Opinion ID: 2276676
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Foreclosure of the 2007 liens

Text: Veal argues that the trial court's foreclosure of the 2007 lienswhich occurred after the June 2006 assignmentis invalid because the new DeBaliviere association did not follow the provisions in the declaration for foreclosure of the liens. The declaration provides: Every assessment authorized hereunder shall become a lien upon the property to which it relates, whenever, being unpaid thirty (30) days after the date it is due, it shall be so declared by the Board of Directors by instrument in writing, executed, acknowledged and recorded . . . Whenever any assessment is delinquent for a period of ninety (90) days after the filing and recording thereof as aforementioned, the Board of Directors may take any legal steps necessary or appropriate for the collection thereof, including the institution and prosecution of a suit. . . . The new DeBaliviere association filed a lawsuit to enforce the lien only 22 days after filing the lien. Failing to wait 90 days to bring suit violates the provisions of the declaration. What is the effect of the fact that the action was filed prematurely? Certainly Veal could have raised this by motion at the outset, and the remedy would have been a dismissal without prejudice to DeBaliviere Place Association bringing the action after the 90 days had passed. The premature filing does not appear from the declaration to be fatal to the capacity of the association to bring suit. This Court's reading of the declaration is that it goes only to the timing, not the substance of the action, and the fact that Veal did not raise the matter at the outset leads to the conclusion that the requirement is waived after the 90-day period has expired.