GA Code § 44-3-232 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 44 - Property|Chapter 3 - Regulation of Specialized Land Transactions|Article 6 - Property Owners' Associations|§ 44-3-232. Assessments Against Lot Owners as Constituting Lien in Favor of Association; Additional Charges Against Lot Owners; Procedure for Foreclosing Lien; Obligation to Provide Statement of Amounts Due

  All sums lawfully assessed by the association against any lot owner or property owners' association lot, whether for the share of the common expenses pertaining to that lot, fines, or otherwise, and all reasonable charges made to any lot owner or lot for materials furnished or services rendered by the association at the owner's request to or on behalf of the lot owner or lot, shall, from the time the sums became due and payable, be the personal obligation of the lot owner and constitute a lien in favor of the association on the lot prior and superior to all other liens whatsoever except:   Liens for ad valorem taxes on the lot;   The lien of any first priority mortgage covering the lot and the lien of any mortgage recorded prior to the recording of the declaration; or   The lien of any secondary purchase money mortgage covering the lot, provided that neither the grantee nor any successor grantee on the mortgage is the seller of the lot.  The recording of the declaration pursuant to this article shall constitute record notice of the existence of the lien, and no further recordation of any claim of lien for assessments shall be required.      To the extent that the instrument provides, the personal obligation of the lot owner and the lien for assessments shall also include:   A late or delinquency charge not in excess of the greater of $10.00 or 10 percent of the amount of each assessment or installment thereof not paid when due;   At a rate not in excess of 10 percent per annum, interest on each assessment or installment thereof and any delinquency or late charge pertaining thereto from the date the same was first due and payable;   The costs of collection, including court costs, the expenses required for the protection and preservation of the lot, and reasonable attorney's fees actually incurred; and   The fair rental value of the lot from the time of the institution of an action until the sale of the lot at foreclosure or until judgment rendered in the action is otherwise satisfied.     Not less than 30 days after notice is sent by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, to the lot owner both at the address of the lot and at any other address or addresses which the lot owner may have designated to the association in writing, the lien may be foreclosed by the association by an action, judgment, and court order for foreclosure in the same manner as other liens for the improvement of real property, subject to superior liens or encumbrances, but any such court order for judicial foreclosure shall not affect the rights of holders of superior liens or encumbrances to exercise any rights or powers afforded to them under their security instruments. The notice provided for in this subsection shall specify the amount of the assessments then due and payable together with authorized late charges and the rate of interest accruing thereon. No foreclosure action against a lien arising out of this subsection shall be permitted unless the amount of the lien is at least $2,000.00. Unless prohibited by the instrument, the association shall have the power to bid on the lot at any foreclosure sale and to acquire, hold, lease, encumber, and convey the same. The lien for assessments shall lapse and be of no further effect, as to assessments or installments thereof, together with late charges and interest applicable thereto, four years after the assessment or installment first became due and payable.   Any lot owner, mortgagee of a lot, person having executed a contract for the purchase of a lot, or lender considering the loan of funds to be secured by a lot shall be entitled upon request to a statement from the association or its management agent setting forth the amount of assessments past due and unpaid together with late charges and interest applicable thereto against that lot. Such request shall be in writing, shall be delivered to the registered office of the association, and shall state an address to which the statement is to be directed.Failure on the part of the association, within five business days from the receipt of such request, to mail or otherwise furnish such statement regarding amounts due and payable at the expiration of such five-day period with respect to the lot involved to such address as may be specified in the written request therefor shall cause the lien for assessments created by this Code section to be extinguished and of no further force or effect as to the title or interest acquired by the purchaser or lender, if any, as the case may be, and their respective successors and assigns, in the transaction contemplated in connection with such request.The information specified in such statement shall be binding upon the association and upon every lot owner. Payment of a fee not exceeding $10.00 may be required as a prerequisite to the issuance of such a statement if the instrument so provides.   Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to prohibit actions maintainable pursuant to Code Section 44-3-223 to recover sums for which subsection (a) of this Code section creates a lien.     (Code 1981, §44-3-232, enacted by Ga. L. 1994, p. 1879, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 10, § 44; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3; Ga. L. 2004, p. 560, § 14; Ga. L. 2005, p. 60, § 44/HB 95; Ga. L. 2008, p. 1135, § 2/HB 422.)    The 2008 amendment,  effective July 1, 2008, added the third sentence in subsection (c).   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 16, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to this Code section is applicable with respect to notices delivered on or after July 1, 2000.   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Due process met.    - Trial court properly granted a homeowners association summary judgment in a foreclosure action for failure to pay property assessments as although it appeared that the notice of the statutory lien was only sent to the property's address, it was undisputed that the defendant timely responded to the action, and appeared at the hearing on the motion for summary judgment; thus, the fundamental due process requirements of notice and hearing were satisfied. Adewumi v. Amelia Grove/Ashland Park Homeowners Ass'n, 337 Ga. App. 275, 787 S.E.2d 761 (2016).   Failure to show late fees were liquidated damages.    - Trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the property owners association as to late fee damages because the association failed to show that the late fees provision in the declaration constituted liquidated damages rather than an impermissible penalty. Northside Bank v. Mountainbrook of Bartow County Homeowners Ass'n, 338 Ga. App. 126, 789 S.E.2d 378 (2016).    Cited in Amberfield Homeowners Ass'n v. Young, 346 Ga. App. 29, 813 S.E.2d 618 (2018).