Ohio Condo Assessment Lien Calculator — ORC 5311.18 (No Super-Priority; Judicial Foreclosure Only)

How this calculator works

This is a collection-file tool for Ohio condominium associations. Given the total delinquent assessments, late charges, interest, attorney fees, costs, the first mortgage balance on the unit, the unit market value, and whether the first mortgage of record pre-dates the unpaid assessment, it returns:

1. The TOTAL LIEN AMOUNT under ORC 5311.18 (delinquent assessments + late charges + interest + attorney fees + costs).
2. The PRIORITY STATUS — junior to the first mortgage of record (the typical case in Ohio) or first in priority (the rare scenario where no first mortgage pre-dates the delinquency).
3. The ESTIMATED EQUITY in the unit — market value minus first mortgage balance.
4. The EQUITY AVAILABLE TO THE ASSOCIATION — net of senior mortgage when the association lien is junior.
5. The PROJECTED RECOVERY classification (STRONG, MIXED, WEAK) based on the relationship between equity available and the lien amount.

Use the calculator before filing a statement of lien to quantify the dollar exposure; use it before initiating judicial foreclosure to confirm the unit has enough equity to support recovery from sheriff sale; use it before pursuing the personal money judgment path under ORC 5311.18(C) when the equity analysis indicates the foreclosure will produce no surplus for the association.

The relevant ORC 5311 statute

The Ohio Condominium Property Act lives at Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5311 (ORC 5311.01 et seq.), and the association assessment lien is governed by ORC 5311.18.

ORC 5311.18(A)(1) — The unit owners association has a lien on each condominium unit for unpaid common-expense assessments, late charges, interest, enforcement assessments, reasonable attorney fees, and other charges specified in the declaration or imposed by the board. The lien arises automatically by operation of law when the assessment becomes due. No recording is required for the lien to attach.

ORC 5311.18(A)(2) — To perfect the lien against subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers, the association must file a STATEMENT OF LIEN in the county recorder office in the county where the unit is located. The statement must contain the description of the unit, the name of the unit owner, and the amount of unpaid assessments and charges. Recording the statement perfects the priority date of the lien against later-recorded encumbrances.

ORC 5311.18(B) — The association lien is enforceable by JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE in the same manner as a mortgage on real property under ORC Chapter 2329. Ohio does NOT permit nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure of condominium assessment liens. Every foreclosure goes through the common pleas court of the county where the unit is located.

ORC 5311.18(C) — The association may also obtain a personal money judgment against the unit owner for the unpaid amounts. The personal-money-judgment path is often the realistic alternative when the unit has no equity above the first mortgage.

ORC Chapter 2329 — The Ohio judicial-foreclosure regime. Governs the foreclosure complaint, service, judgment, order of sale, sheriff sale, and confirmation procedures that the association must follow under ORC 5311.18(B).

Ohio-specific gotchas (NO super-priority lien, judicial foreclosure only)

OHIO HAS NO SUPER-PRIORITY LIEN FOR CONDOMINIUM ASSESSMENTS. This is the single most consequential structural difference between Ohio condominium-collection law and the UCIOA-style super-priority jurisdictions (DC, Hawaii, Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts). ORC 5311.18 does NOT confer any priority over a prior first mortgage of record. When the senior mortgagee forecloses, the foreclosure typically wipes out the association lien entirely — the foreclosure-sale purchaser takes title free of the association lien for pre-foreclosure assessments. The Ohio association is left to recover personally from the former owner under ORC 5311.18(C), which is often uncollectible.

JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE ONLY — NO POWER OF SALE. ORC 5311.18(B) requires the association to enforce the lien through judicial foreclosure under ORC Chapter 2329. Ohio does NOT permit nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure for condominium assessment liens. Every foreclosure involves a complaint, service, judgment, order of sale, sheriff sale, and confirmation — a 6 to 12 month process in most counties (10 to 14 months in Cuyahoga, Franklin, and Hamilton). The longer timeline and higher cost shape the collection economics; Ohio associations typically pursue judicial foreclosure only when the equity analysis indicates surplus recovery, and otherwise rely on personal money judgments and pre-litigation collection.

