WVUCIOA Assessment Lien Super-Priority Calculator — Six-Month West Virginia Window (W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116)

How this calculator works

This is a priority-bucket model for a West Virginia common interest community assessment lien under the West Virginia Uniform Common Interest Ownership 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 WVUCIOA — West Virginia adopted the UCIOA framework with no expansion option).
2. The super-priority dollar amount (assessments only — West Virginia 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-instruction decision point to confirm the recoverable amount before instructing the trustee to commence a trustee sale under W. Va. Code § 38-1-3.

The relevant W. Va. Code § 36B statute

The West Virginia Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WVUCIOA) lives at W. Va. Code § 36B-1-101 et seq. West Virginia adopted the UCIOA framework, including the section numbering — W. Va. Code § 36B tracks the UCIOA sections 1-101 through 4-120. WVUCIOA governs condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives organized under the Act. This calculator implements the WVUCIOA super-priority math under § 36B-3-116.

W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(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 county clerk in the county where the property is located is required to preserve priority against subsequent purchasers and lenders under West Virginia recording statutes.

W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(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 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 — West Virginia offers NO expansion beyond six months.

W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(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. West Virginia follows the UCIOA baseline; the declaration may extend super-priority to fees but the statute itself does not.

W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(j) — WVUCIOA channels West Virginia CIC assessment-lien foreclosure into the general foreclosure framework under W. Va. Code § 38-1-1 et seq. West Virginia is predominantly a nonjudicial trustee-sale state, with foreclosure proceeding by trustee sale at the front door of the courthouse under § 38-1-4 following 30 days written notice plus 30-day publication under § 38-1-3. West Virginia imposes no statutory post-sale redemption period for nonjudicial trustee sales.

West Virginia-specific gotchas (nonjudicial trustee-sale foreclosure under § 38-1, no post-sale redemption)

NONJUDICIAL TRUSTEE-SALE FORECLOSURE IS THE NORM. Unlike Vermont and Florida (which use judicial foreclosure), West Virginia is predominantly a nonjudicial deed-of-trust state. W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(j) channels WVUCIOA assessment-lien foreclosure into the general framework under W. Va. Code § 38-1-1 et seq. Most West Virginia CIC declarations include a trustee designation that brings the assessment lien within the nonjudicial pathway. The trustee — typically an attorney or title-company representative — conducts the sale at the front door of the county courthouse under § 38-1-4. Practitioners moving from judicial-foreclosure states routinely underestimate how fast West Virginia trustee sales close; the entire process from notice to sale typically runs 60 to 90 days.

THE 30-DAY WRITTEN NOTICE PLUS 30-DAY PUBLICATION RULE IS UNFORGIVING. W. Va. Code § 38-1-3 requires 30 days written notice of the trustee sale to the unit owner and all junior lienholders PLUS 30-day publication of the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property is located. The notice and publication periods may run concurrently in many cases, but defects in the notice are routinely raised as defenses and can void the sale. Practitioners must verify the notice mailing list, the publication-of-record dates, and the contents of the notice for compliance with § 38-1-3 before allowing the trustee to proceed.

NO STATUTORY POST-SALE REDEMPTION REINFORCES TITLE FINALITY. Because West Virginia imposes NO statutory post-sale redemption period for nonjudicial trustee sales under § 38-1, foreclosed units pass title to the foreclosure-sale purchaser immediately and the new owner steps into the governance and assessment-collection role. This is structurally different from Minnesota (180-day redemption) and Vermont (180-day default or 1-year owner-occupied residential redemption). The clean West Virginia title transfer makes trustee sales attractive to investor purchasers and stabilizes the association's assessment-collection cycle faster than in redemption states. The absence of post-sale redemption also means the former owner has no statutory right to re-acquire the property after the sale.

WEST VIRGINIA DOES NOT LICENSE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS. Florida (LCAM), Illinois (CAM), Nevada (CAM), and Virginia (CIC manager) all require state licensure of CAMs. West Virginia does not. The compliance work falls to the association attorney and the managing agent under contract. Practical effect: boards in West Virginia CIC 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. The nonjudicial trustee-sale pathway under § 38-1-1 et seq. reinforces the need for early attorney engagement — the trustee acts under contract and must comply with the § 38-1-3 notice and publication requirements.

ATTORNEYS' FEES ARE NOT IN SUPER-PRIORITY BY DEFAULT. W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(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 West Virginia CIC declarations bring attorneys' fees into the super-priority bucket — but the statutory baseline is sub-priority. Because West Virginia nonjudicial trustee-sale attorneys' fees are typically lower than judicial-foreclosure fees in states like Vermont, the sub-priority exposure is materially smaller in West Virginia for the same collection facts.

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. West Virginia W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(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 WVUCIOA. Practitioners moving from Minnesota to West Virginia 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 West Virginia, the sub-priority position is often material even on modest collection facts. The practical effect: West Virginia 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 a full trustee sale to deficiency judgment.

THE TRUSTEE-SALE PROCEEDS DISTRIBUTE BY LIEN PRIORITY. Sale proceeds distribute first to real estate taxes and governmental assessments, then to the association super-priority position under W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(b) (six months of assessments), then to the first mortgage balance (subject to any super-priority tender during the proceedings), then to the association sub-priority position, then to junior mortgages and other recorded liens in priority order, with any surplus to the unit owner. The trustee is responsible for the distribution under § 38-1-7. Most West Virginia CIC foreclosures result in the first mortgagee tendering the super-priority amount early to preserve its first-mortgage priority.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the WVUCIOA super-priority MATH. It does NOT:

• Model the declaration-driven exception under W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(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 trustee-sale notice contents under W. Va. Code § 38-1-3 or the publication-of-record process under W. Va. Code § 59-3-1.
• Model the trustee-sale mechanics under W. Va. Code § 38-1-4 or compute exact sale dates from the notice-mailing date.
• Validate trustee qualifications or trustee-substitution procedures under the declaration and the deed of trust.
• Model the recoverable interest under WVUCIOA — 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 § 36B-3-116 govern allocation between principal, super-priority, sub-priority, fees, and interest.

For any consequential collection or foreclosure decision, retain West Virginia counsel with WVUCIOA enforcement experience to oversee the procedural compliance review.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-17 against:

• W. Va. Code § 36B (West Virginia Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act — UCIOA-derived framework).
• W. Va. Code § 36B-1-201 — WVUCIOA applicability and scope.
• W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(a) — statutory association lien arising automatically on each assessment.
• W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(b) — six-month super-priority over recorded first mortgage (UCIOA verbatim, no West Virginia expansion).
• W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(c) — reasonable costs and attorneys' fees recoverable as part of the lien (sub-priority by default).
• W. Va. Code § 36B-3-116(j) — foreclosure under W. Va. Code § 38-1-1 et seq.
• W. Va. Code § 38-1-3 — notice of trustee sale requirements (30-day written notice plus 30-day publication).
• W. Va. Code § 38-1-4 — sale at front door of courthouse.
• W. Va. Code § 38-1-7 — distribution of sale proceeds by lien priority.
• Community Associations Institute practitioner materials on WVUCIOA enforcement.