Code of Virginia — Title 55.1 (Property and Conveyances), Chapter 21 (Virginia Real Estate Cooperative Act)
§ 55.1-2148. Remedies for nonpayment of assessments; lien; foreclosure.
A. The association has a lien on a cooperative interest for any assessment levied against that cooperative interest or fines imposed against its owner from the time the assessment or fines become due. Unless the declaration otherwise provides, fees, charges, late charges, fines, and interest charged pursuant to subdivisions A 11 and 12 of § 55.1-2133 are enforceable as assessments under this section. If an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount of the assessment is a lien from the time the first installment becomes due. Upon nonpayment of the assessment, the proprietary lessee may be evicted in the same manner as provided by law in the case of an unlawful holdover by a commercial tenant, and the lien may be foreclosed as provided by this section. The association's lien may be foreclosed (i) by judicial sale in like manner as a mortgage on real estate or (ii) by power of sale as provided in subsection I.

B. A lien under this section is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on a cooperative interest except (i) liens and encumbrances on the cooperative that the association creates, assumes, or takes subject to; (ii) any first security interest encumbering only the cooperative interest of a proprietary lessee and perfected before the date on which the assessment sought to be enforced became delinquent; and (iii) liens for real estate taxes and other governmental assessments or charges against the cooperative or the cooperative interest. The lien is also prior to the security interests described in clause (ii) to the extent of the common expense assessments based on the periodic budget adopted by the association pursuant to subsection A of § 55.1-2133 that would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the six months immediately preceding institution of an action to enforce the lien. This subsection does not affect the priority of mechanics' or materialmen's liens or the priority of liens for other assessments made by the association. The lien under this section is not subject to homestead or other exemptions.

C. Unless the declaration otherwise provides, if two or more associations have liens for assessments created at any time on the same property, those liens have equal priority.

D. Recording of the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien. No further recordation or filing of any claim of lien for assessment under this section is required.

E. A lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within 120 months after the full amount of the assessment becomes due.

F. This section does not prohibit actions to recover sums for which subsection A creates a lien or prohibit an association from taking a transfer in lieu of foreclosure.

G. A judgment in any action brought under this section shall include costs and reasonable attorney fees for the prevailing party.

H. Upon written request, the association shall furnish to a proprietary lessee a statement setting forth the amount of unpaid assessments against his cooperative interest. The statement shall be in recordable form. The statement shall be furnished within 10 business days after receipt of the request and is binding on the association, the executive board, and every proprietary lessee.

I. The association may conduct a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure sale of the cooperative interest against which the association has perfected one or more liens pursuant to this section if the total sums secured are in excess of $5,000, exclusive of attorney fees and costs. Sale may be at a public sale or by private negotiation and at any time and place, but every aspect of the sale, including the method, advertising, time, place, and terms, must be reasonable. The association shall give to the proprietary lessee and any sublessees of the proprietary lessee reasonable written notice of the time and place of any public sale or, if a private sale is intended, of the intention of entering into a contract to sell and of the time after which a private disposition may be made. The same notice must also be sent to any other person who has a recorded interest in the cooperative interest that would be cut off by the sale, but only if the interest was on record seven weeks before the date specified in the notice as the date of any public sale or seven weeks before the date specified in the notice as the date after which a private sale may be made. The notices required by this subsection may be sent to any address reasonable in the circumstances. Sale may not be held until five weeks after the sending of the notice. The association may buy at any public sale and, if the sale is conducted by a fiduciary or other person not related to the association, at a private sale.

J. The proceeds of a sale under subsection I shall be applied in the following order:

1. The reasonable expenses of sale;

2. The reasonable expenses of securing possession before sale; holding, maintaining, and preparing the cooperative interest for sale, including payment of taxes and other governmental charges, premiums on hazard and liability insurance, and, to the extent provided for by agreement between the association and the proprietary lessee, reasonable attorney fees and other legal expenses incurred by the association;

3. Satisfaction in the order of priority of any prior claims of record;

4. Satisfaction of the association's lien;

5. Satisfaction in the order of priority of any subordinate claim of record; and

6. Remittance of any excess to the proprietary lessee. Unless otherwise agreed, the proprietary lessee is liable for any deficiency.

K. If a cooperative interest is sold under subsection I, a good faith purchaser for value acquires the proprietary lessee's interest in the cooperative interest free of the association's debt that gave rise to the lien under which the sale occurred and any subordinate interest, even though the association or other person conducting the sale failed to comply with the requirements of this section. The person conducting the sale under subsection I shall execute a conveyance to the purchaser sufficient to convey the cooperative interest that states that the conveyance is executed by him, after a foreclosure by power of sale of the association's lien and that he has power to make the sale. Signature and title or authority of the person signing the conveyance as grantor and a recital of the facts of nonpayment of the assessment and of the giving of the notices required by subsection I are sufficient proof of the facts recited and of his authority to sign. Further proof of authority is not required even though the association is named as grantee in the conveyance.

L. At any time before the association has disposed of the cooperative interest or entered into a contract for its disposition under the power of sale, the proprietary lessee or the holder of any subordinate security interest may cure the proprietary lessee's default and prevent sale or other disposition by tendering the performance due under the security agreement, including any amounts due because of exercise of a right to accelerate, plus the reasonable expenses of proceeding to foreclosure incurred to the time of tender, including reasonable attorney fees of the creditor.

1982, c. 277, § 55-472; 1990, c. 831; 2019, c. 712; 2024, cc. 55, 349.