Hoa owns property from hoa lien sale at sherrif auction does the winner from the mortgage auction have to pay previous HOA lien sale

[Ron J.]

Im looking at some upcoming sherriff/county auctions and some of them the HOA owns it from hoa lien sales...I want to know who is responsible once the the bank auctions it off and I win the auction from the bank..Will i be responsible for it.? Im thinking no because the property was already sold to hoa and that settles the lien? Im not sure on this one..This is Florida by the way.

[Don Konipol]

In the good old days HOA liens were wiped out by mortgage foreclosures because the mortgages were recorded before the HOA liens (usually). Now, about 20 states have enacted "Super Priority Lien" laws which give an HOA status similar to and just below property taxes. So it depends on what state you are buying in. BTW, Florida IS a super priority lien state.

You have chosen one of the highest risk arenas for investment. Even seasoned pros make mistakes and miss liens in title searches. In other words if you purchase a property and superior liens (uncovered in your title search) exist - and they can be not readily apparent, as in the case of a warranty deed with a forged signature, or notice not given to all parties - you eat the loss. Title insurance is not available until AFTER you purchase at a foreclosure sale. At that point it might be too late.