Rhode Island Condominium Assessment Lien Super-Priority Calculator — Six-Month Window (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16)

How this calculator works

This is a priority-bucket model for a Rhode Island condominium assessment lien under the Rhode Island Condominium Act. Given the monthly assessment, months delinquent, payments to date, first-mortgage balance, attorneys' fees and costs, optional property value, and late fees and fines, it returns:

1. The applicable super-priority window in months (six months under the Rhode Island Condominium Act — Rhode Island adopted the UCIOA framework with no expansion option).
2. The super-priority dollar amount (assessments only — Rhode Island does not include attorneys' fees in the super-priority position by statute).
3. The sub-priority dollar amount (assessments beyond the super-priority window, late fees, fines, and attorneys' fees and costs).
4. The total lien net of payments made to date.
5. Recovery-probability bands for the super-priority position (typically HIGH because the first mortgagee tenders to preserve priority) and the sub-priority position (depends on estimated equity after the first mortgage).

Use the calculator at the start of every collection file to set the recovery target, again at month four or five to confirm the recoverable amount is on track within the six-month window, and again at the foreclosure decision point to confirm the recoverable amount before initiating either a judicial action or a nonjudicial power-of-sale process under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27.

The relevant R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1 statute

The Rhode Island Condominium Act lives at R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.01 et seq. The framework is UCIOA-derived and tracks the UCIOA section numbering. The Rhode Island Condominium Act applies in full to condominiums created on or after July 1, 1982. Portions of the Condominium Act — including the assessment-lien and super-priority provisions in § 34-36.1-3.16 — apply to older condominiums governed by the Rhode Island Horizontal Property Act (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36). This calculator implements the super-priority math which generally controls regardless of formation date for Rhode Island condominium projects.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(a) — The association has a statutory lien on each unit for any assessment levied against the unit and for fines or other charges imposed under the declaration or bylaws. The lien arises automatically when each assessment becomes due; no recording is required to perfect the lien against the unit owner. Recording with the city or town land evidence records is required to preserve priority against subsequent purchasers and lenders under Rhode Island recording statutes. Rhode Island records real estate documents at the city or town level rather than at the county level used by many other states.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(b) — six-month super-priority — The association lien is prior to a recorded first mortgage to the extent of common-expense assessments based on the periodic budget which would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the six months immediately preceding institution of the enforcement action. The six-month default matches the UCIOA model and the peer states Delaware, Vermont, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, and Illinois. Unlike Minnesota — which has a unique twelve-month expanded super-priority under Minn. Stat. Sec. 515B.3-116(b) when the association pre-notices the first mortgagee — Rhode Island offers NO expansion beyond six months.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(c) — Reasonable costs and attorneys' fees incurred in collecting the assessments or foreclosing the lien are recoverable as part of the lien. These costs sit OUTSIDE the super-priority dollar window by default (they are sub-priority) unless the declaration provides otherwise. Rhode Island follows the UCIOA baseline; the declaration may extend super-priority to fees but the statute itself does not.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(j) — Rhode Island authorizes the association lien foreclosure to proceed JUDICIALLY or NONJUDICIALLY where the declaration grants the association a power of sale. The Rhode Island nonjudicial power-of-sale framework under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27 is the predominant residential foreclosure pathway. The nonjudicial pathway typically completes in 90-120 days after the notice of default and notice of sale steps. Rhode Island does not impose a statutory post-sale redemption period for nonjudicial sales — once the sale completes, title passes free of the borrower's redemption rights.

Rhode Island-specific gotchas (dual judicial/nonjudicial foreclosure, no statutory redemption)

DUAL FORECLOSURE PATHWAYS — NONJUDICIAL IS PREDOMINANT. Rhode Island authorizes both judicial and nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure for association liens where the declaration grants a power of sale. The nonjudicial pathway under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27 is the predominant residential mechanism and typically completes in 90 to 120 days. This is materially faster than Delaware's judicial-only timeline of 12 to 15 months under DUCIOA § 81-316(j). Most Rhode Island association declarations include a power-of-sale provision making the nonjudicial pathway available; confirm the declaration before assuming nonjudicial foreclosure is an option.

NO STATUTORY POST-SALE REDEMPTION FOR NONJUDICIAL SALES. Rhode Island does NOT impose a statutory post-sale redemption period for nonjudicial sales under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27. This is structurally different from Minnesota (180-day redemption), New Mexico (1-year redemption), or Vermont (180-day or 1-year owner-occupied redemption). Once the Rhode Island nonjudicial sale completes and the foreclosure deed is delivered, title passes free of the former owner's redemption rights. The absence of a post-sale redemption period makes Rhode Island nonjudicial foreclosure materially faster to clear title than long-redemption states.

RHODE ISLAND DOES NOT LICENSE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS. Florida (LCAM), Illinois (CAM), Nevada (CAM), and Virginia (CIC manager) all require state licensure of CAMs. Rhode Island does not. The compliance work falls to the association attorney and the managing agent under contract. Practical effect: boards in Rhode Island condominium projects should expect to engage the association attorney earlier in the delinquency cycle than in states with licensed CAMs because there is no state-licensed manager handling procedural compliance independently. Industry associations (Community Associations Institute New England chapter) offer professional designations (CMCA, AMS, PCAM) on a voluntary basis but they are not state licenses.

