Michigan Condo Assessment Lien Calculator — No Super-Priority, Subordinate to First Mortgage (MCL Sec. 559.208)

How this calculator works

This is a lien-total and recovery-analysis tool for Michigan condominium assessment-lien collection under the Michigan Condominium Act. Given the components of the lien (delinquent assessments, late charges, interest, attorney fees, collection costs), the prior first-mortgage balance, the unit's fair-market value, and the age of the oldest delinquency, it returns:

1. The total lien amount under MCL Sec. 559.208(1) (sum of assessments, interest, late charges, attorney fees, and collection costs).
2. The priority status — Michigan does NOT grant any super-priority position to the association lien. The lien is subordinate to a prior recorded first mortgage.
3. The estimated equity above the first mortgage, which is the practical recovery pool because the association recovers only from equity that remains after the senior mortgage is paid.
4. A recovery probability band (HIGH, PARTIAL, MINIMAL, or NONE) based on the equity-to-lien comparison.
5. A statute-of-limitations status flag — under MCL Sec. 600.5807(8), assessment claims are barred six years after each assessment became due. The calculator flags ledgers where the oldest delinquency is within six months of the bar.

Use the calculator at the lien-recording decision point (typically 90-120 days delinquent) to confirm the items secured and the recovery posture, at the foreclosure-decision point to set a realistic bid floor, and during board reporting to communicate the lien total and recovery expectation to owners.

The relevant MCL Sec. 559 statute

The Michigan Condominium Act lives at MCL Sec. 559.101 through MCL Sec. 559.276. The Act has applied to all Michigan condominiums recorded under a master deed since 1978. The lien-and-collection provisions are concentrated in MCL Sec. 559.206 through MCL Sec. 559.208.

MCL Sec. 559.208(1) — The association has an automatic statutory lien on each condominium unit for assessments, interest, late charges, fines, costs of collection, and reasonable attorney fees. The lien arises automatically when each assessment becomes due; no recording is required for the lien to exist against the unit owner. The lien IS subordinate to a prior recorded first mortgage and to senior tax liens. Michigan has no super-priority window.

MCL Sec. 559.208(2) — Recording a claim of lien with the register of deeds is required to preserve priority against subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers. The recorded lien also enables foreclosure by advertisement under MCL Sec. 600.3201 et seq. if the master deed grants the association a power of sale. Most modern Michigan condo master deeds include the power-of-sale grant.

MCL Sec. 559.206 — Interest on unpaid assessments may be charged at the rate provided in the bylaws, not to exceed the legal rate under MCL Sec. 438.31. The legal-rate cap is 7% per annum compounded annually. Most Michigan condo bylaws specify 7%.

MCL Sec. 559.207 — Assessments are a PERSONAL OBLIGATION of the unit owner during the period of ownership. The personal obligation survives transfer of the unit; the prior owner remains liable for assessments levied during ownership even after sale.

MCL Sec. 600.5807(8) — Actions on a written contract are barred six years after the cause of action accrues. Assessment obligations under the master deed and bylaws are treated as written-contract claims. Each unpaid assessment is a separate cause of action accruing on its due date — so each line item on a delinquent ledger has its own limitations clock.

Michigan-specific gotchas (NO super-priority, nonjudicial advertisement foreclosure permitted, no statutory resale-disclosure regime)

NO SUPER-PRIORITY OVER FIRST MORTGAGE. This is the single most important difference between Michigan condo lien practice and UCIOA-state practice. MCL Sec. 559.208(1) places the association lien SUBORDINATE to a prior recorded first mortgage. There is no six-month, nine-month, or any other super-priority window. The Michigan legislature has considered super-priority bills (HB 4071 in 2017 most recently) but has not enacted any. Practitioners moving between Michigan and Connecticut (CGS Sec. 47-258, nine months), Washington (RCW 64.90.485, six months), or Colorado (CRS Sec. 38-33.3-316, six months) must reset their recovery expectations entirely. In Michigan, the practical recovery pool is the equity above the first mortgage — when the unit is underwater, recovery from the unit itself is essentially zero.

EACH ASSESSMENT HAS ITS OWN SIX-YEAR CLOCK. MCL Sec. 600.5807(8) bars actions on a written contract six years after the cause of action accrues. Michigan courts treat each unpaid assessment as a separate cause of action accruing on its individual due date. A twelve-month-delinquent ledger contains twelve separate limitations clocks. Boards that defer collection in hopes of voluntary cure routinely let the oldest assessments expire — at which point those amounts are not enforceable even though the more-recent assessments remain collectible. The calculator flags ledgers where the oldest delinquency is within six months of the bar.

