Tennessee Condo Assessment Lien Calculator — Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415 (No Super-Priority; Six-Year SOL Under § 28-3-109)

How this calculator works

This calculator computes the Tennessee condominium association assessment-lien total under the Tennessee Condominium Act and projects the recovery posture given the senior-mortgage and equity context. Given delinquent assessments, late charges, interest, attorney fees, and costs, plus the first-mortgage balance and market value of the unit, it returns:

1. The total lien amount under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415 — principal plus late charges, interest, attorney fees, and costs.
2. The priority status — JUNIOR to a prior first mortgage of record (the typical scenario, given Tennessee has NO super-priority for condominium assessments), or FIRST IN PRIORITY when no senior mortgage pre-dates the unpaid assessment.
3. The estimated equity in the unit (market value minus the senior mortgage) and the portion of that equity available to the association after the senior mortgage is satisfied.
4. A recovery-probability classification — STRONG, MIXED, or WEAK — based on the relationship between available equity and the total lien amount.

Use the calculator before recording a statement of lien with the county register of deeds, before instructing counsel to commence trustee-sale or judicial foreclosure, and during the collection-policy review to decide whether to pursue foreclosure or pivot to a personal money judgment under § 66-27-415(d).

The calculator implements the math only. The procedural steps that gate enforcement — board action, written demand, statement-of-lien recording, notice to senior lienholders, election between trustee sale and judicial foreclosure — must be confirmed against the master deed and bylaws and run by Tennessee counsel before any consequential filing.

The relevant Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27 statute

The Tennessee Condominium Act lives at Tenn. Code Ann. Title 66 Chapter 27 Part 2 (§ 66-27-201 through § 66-27-503). The Tennessee Horizontal Property Act at Title 66 Chapter 27 Part 1 (§ 66-27-101 et seq.) is the older horizontal-property regime still common in pre-1990 Tennessee condominium stock; many lien-collection provisions are read across the two regimes by Tennessee chancery courts.

§ 66-27-415(a) — Establishes the association lien for unpaid assessments, late charges, interest, reasonable attorney fees, and costs. The lien arises automatically when assessments come due — no recording is required for attachment. The recovery scope explicitly includes attorney fees and costs, which is broader than many older state condominium statutes.

§ 66-27-415(b) — Perfection requirements. To perfect the lien against subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers, the association must file a STATEMENT OF LIEN in the office of the register of deeds in the county where the unit is located. Required content: the description of the unit, the name of the unit owner, and the amount of unpaid assessments and charges. Practitioners typically file once a delinquency has exceeded approximately three months to put senior lenders and future buyers on constructive notice.

§ 66-27-415(c) — Enforcement. The lien is enforceable in the same manner as a mortgage on real property. Tennessee strongly favors the NONJUDICIAL trust-deed foreclosure regime at Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101 et seq. when the master deed or declaration grants a power of sale. Absent that authorization, the association must proceed by judicial foreclosure in chancery court.

§ 66-27-415(d) — Personal money judgment. The association may obtain a personal money judgment against the unit owner for the unpaid amounts in lieu of, or in addition to, foreclosure. This is often the practical recovery path when the unit has no equity above the senior mortgage.

§ 35-5-101 et seq. — Tennessee deed-of-trust foreclosure regime. Provides for nonjudicial trustee-sale procedure: notice of default, advertisement under § 35-5-104, public sale under § 35-5-107. The procedure runs in 60 to 120 days from notice of default to sale and is materially faster than judicial foreclosure.

§ 28-3-109 — Six-year statute of limitations on actions on contract debt. Constrains the action window for older assessments. Each missed monthly assessment is a discrete breach, so the clock runs separately for each payment. Assessments older than six years are time-barred.

Tennessee-specific gotchas (NO super-priority, deed-of-trust nonjudicial foreclosure, no CAM licensure)

TENNESSEE HAS NO SUPER-PRIORITY LIEN FOR CONDOMINIUMS. Unlike the UCIOA-style jurisdictions (DC, Hawaii, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Connecticut), Tennessee's § 66-27-415 does not give the association any statutory priority over a prior first mortgage of record. The structural consequence: when a senior mortgagee forecloses, the association lien is typically wiped out entirely. This is the single most important fact about Tennessee condominium collection economics and shapes every collection decision.

