How does an HOA file a claim against a deceased owner's estate?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 28, 2026

How an HOA board files a claim against a deceased owner's estate: find the probate case, meet the TX, FL or CO deadline, and keep the dues lien alive.

Part of the HOA board handbook: treasurer and money.

The short answer

Keep billing the account, find out whether a probate case exists, and file the association's claim before the state's creditor deadline. The association usually has two ways to get paid. A claim against the estate competes with other creditors for the estate's cash. The assessment lien stays with the home until someone pays it. File the claim even when you trust the lien. The lien pays when the house sells, which can take a year or more, and an allowed claim can be paid from the estate's bank accounts sooner. Our guide on what happens to HOA dues when an owner dies covers the family's side. Rules vary by state, by the type of administration and by your governing documents. This is general education, not legal advice. Call the association's attorney before filing if the balance is large or the estate looks short of money.

The first week after you hear

Confirm the death with the family or a published obituary, not a rumor. Keep sending statements. Assessments keep coming due on the lot, and stopping the bills only builds a bigger number to explain later. Address them to "Estate of [owner name]" at the property and at any address the family gives you. Split the ledger at the date of death, with what was owed that day in one column and everything billed afterward in another. The claim is built on the first figure, and Colorado has a separate rule for the second. If your collection policy allows it, pause late fees and attorney referral for 60 days while you learn who is in charge. Then send the family a short condolence note with the balance and one contact name.

Find the probate case, or learn there isn't one

A claim is filed in a specific court case. You need the county, the case number, and the name and address of the personal representative, meaning the executor or administrator. Search the probate records of the county clerk or clerk of court where the owner lived, and read the legal notices in the local paper. Texas, Florida and Colorado all require the representative to publish a notice to creditors that names the representative and the deadline. Often there is no case. The home may pass to a co-owner by a survivorship deed or to a trust beneficiary. In Texas, a court can admit a will as a muniment of title, with no administration at all, when the estate owes no unpaid debt other than debt secured by a lien on real estate (Estates Code section 257.001). With no representative, there is no one to file a claim with, and the lien and the next owner become the association's route.

Texas deadlines

Within one month after receiving letters, the personal representative must publish a notice to creditors (Estates Code section 308.051). Within two months, the representative must send notice by a qualified delivery method to each known creditor whose claim is secured by estate property (section 308.053). If your declaration gives the association a lien, ask counsel whether that makes you a secured creditor. A secured creditor chooses between payment as a matured secured claim during administration or a preferred debt and lien against the property (section 355.151). Make the choice in the claim by the later of six months after letters were granted or four months after you receive the section 308.053 notice. Miss that window or leave the choice out, and the claim is treated as a preferred debt and lien (section 355.152). A claim for money needs an affidavit, signed for the association by an officer or authorized representative, that the claim is just and that all known payments and credits have been allowed (sections 355.004 and 355.005). In a court-supervised estate, the representative has 30 days to allow or reject the claim, silence counts as rejection (section 355.052), and a rejected claim is barred unless you sue within 90 days (section 355.064). Those rules do not apply in an independent administration (section 403.058). There, presenting a claim does not stop the statute of limitations. Only a signed written approval from the executor or a lawsuit does (section 403.057).

Florida deadlines

The personal representative publishes the notice to creditors once a week for two consecutive weeks and must serve a copy on creditors who are reasonably ascertainable (section 733.2121). The claim, a written statement filed in the probate case (section 733.703), is due by the later of three months after first publication or 30 days after you were served (section 733.702(1)). A late claim is barred even if no one objects, unless the court extends the time for fraud, estoppel or insufficient notice. The representative may object within four months of first publication or 30 days after your claim was filed, whichever is later. Once an objection is served, the association has 30 days to bring an independent action (section 733.705). Two years after death, the estate is no longer liable for claims never filed (section 733.710). Pre-death dues normally fall in class 8, the last class in the payment order in section 733.707. The lien is the backstop. The claim deadlines do not affect proceedings to enforce a lien (section 733.702(4)), and the next owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for assessments due before title transferred (section 720.3085(2)(b)).

Colorado deadlines

A claim can be presented only after an estate has been opened in court (C.R.S. 15-12-804(1)). The published notice to creditors sets a deadline at least four months after first publication, or one year after death if that comes first. If the representative mails you written notice, your deadline is the later of the published date or 60 days after mailing, capped at one year after death (15-12-801). Claims that arose before death are barred one year after death in every case (15-12-803(1)). File the claim with the clerk of the court on the Colorado Supreme Court's approved form, or mail or deliver a written statement to the representative (15-12-804(1)). Colorado has a rule boards miss. Claims that arise after death are barred against the estate unless presented within four months after they arise (15-12-803(2)(b)). That can reach assessments that come due while the estate holds the home. Unless counsel says otherwise, send the representative an updated written statement at least every quarter. If the representative mails a notice of disallowance warning of the bar, the association has 63 days to petition the court or start a proceeding (15-12-806(1)). None of this limits proceedings to enforce a lien (15-12-803(3)(a)). The lien under 38-33.3-316 is perfected by the recorded declaration and is extinguished unless enforcement starts within six years after the assessments become due.

What goes in the claim, with wording to copy

List the association's legal name and address, the owner's name, the property address, the case number, and the balance on the date of death broken into assessments, late charges, interest and collection costs. Say whether the claim is secured and cite the declaration article that creates the lien. Attach the ledger and the assessment and lien sections of the declaration. In Texas, add the secured claim election and the affidavit. Texas section 355.003 also lets a claimant include attorney fees for preparing and collecting the claim when the governing instrument provides for them. Cover letter: "The [Association name] submits the enclosed claim against the Estate of [name], [county] County case no. [ ]. On the date of death, [date], the account for [property address] owed $[ ] in assessments and $[ ] in charges authorized by Article [ ] of the recorded declaration. Assessments continue at $[ ] per [month]. The claim is secured by the lien created in Article [ ]. We ask that current assessments be paid as a carrying cost of the property. Please send any notice about this claim to [name, address, email]." Motion for the minutes: "I move that the board authorize the treasurer to sign and file a claim against the Estate of [name] for $[ ] plus assessments that come due during administration, and to spend up to $[ ] on attorney review."

When no one opens probate

With no estate open, there is no claim deadline and no one to pay a claim. Keep billing, keep the lien current under your state's rules, and expect to be paid when title moves. When the house sells, the title company will ask for a payoff or resale certificate, and our guide on answering a resale certificate or estoppel request covers that step. If the house sits empty and the balance keeps growing, the association can consider opening the case itself. Texas lists creditors among the interested persons who may apply for letters (Estates Code sections 22.018 and 301.051), generally within four years of death (section 301.002). That means filing fees and attorney time, so compare the cost with the balance before the board votes.

Mistakes boards make

Stopping statements out of kindness, then handing the family a year of dues at once. Waiting for the family to call while Florida's three-month window or Colorado's one-year bar runs out. Mailing the claim to the house instead of the representative named in the published notice. Filing for the balance at death and never following up on the dues that keep coming. Accepting an executor's "we'll pay it at closing" in a Texas independent administration, where only a signed approval or a lawsuit stops limitations. The fix is the same for all of them. One board member owns the file, with the case number, the representative's contact details and every deadline on the first page.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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