NONJUDICIAL FORECLOSURE IS PERMITTED, BUT ONLY IF THE MASTER DEED GRANTS POWER OF SALE. MCL Sec. 559.208(2) expressly permits foreclosure by advertisement under MCL Sec. 600.3201 et seq. if the master deed grants a power of sale. Most modern Michigan condo master deeds include this grant, but older master deeds (especially pre-1985) sometimes lack it. The first task in any Michigan condo foreclosure file is to pull the recorded master deed and read the foreclosure-method clause. Without the power-of-sale grant, the only option is judicial foreclosure under MCL Sec. 600.3101 et seq.

SHERIFFS SALE INCLUDES A REDEMPTION PERIOD. Unlike Washington nonjudicial foreclosure (sale is final on the sale date with no redemption), Michigan foreclosure by advertisement carries a redemption period under MCL Sec. 600.3240 — six months for parcels with three or fewer acres where the unpaid mortgage is more than two-thirds of the original, or twelve months otherwise. For an HOA lien, the practical redemption period is typically six months. During redemption the foreclosed owner (or junior lienholder) may pay the sale price plus statutory interest and recover the unit. Confirm the redemption period before notifying any prospective buyer of when possession will transfer.

INTEREST CAP IS REAL. MCL Sec. 559.206 caps interest on unpaid assessments at the legal rate under MCL Sec. 438.31 — 7% per annum compounded annually. Bylaws that specify higher are unenforceable above the legal rate (Hardy v. ARC, 461 Mich 1, 1999). Compute interest on the assessment balance only; late charges are a separate item and do not accrue interest themselves.

NO STATUTORY RESALE-DISCLOSURE REGIME EQUIVALENT TO UCIOA. Unlike Washington, Connecticut, Colorado, and other UCIOA states that have a statutory resale-certificate framework with delivery deadlines and content requirements, Michigan has no equivalent for condo resales. The closest analog is MCL Sec. 559.192(3), which gives co-owners (including sellers) a right to access association records on 10 business days notice. Resale-package delivery is governed by REC purchase-agreement custom rather than statute. See the companion Michigan condo resale-disclosure calculator.

PERSONAL OBLIGATION OUTLIVES SALE. MCL Sec. 559.207 makes assessments a personal obligation of the unit owner during ownership. After the unit transfers, the prior owner remains personally liable for assessments levied during ownership. This is the cleanest collection mechanism when the new owner pays the going-forward assessments but the back-due balance must come from the prior owner — but recovery is limited by the prior owner's other assets and any bankruptcy discharge.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the Michigan lien-total and recovery-analysis math. It does NOT:

• Compute interest accrual on the unpaid balance over time — supply the interest as a precomputed dollar input. Interest accrual at the bylaw rate against a moving balance requires a separate amortization-style tool.
• Model fine-imposition procedure under the bylaws — the calculator assumes fines have been validly imposed and are recoverable.
• Model the four-week newspaper publication sequence under MCL Sec. 600.3208 or the sheriff-sale-and-redemption timeline under MCL Sec. 600.3216 / MCL Sec. 600.3240. See the companion foreclosure-timeline calculator.
• Validate the master deed's power-of-sale grant required for foreclosure by advertisement.
• Address bankruptcy treatment of pre-petition versus post-petition assessments, dischargeability under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 523(a)(16), or automatic-stay analysis.
• Cover Michigan HOA (non-condominium) assessment liens, which are governed by general contract law and recorded restrictive covenants rather than the Michigan Condominium Act.

For any collection or foreclosure decision, retain Michigan counsel with condominium-collection experience to oversee the procedural compliance review.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 against:

• Michigan Condominium Act, MCL Sec. 559.101 through MCL Sec. 559.276.
• MCL Sec. 559.206 — interest on unpaid assessments capped at the legal rate.
• MCL Sec. 559.207 — personal obligation of the unit owner.
• MCL Sec. 559.208 — automatic statutory lien, recording, and foreclosure authorization.
• MCL Sec. 559.192 — association records access right (referenced in the resale-disclosure calculator).
• MCL Sec. 600.3201 et seq. — foreclosure by advertisement procedure.
• MCL Sec. 600.3208 — four consecutive weekly newspaper publications before sheriff sale.
• MCL Sec. 600.3240 — redemption period after sheriff sale.
• MCL Sec. 600.5807(8) — six-year limitations on written-contract actions.
• MCL Sec. 438.31 — legal-rate cap on interest.
• Hardy v. ARC, 461 Mich 1 (1999) — interest-rate cap interpretation.
• Wood v. DAIIE, 413 Mich 573 (1982) — reasonable attorney-fee factors.
• State Bar of Michigan Real Property Law Section practitioner materials on condominium lien enforcement.
• 2017 HB 4071 (Michigan super-priority proposal, not enacted).