HOA Lien That Includes Amounts Barred by Statute of Limitations is Invalid

This case involved a dispute between a homeowners’ association (“Association”) and property owners (“Owners”) over the validity of a lien placed on Owners’ property by Association for unpaid assessments. Association filed suit against Owners in April 2017, in which Association sought to foreclose on the lien against Owners’ property for their failure to pay assessments that dated back more than 5 years. In their response to the complaint, Owners contended that certain of the charges included in the HOA’s lien were improper, but Owners did not include as an affirmative defense a contention that Association’s lien was invalid because portions of the amount included in the lien were barred by a statute of limitations.

After establishing through discovery that portions of the amount claimed in Association’s lien were barred by the statute of limitations, Owners filed a motion for summary judgment seeking a ruling from the court that the entire lien filed on Owners’ property by Association was invalid and unenforceable due to the statute of limitations as to part of the amount claimed. In response, Association contended: