. 17 (2016) is the most-cited case in Massachusetts condominium-collection practice. Before Drummer Boy, some practitioners read § 6(c) as imposing a one-time, single-window cap on the super-priority — meaning the association could recover six months of assessments at super-priority once, and any further delinquency was relegated to junior status behind the first mortgage.

The SJC rejected that reading. The court held that § 6(c) permits SUCCESSIVE enforcement actions, each capturing its own fresh six-month super-priority window. The practical mechanics:

1. The association records a verified statement under c.254 for the most recent six months of assessments plus reasonable costs and fees.
2. The association sends statutory notice to the first mortgagee.
3. If the unit owner remains delinquent six months later, the association records a SECOND verified statement for the next six months — a fresh super-priority window.
4. The cycle repeats every six months as new assessments come due.

The doctrine is sometimes called the "rolling lien" or "rolling super-priority" strategy. The first mortgagee's economic incentive is to cure each window: the mortgagee advances the super-priority amount, pays the association, and adds the advanced amount to the unit owner's mortgage balance — preserving the mortgage and avoiding the loss of priority that would otherwise occur in the eventual foreclosure distribution.

The calculator estimates the rolling-windows count as the greater of (a) the integer number of complete six-month windows that fit within the current delinquency period and (b) the number of prior recordings plus one (the current action). The estimate is a planning maximum; the actual number depends on the trustees' collection policy, counsel's strategy, and the first mortgagee's willingness to cure each window.

Key thresholds and Massachusetts-specific gotchas

Massachusetts does NOT formally license community-association managers. Many Massachusetts condo managers hold the voluntary CMCA, AMS, or PCAM credentials from CAI's Community Association Managers International Certification Board. Boards should diligence the manager's certifications and references rather than rely on a state license check.

The super-priority is capped at the first-mortgage balance. The association's priority over the first mortgage is meaningful only up to the value of the mortgage interest. A unit that is severely underwater (cumulative encumbrances exceed unit value) offers no economic incentive for the first mortgagee to cure — the mortgagee has nothing to lose by allowing the super-priority to consume the proceeds of an eventual foreclosure.

Attorney's fees are part of the super-priority. Massachusetts is unusual in expressly including reasonable attorney's fees within the § 6(c) super-priority amount. Most state condo statutes either exclude fees from the super-priority or impose a separate cap on fees. The Massachusetts inclusion is a critical economic feature that makes association enforcement feasible.

The c.254 procedural requirements are strict. The verified statement must be sworn, recorded within statutory deadlines, and notice must be served on the unit owner and any party in interest. Procedural defects can invalidate the lien recording entirely, requiring re-filing and loss of the recording date. Use counsel for any enforcement action.

Bankruptcy halts the rolling-lien strategy. A unit owner's Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing triggers the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362, halting collection action against the unit and the unit owner. Post-petition assessments may be entitled to administrative-expense priority, and the bankruptcy court controls the lien-priority analysis. Coordinate with bankruptcy counsel before any post-petition enforcement.

The six-month window measures from the date of action, not the date of delinquency. Each super-priority window is defined as the six months of assessments most recently due AS OF the date the verified statement is recorded. A unit owner who has been delinquent two years has the most-recent six months covered by the first recording; the next-most-recent six months are covered by a second recording (six months later); and so on. The calculator's rolling-windows count reflects this stacking.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the SUPER-PRIORITY DOLLAR AMOUNT and ROLLING-LIEN PROJECTION. It does NOT:

• Validate the procedural sufficiency of a specific c.254 verified statement (sworn-statement form, notice content, recording deadlines).
• Model the bankruptcy effect on the rolling-lien strategy (automatic stay, administrative-expense priority for post-petition assessments, lien-stripping under § 506(a)).
• Project the unit's foreclosure-sale net proceeds (commission, costs of sale, real-estate-tax priority, condominium common-area apportionment of foreclosure expenses).
• Model the interaction with second mortgages, mechanic's liens, or junior judgment liens against the unit.
• Validate that the unit owner is the same person against whom the underlying assessment was levied (transferee liability under § 6(c) attaches to subsequent owners only as to assessments accruing after the transfer; pre-transfer assessments remain with the prior owner).
• Model the c.183A § 10(b)(11) authority of the trustees to assess late charges, interest, or collection costs in addition to the assessment principal.

For any active enforcement matter, retain Massachusetts counsel with c.183A and c.254 experience to draft the verified statement, coordinate notice, and oversee the rolling-lien re-record schedule.

Counting conventions

The calculator computes the six-month assessment window as monthly assessment × 6 — a simple multiplication that assumes the monthly assessment is constant across the window. For units where the assessment has changed (mid-window special assessment, annual budget increase), use the assessment in effect during the specific window being computed.

The calculator's attorney's-fees default of 20% is a planning estimate, not a cap or floor — Massachusetts courts review fee reasonableness in any contested matter under the lodestar analysis (hours × rate, with adjustments for complexity and result). Document fee entries contemporaneously to support reasonableness in the event of challenge.

The calculator's enforcement-costs default of $1,500 per action is a planning estimate covering registry-of-deeds filing fees, sheriff's service of process, certified-mail notice, title-rundown for mortgagee identification, and incidentals. Actual costs vary by county and by the procedural posture of the enforcement.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 against:

• M.G.L. c.183A § 6(a) (common-expense liability allocated by beneficial interest).
• M.G.L. c.183A § 6(c) (six-month super-priority over first mortgage; reasonable costs and attorney's fees).
• M.G.L. c.183A § 6(d) (statutory 6(d) resale certificate).
• M.G.L. c.254 (mechanic's-lien procedures used to perfect c.183A § 6(c) liens).
• M.G.L. c.183A § 10(b)(11) (trustees' authority to assess late charges, interest, and collection costs).
• Drummer Boy Homes Ass'n, Inc. v. Britton, 474 Mass. 17 (2016) (successive enforcement actions; rolling six-month super-priority doctrine).
• Trustees of the Cambridge Point Condominium Trust v. Cambridge Point, LLC, 478 Mass. 697 (2018) (interpretation of c.183A trust-document provisions).
• CAI New England chapter practitioner reference materials (Massachusetts condo-collection procedure).