§421J-10.5 Association fiscal matters; lien for assessments. (a) All sums assessed by the association, but unpaid for the share of the assessments chargeable to any unit, shall constitute a lien on the unit. The priority of the association's lien shall, except as otherwise provided by law, be as provided in the association documents or, if no priority is provided in the association documents, by the recordation date of the liens; provided that any amendment to the association documents that governs the priority of liens on the unit shall not provide that an association lien shall have priority over a mortgage lien that is recorded before the amendment is recorded. A lien recorded by an association for unpaid assessments shall expire six years from the date of recordation unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted prior to the expiration of the lien; provided that the expiration of a recorded lien shall in no way affect the association's automatic lien that arises pursuant to this subsection or the association documents. Any proceedings to enforce an association's lien for any assessment shall be instituted within six years after the assessment became due; provided that if the owner of a unit subject to a lien of the association files a petition for relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. §101 et seq.), the period of time for instituting proceedings to enforce the association's lien shall be tolled until thirty days after the automatic stay of proceedings under section 362 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. §362) is lifted.

The lien of the association may be foreclosed by action or by nonjudicial or power of sale foreclosure procedures set forth in chapter 667, by the managing agent or board, acting on behalf of the association and in the name of the association; provided that no association may exercise the nonjudicial or power of sale remedies provided in chapter 667 to foreclose a lien against any unit that arises solely from fines, penalties, legal fees, or late fees, and the foreclosure of any such lien shall be filed in court pursuant to part IA of chapter 667. In any association foreclosure, the unit owner shall be required to pay a reasonable rental for the unit, if so provided in the association documents or the law, and the plaintiff in the foreclosure shall be entitled to the appointment of a receiver to collect the rental owed by the unit owner or any tenant of the unit. If the association is the plaintiff, it may request that its managing agent be appointed as receiver to collect the rental from the tenant. The managing agent or board, acting on behalf of the association and in the name of the association, may bid on the unit at foreclosure sale and acquire and hold, lease, mortgage, and convey the unit thereafter as the board deems reasonable. Action to recover a money judgment for unpaid assessments shall be maintainable without foreclosing or waiving the lien securing the unpaid assessments owed.

In the case of a voluntary conveyance, the grantee of a unit shall be jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid assessments against the latter for the grantor's share of the common expenses up to the time of the grant or conveyance, without prejudice to the grantee's right to recover from the grantor the amounts paid by the grantee. Any such grantor or grantee is entitled to a statement from the board, either directly or through its managing agent or resident manager, setting forth the amount of the unpaid assessments against the grantor. The grantee is not liable and the unit conveyed is not subject to a lien for any unpaid assessments against the grantor in excess of the amount set forth in the statement, except as to the amount of subsequently dishonored checks mentioned in the statement as having been received within the thirty-day period immediately preceding the date of such statement.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (g) or in the association documents, when the mortgagee of a mortgage of record or other purchaser of a unit obtains title to the unit as a result of foreclosure of the mortgage, the acquirer of title and the acquirer's successors and assigns shall not be liable for the share of the assessments by the association chargeable to the unit that became due prior to the acquisition of title to the unit by the acquirer. The unpaid share of assessments shall be deemed to be assessments collectible from all of the unit owners, including the acquirer and the acquirer's successors and assigns. The mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit shall be deemed to acquire title and shall be required to pay the unit's share of assessments beginning:

(1) Thirty-six days after the order confirming the sale to the purchaser has been filed with the court;

(2) Sixty days after the hearing at which the court grants the motion to confirm the sale to the purchaser;

(3) Thirty days after the public sale in a nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure conducted pursuant to chapter 667; or

(4) Upon the recording of the instrument of conveyance;

whichever occurs first; provided that the mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit shall not be deemed to acquire title under paragraph (1), (2), or (3), if transfer of title is delayed past the thirty-six days specified in paragraph (1), the sixty days specified in paragraph (2), or the thirty days specified in paragraph (3), when a person (other than the mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit) who appears at the hearing on the motion or a party to the foreclosure action (other than the mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit) requests reconsideration of the motion or order to confirm sale, objects to the form of the proposed order to confirm sale, appeals the decision of the court to grant the motion to confirm sale, or the debtor or mortgagor declares bankruptcy or is involuntarily placed into bankruptcy. In any such case, the mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit shall be deemed to acquire title upon recordation of the instrument of conveyance.