ATTORNEYS' FEES ARE NOT IN SUPER-PRIORITY BY DEFAULT. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(c) makes reasonable costs and attorneys' fees recoverable as part of the lien but does not extend super-priority over the first mortgage to the fees. This follows the UCIOA baseline. The declaration may provide otherwise — some Rhode Island condominium declarations bring attorneys' fees into the super-priority bucket — but the statutory baseline is sub-priority. Rhode Island nonjudicial-foreclosure attorneys' fees are typically lower than judicial-foreclosure fees in states like Delaware, but the sub-priority allocation rule means fees still face equity-dependent recovery risk.

NO EXPANSION BEYOND SIX MONTHS. Minnesota offers a twelve-month expanded super-priority under Minn. Stat. Sec. 515B.3-116(b) when the association pre-notices the first mortgagee at least 90 days before enforcement. Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(b) has NO such expansion mechanism — the super-priority is hard-capped at six months by statute. Declaration provisions purporting to expand the super-priority beyond six months are unenforceable against the first mortgagee under the Rhode Island Condominium Act. Practitioners moving from Minnesota to Rhode Island routinely overestimate the recoverable super-priority by assuming a twelve-month window applies.

SUB-PRIORITY RECOVERY DEPENDS ON EQUITY. Because attorneys' fees fall to sub-priority by default in Rhode Island, the sub-priority position is often material relative to the super-priority dollars in any extended collection cycle. The practical effect: Rhode Island associations must look at equity in the unit before deciding whether to pursue sub-priority recovery aggressively. When the property is underwater on the first mortgage, the sub-priority recovery is typically minimal regardless of attorneys'-fee exposure, and the association should consider negotiated payoff or deed-in-lieu alternatives rather than pursuing the foreclosure to a deficiency analysis.

CITY OR TOWN-LEVEL RECORDING APPLIES IN RHODE ISLAND. Rhode Island records real estate documents at the city or town level — Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, and so on — through the local land evidence records office. This is different from Delaware (which records at the county level — New Castle, Kent, or Sussex) and most other states. Confirm the correct city or town land evidence records office before mailing the lien for recording.

STRICT NONJUDICIAL NOTICE REQUIREMENTS. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27 imposes detailed notice and publication requirements for nonjudicial foreclosure: 45-day mortgagor notice under § 34-27-4 and 21-day publication under § 34-27-3, among others. Procedurally defective nonjudicial sales are subject to challenge under Rhode Island case law; document compliance with the statutory notice requirements at every step. The nonjudicial pathway is faster than judicial foreclosure but trades that speed for strict procedural compliance burdens.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the Rhode Island Condominium Act super-priority MATH. It does NOT:

• Model the declaration-driven exception under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(c) where the declaration brings attorneys' fees into the super-priority position. If your declaration includes such a provision, the super-priority dollar amount understates the recoverable amount.
• Validate the nonjudicial foreclosure notice or publication requirements under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27 (45-day mortgagor notice under § 34-27-4, 21-day publication under § 34-27-3, and related procedural mechanics).
• Model the judicial-foreclosure pleading standards or compute exact judgment or sale dates from the complaint-filing date.
• Validate the declaration grant of a power of sale required to elect the nonjudicial pathway.
• Model the recoverable interest — interest is recoverable but the rate and accrual method depend on the declaration and the collection policy.
• Model payment-allocation rules in detail — the collection policy and § 34-36.1-3.16 govern allocation between principal, super-priority, sub-priority, fees, and interest.
• Cover collection under the older Rhode Island Horizontal Property Act (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36) provisions that are not displaced by § 34-36.1-1.02. For pre-1982 condominiums, confirm which provisions govern before relying on the calculator output.

For any consequential collection or foreclosure decision, retain Rhode Island counsel with Rhode Island Condominium Act enforcement experience to oversee the procedural compliance review.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-17 against:

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1 (Rhode Island Condominium Act — UCIOA-derived framework).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.02 — applicability of the Condominium Act to pre-1982 condominiums and the Horizontal Property Act framework.
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(a) — statutory association lien arising automatically on each assessment.
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(b) — six-month super-priority over recorded first mortgage (UCIOA verbatim, no Rhode Island expansion).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(c) — reasonable costs and attorneys' fees recoverable as part of the lien (sub-priority by default).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16(j) — foreclosure mechanism authorizing both judicial and nonjudicial power-of-sale pathways.
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36 — Rhode Island Horizontal Property Act (pre-1982 condominium framework partially preserved).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27 — Rhode Island nonjudicial power-of-sale foreclosure framework (predominant residential pathway).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-3 — 21-day publication requirement for nonjudicial sales.
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-4 — 45-day mortgagor notice requirement for nonjudicial sales.
• Community Associations Institute New England chapter practitioner materials on Rhode Island Condominium Act enforcement.