DEED-OF-TRUST NONJUDICIAL FORECLOSURE IS THE PREFERRED PATH. Tennessee strongly favors nonjudicial trust-deed foreclosure under Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101 et seq. when the master deed grants power of sale. The procedure runs in 60 to 120 days from notice of default to public sale, with advertisement under § 35-5-104 in a newspaper of general circulation and sale conducted under § 35-5-107 at the courthouse door. The judicial alternative in chancery court typically takes 6 to 12 months and costs materially more. Most modern Tennessee condominium master deeds include power-of-sale language specifically to access the trustee-sale path; pre-1990 horizontal-property regimes often do not.

TENNESSEE DOES NOT FORMALLY LICENSE CAMs. Unlike Florida (Fla. Stat. § 468.431 LCAM), Nevada (NRS 116A CAM), and DC (CICM), Tennessee has no state-level licensure for community association managers. Tennessee condominium management is generally performed by unlicensed individuals or by management companies operating under general business and real-estate-broker licenses. The absence of state CAM licensure means Tennessee boards bear primary responsibility for collection compliance and cannot rely on a state-regulated CAM intermediary to validate procedural steps.

SIX-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS UNDER § 28-3-109. Tennessee imposes a six-year limitations period on actions on contract debt. The clock runs separately for each missed monthly assessment. Practical effect: an association that has not pursued a delinquency for more than six years cannot collect the oldest assessments even though the recorded statement of lien may remain of record. Act on delinquencies within two to three years to preserve the full lien amount; reset the clock with a written acknowledgment or partial payment when possible.

HORIZONTAL PROPERTY ACT v. CONDOMINIUM ACT. Tennessee has two parallel condominium regimes. The Horizontal Property Act at Title 66 Chapter 27 Part 1 governs pre-1990 condominium stock; the Condominium Act at Part 2 governs most condominiums created after its enactment. Many lien-collection provisions are read across by Tennessee chancery courts, but the operative procedural requirements may differ. For Horizontal Property Act condominiums, confirm the lien provisions in the original master deed and verify with Tennessee counsel before relying on Part 2 mechanics directly.

ASSOCIATION LIEN PRIORITY IS TIMING-BASED, NOT STATUTORY. Even when first in priority, the Tennessee lien does not have super-priority status. The priority is determined by first-in-time, first-in-right under general Tennessee real-property law. If a later-recorded senior mortgage exists, the association lien is still junior to it for purposes of foreclosure-sale distribution.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the Tennessee LIEN AMOUNT and RECOVERY POSTURE math. It does NOT:

• Model the procedural timeline of nonjudicial trust-deed foreclosure under § 35-5-101 et seq. (covered separately by the Tennessee HOA Foreclosure Timeline Calculator in this cluster).
• Compute the running interest accrual from the missed-assessment date to the reference date. Pass the accrued interest amount as a separate input.
• Validate the form of the statement of lien (county-specific register-of-deeds requirements, signature, acknowledgment, recording-fee calculation).
• Determine whether the master deed grants power of sale under § 35-5-101 et seq. This is a master-deed-specific question that must be answered by reading the document.
• Model the priority analysis between the association lien and a MERS-recorded mortgage assignment or other complex senior-encumbrance structures.
• Model the federal-tax-lien priority interaction (26 U.S.C. § 6323 super-priority for federal tax liens recorded before the association statement of lien).
• Validate the six-year statute-of-limitations analysis on a per-assessment basis. § 28-3-109 runs separately for each missed payment; the calculator reports the lien total without screening out time-barred components.
• Apply the Horizontal Property Act Part 1 lien mechanics where they differ from the Condominium Act Part 2.

For any consequential collection action, retain Tennessee counsel with Title 66 Chapter 27 experience to oversee the procedural compliance review.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-17 against:

• Tennessee Code Annotated Title 66 Chapter 27 Part 2 (Tennessee Condominium Act).
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415(a) (association lien for unpaid assessments, late charges, interest, reasonable attorney fees, and costs).
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415(b) (perfection by statement of lien filed with the register of deeds).
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415(c) (enforcement in the same manner as a mortgage).
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-27-415(d) (personal money judgment).
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101 et seq. (Tennessee deed-of-trust nonjudicial foreclosure regime).
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-109 (six-year statute of limitations on actions on contract debt).
• Tennessee Horizontal Property Act at Title 66 Chapter 27 Part 1 (older horizontal-property regime).
• Comparative analysis against UCIOA-style super-priority jurisdictions (DC Official Code § 42-1903.13(a)(2), HRS 514B-146, CCIOA 38-33.3-316, NRS 116.3116) confirming Tennessee is materially weaker on lien priority.
• Tennessee Bar Association Real Property Section practitioner materials on condominium collection.