(c) Except as provided in section 667-92(c), no unit owner shall withhold any assessment claimed by the association. A unit owner who disputes the amount of an assessment may request a written statement clearly indicating:

(1) The amount of regular and special assessments included in the assessment, including the due date of each amount claimed;

(2) The amount of any penalty, late fee, lien filing fee, and any other charge included in the assessment;

(3) The amount of attorneys' fees and costs, if any, included in the assessment;

(4) That under Hawaii law, a unit owner has no right to withhold assessments for any reason;

(5) That a unit owner has a right to demand mediation to resolve disputes about the amount or validity of an association's assessment; provided that the unit owner immediately pays the assessment in full and keeps assessments current; and

(6) That payment in full of the assessment does not prevent the unit owner from contesting the assessment or receiving a refund of amounts not owed.

Nothing in this section shall limit the rights of a unit owner to the protection of all fair debt collection procedures mandated under federal and state law.

(d) A unit owner who pays an association the full amount claimed by the association may file a claim against the association in court, including small claims court, or require the association to mediate under section 421J-13 to resolve any disputes concerning the amount or validity of the association's claim. If the unit owner and the association are unable to resolve the dispute through mediation, either party may file for relief with a court; provided that a unit owner may only file for relief in court if all amounts claimed by the association are paid in full on or before the date of filing. If the unit owner fails to keep all association assessments current during the court hearing, the association may ask the court to temporarily suspend the proceedings. If the unit owner pays all association assessments within thirty days of the date of suspension, the unit owner may ask the court to recommence the proceedings. If the unit owner fails to pay all association assessments by the end of the thirty-day period, the association may ask the court to dismiss the proceedings. The unit owner shall be entitled to a refund of any amounts paid to the association that are not owed.

(e) In conjunction with or as an alternative to foreclosure proceedings under subsection (a), where a unit is owner-occupied, the association may authorize its managing agent or board, after sixty days written notice to the unit owner of the unit's share of the assessments, to terminate the delinquent unit's access to the common areas and cease supplying a delinquent unit with any and all services normally supplied or paid for by the association. Any terminated services and privileges shall be restored upon payment of all delinquent assessments, but need not be restored until payment in full is received.

(f) Before the board or managing agent may take the actions permitted under subsection (e), the board shall adopt a written policy providing for such actions and have the policy approved by a majority vote of the unit owners, as provided in the association documents, who are present in person or by proxy or as otherwise permitted by the association documents, at an annual or special meeting of the association or by the written consent of a voting interest equal to a quorum of the unit owners unless the association documents already permit the process.

(g) Subject to this subsection and subsection (h), the board may specially assess the amount of the unpaid regular periodic assessments for assessments against a person who, in a judicial or nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure, purchases a delinquent unit; provided that:

(1) A purchaser who holds a mortgage on a delinquent unit, which mortgage is not subordinate to the priority of lien by the association, and who acquires the delinquent unit through a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure proceeding, including purchasing the delinquent unit at a foreclosure auction, shall not be obligated to make, nor be liable for, payment of the special assessment as provided for under this subsection; and

(2) A person who subsequently purchases the delinquent unit from the mortgagee referred to in paragraph (1) shall be obligated to make, and shall be liable for, payment of the special assessment provided for under this subsection; and provided further that the mortgagee or subsequent purchaser may require the association to provide, at no charge, a notice of the association's intent to claim a lien against the delinquent unit for the amount of the special assessment, prior to the subsequent purchaser's acquisition of title to the delinquent unit. The notice shall state the amount of the special assessment, how that amount was calculated, and the legal description of the unit.

(h) The amount of the special assessment assessed under subsection (g) shall not exceed the total amount of unpaid regular periodic assessments that were assessed during the six months immediately preceding the completion of the judicial or nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure.

(i) For purposes of subsections (g) and (h), the following definitions shall apply, unless the context requires otherwise:

"Completion" means:

(1) In a nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure, when the affidavit required under section 667-33 is recorded; and

(2) In a judicial foreclosure, when a purchaser is deemed to acquire title pursuant to subsection (b).

"Regular periodic assessments" does not include:

(1) Any special assessment, except for a special assessment imposed on all units as part of a budget adopted pursuant to the association documents;

(2) Late charges, fines, or penalties;

(3) Interest assessed by the association;

(4) Any lien arising out of the assessment; or

(5) Any fees or costs related to the collection or enforcement of the assessment, including attorneys' fees and court costs. [L 2012, c 182, pt of §2(1); am L 2014, c 65, §2]