Last Updated September 19, 2026
Short answer
HOA or condo dues that were already due when you file are often unsecured and may be wiped out as to you. Dues that come due after you file, while you still own or live in the unit, usually cannot be wiped out. A recorded association lien is not erased just because personal liability is. Alabama HOA rules are not Georgia’s. Do not mix them.
Associations collect dues, special assessments, and sometimes foreclose their own liens. Bankruptcy splits that into what you personally owe, the lien on the property, and timing. The automatic stay can pause many collection actions after filing. Keeping the home still requires a plan for the first mortgage, any second mortgage, and ongoing association bills. See keep your house.
What § 523(a)(16) actually excepts
The statute excepts from discharge a fee or assessment that becomes due after the order for relief to a membership association for a condo unit, cooperative share, or HOA lot, for as long as the debtor or trustee has a legal, equitable, or possessory interest in that property. It does not except a fee that became due and payable before filing. If you surrender the unit and no longer have that interest, later association bills need a facts-and-timing review — they are not automatically wiped, and they are not automatically excepted either.
Liens, stay, and foreclosure
Many associations record a statutory or declaration lien. That is closer to a mortgage problem than to a credit-card bill. Filing generally stays continuation of an association collection lawsuit or a pending association sale, with the usual stay exceptions and prior-case limits. The stay does not forgive arrears. A completed association sale is much harder to unwind than a scheduled one. Association-lien priority versus the first mortgage is state-declaration law — not a slogan, and not the same analysis as a junior mortgage strip.
Alabama vs. Georgia communities
Alabama condominiums are generally under Title 35, Chapter 8A. Many Alabama HOAs are under Title 35, Chapter 20. Georgia condominiums are under Title 44, Chapter 3, Article 3. Georgia property owners’ associations are under Article 6 of the same chapter. Do not tell a Phenix City client that “Alabama HOA rules” apply to a Georgia declaration, or the reverse. Read the recorded covenants and the state code that actually governs them.
Property
Homestead exemptions protect equity from the trustee; they do not erase an association lien. Claim the correct Alabama or Georgia homestead — not both.
Chapter 7
Chapter 7 may discharge qualifying prepetition personal liability. If you keep living in the unit, postpetition assessments typically still have to be paid. The association can still enforce a surviving lien after stay relief or case completion.
Chapter 13
A feasible plan can address prepetition association arrears while you maintain ongoing dues if you are keeping the home. Missed postpetition assessments can draw stay relief or dismissal.
How Brock & Stout can help
We pull the association ledger, the declaration, and any recorded lien, then explain what filing can pause, what can be wiped out, and what you still have to pay if you keep the unit. Call or request a free consultation. We do not guarantee that association collection will stop, that a lien will be released, or that dues after filing will be wiped out.
Frequently asked questions
Often yes for amounts that come due after filing while you still have an interest in the unit. Prepetition unpaid dues may be dischargeable as personal liability. The lien can survive.
A filing before a completed sale generally stays many association foreclosures, subject to exceptions and notice. It does not catch up the ledger by itself. Same-day filings are high-risk.
Related resources
- Bankruptcy and Foreclosure — Bankruptcy and Foreclosure
Filing can pause a foreclosure sale that has not already been completed. Chapter 13 is the chapter most often used to catch up missed mortgage payments over time. Chapter 7 may delay a sale but does not, by itself, create a plan to catch up. Timing matters.
- Can Bankruptcy Stop Foreclosure? — Can Bankruptcy Stop Foreclosure?
If the foreclosure sale has not been completed, filing can pause the sale. If the sale already happened, bankruptcy rarely undoes it. Catching up the loan usually takes Chapter 13 — not Chapter 7 alone.
- Can I Keep My House If I File Bankruptcy? — Can I Keep My House If I File Bankruptcy?
Many people keep their home. That depends on whether the mortgage is current, how much equity you have versus the homestead exemption, and whether you need Chapter 13 to catch up. Wiping out credit-card debt does not erase the mortgage lien.
- Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and Foreclosure — Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and Foreclosure
Chapter 13 is the chapter designed to save a home when you are behind. The plan can catch up missed payments over time while you keep making the regular payment. The budget still has to work. Court approval is not automatic.
- Second Mortgages and Junior Liens in Bankruptcy — Second Mortgages and Junior Liens in Bankruptcy
A second mortgage or HELOC is a lien. Wiping out what you personally owe does not, by itself, remove it. In Chapter 13, a junior lien with no equity behind it may be treated as unsecured in Alabama and Georgia federal courts if the plan is confirmed and completed. A second that is only partly underwater usually cannot be reduced to the home’s value. Chapter 7 does not offer that strip-off tool. Value and lien order have to be proven. None of this is a guarantee.
- What Property Can You Keep in Bankruptcy? — What Property Can You Keep in Bankruptcy?
Filing does not automatically mean you lose everything. Exemption laws can protect property you need. Alabama and Georgia use their own exemption lists, not the federal list. Whether you keep a house or car also depends on the loan, how much equity you have, and which chapter you file.
Need help with garnishment, foreclosure, or a lawsuit?
Call now or request a free consultation. We can review your situation and explain options. We cannot promise a particular result.
This page is general educational information about bankruptcy as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and does not guarantee results. Outcomes depend on individual facts and current federal and state law. We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