STATEMENT OF LIEN IS PERMISSIVE BUT IMPORTANT. ORC 5311.18(A)(2) provides that the lien attaches automatically without recording, but recording the statement of lien with the county recorder perfects priority against later-recorded encumbrances. Best practice in Ohio is to record once a delinquency exceeds approximately three months, to put senior lenders, future buyers, and the title industry on constructive notice. The statement of lien is also typically a prerequisite that title companies require before issuing clean title at sale, which strengthens the practical leverage even though the lien legally attaches without it.

ATTORNEY FEES ARE PART OF THE LIEN — BUT FEE-SHIFTING REQUIRES REASONABLENESS. ORC 5311.18(A)(1) includes reasonable attorney fees and costs as recoverable elements of the lien. Ohio courts enforce contractual fee-shifting provisions in condominium declarations but apply a reasonableness check on the fee amount. Excessive or padded fees are reduced by the court. Best practice is to document the fee narrative (time entries, attorney rates, services performed) so the fee survives the reasonableness review at judgment.

PERSONAL MONEY JUDGMENT IS OFTEN THE REALISTIC RECOVERY PATH. Because the no-super-priority Ohio regime means senior foreclosure typically wipes out the association lien, ORC 5311.18(C) personal money judgments are often the only realistic recovery for the association. The judgment can be enforced through garnishment, bank-account levy, and the other ORC Chapter 2329 collection procedures, subject to the insolvency limitations that arise when the owner has defaulted on the condo assessments. Many Ohio associations pursue the personal judgment in parallel with the judicial foreclosure to maximize collection leverage.

SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS ARE COVERED. The lien under ORC 5311.18 covers all unpaid assessments owed under the declaration and bylaws, including special assessments levied under the declaration procedure. The lien attachment, perfection, and enforcement mechanics are identical for periodic common-expense assessments and special assessments.

RACE-NOTICE PRIORITY APPLIES. Ohio is a race-notice jurisdiction for real property recording priority. The association lien's priority against later-recorded encumbrances depends on whether the statement of lien was recorded before the competing interest was recorded. This is timing-based priority, not super-priority — the lien does not jump in front of a previously recorded first mortgage merely by recording the statement.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the lien total math and the recovery-probability heuristic. It does NOT:

• Validate the form or content of the ORC 5311.18(A)(2) statement of lien (county recorders have slightly different formatting requirements).
• Model the ORC Chapter 2329 judicial-foreclosure timeline in detail (use the companion Ohio condo foreclosure timeline calculator for that).
• Compute the surplus distribution from a sheriff sale when there are multiple junior lienholders.
• Validate the chain of board action required to authorize the lien recording, the foreclosure filing, or the personal money judgment action.
• Model the deficiency-judgment availability against the prior owner after sheriff sale.
• Account for any homestead exemption or other personal-property exemptions that limit ORC Chapter 2329 garnishment collection.
• Model bankruptcy treatment of the association lien (the automatic stay under 11 USC 362 freezes collection; the lien generally survives Chapter 7 discharge as to the property but the personal obligation is discharged).

For any Ohio condominium collection action, retain Ohio counsel with ORC Chapter 5311 and Chapter 2329 experience. The procedural requirements are technical and the cost-benefit analysis varies sharply by unit equity, county sheriff sale economics, and the responsiveness of the unit owner.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 against:

• Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5311 (Ohio Condominium Property Act).
• ORC 5311.18 (unit owners association lien for unpaid assessments).
• ORC 5311.18(A)(1) (lien attachment and recoverable elements).
• ORC 5311.18(A)(2) (perfection by statement of lien filed with the county recorder).
• ORC 5311.18(B) (enforcement by judicial foreclosure in the same manner as a mortgage on real property).
• ORC 5311.18(C) (personal money judgment against the unit owner).
• ORC Chapter 2329 (Ohio judicial-foreclosure regime).
• Ohio Civil Rule 4 (service of process in civil actions).
• Ohio Supreme Court rules on local sheriff sale procedures.
• Comparative analysis against UCIOA-style super-priority statutes in DC (DC Official Code 42-1903.13(a)(2)), Hawaii (HRS 514B-146), Colorado (CCIOA 38-33.3-316), and Nevada (NRS 116.3116), confirming Ohio is NOT among the super-priority jurisdictions.