Forbearance was a lifeline for many Florida homeowners during periods of financial hardship. But as forbearances end and servicers ask for repayment, a growing number of Florida homeowners are facing a second front: an HOA or condo association demanding payment on a special assessment — often a large one — at exactly the same time.
These two debts operate on completely different legal tracks. Your mortgage servicer is governed by federal CFPB rules. Your homeowners association operates under Florida Chapter 718 (condos) or Chapter 720 (HOAs), and it has its own independent right to place a lien on your home and pursue HOA foreclosure in Florida. Getting both under control at once requires a clear plan.
Why Are So Many Florida Condo and HOA Special Assessments Happening Right Now?
Two forces converged in 2025 and 2026 to produce a wave of large special assessments across Florida. First, condo associations that had waived structural reserve contributions for years — taking advantage of a Florida law that allowed owners to vote to waive or reduce reserves — are now required to fund reserves for specific structural components under Senate Bill 4-D (Florida Statute § 553.899 and Chapter 718). Buildings of three stories or more were required to complete a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) and begin fully funding those reserves. Many associations that had underfunded reserves for a decade or more are levying large special assessments to catch up.
Second, skyrocketing insurance premiums — which rose dramatically through 2024 before beginning to ease in fall 2026 — have forced associations to levy additional assessments to cover their own master policy costs. When an association cannot absorb a premium increase within its annual budget, it passes the cost to owners through a special assessment.
For homeowners who were already in mortgage forbearance, the arrival of a large special assessment during the period when they were stretched thin meant the assessment often went unpaid.
What Happens to Unpaid HOA Special Assessments in Florida?
Florida law gives HOAs and condo associations significant collection tools. Under Florida Statute § 718.116, a condo association can record a lien against your unit for unpaid assessments and move to foreclose that lien after the balance reaches a threshold set by the association's declaration. Chapter 720 gives homeowners associations similar rights under Florida Statute § 720.3085.
The lien process moves quickly. Once recorded, the association can pursue foreclosure as a civil lawsuit in your county circuit court — the same type of judicial foreclosure your mortgage lender would pursue. Attorney fees and costs are added to the balance at each stage, often turning a $4,000 assessment into a $7,000 or $8,000 judgment within months.
Critically, an HOA or condo foreclosure can proceed even if your first mortgage servicer is currently reviewing a loan modification application. The CFPB dual tracking prohibition that protects you from mortgage foreclosure during a loss mitigation review does not reach a separate HOA proceeding. See our guide on how to stop HOA foreclosure in Florida for a full breakdown of your options once an HOA lien has been recorded.
What Happens When Your Forbearance Ends?
When a forbearance period ends, your servicer is required by CFPB Regulation X (12 CFR 1024.41) to evaluate you for all loss mitigation options before proceeding with foreclosure. This includes:
- Repayment plan: You pay back the missed payments over a set period on top of your regular monthly payment. This works if the extra amount is affordable.
- Deferral: The missed payments are moved to the end of the loan as a non-interest-bearing balloon. You resume your regular payment immediately. Many servicers for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans offer this.
- Loan modification: Your loan terms are changed — extended term, reduced rate, or capitalization of arrears — to make the ongoing payment affordable. Under CFPB rules, your servicer cannot proceed with foreclosure while a complete loan modification application is pending.
- Partial claim (FHA loans): A one-time, interest-free subordinate lien that covers your arrears and allows you to resume regular payments.
- Short sale or deed in lieu: If keeping the home is not feasible, a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure resolves the mortgage without a full foreclosure judgment.
For more detail on the full waterfall of options as a forbearance ends, see the guide to CFPB Regulation X loss mitigation rules that govern what your servicer must do.
How to Address Both the Mortgage Forbearance and the HOA Special Assessment at the Same Time
The key is to treat these as two separate negotiations running in parallel. Waiting to resolve the mortgage before addressing the HOA — or vice versa — allows the other debt to compound with fees and interest.
Step 1: Contact Your HOA in Writing Immediately
Before the special assessment becomes delinquent, write a formal hardship letter to your HOA or condo board requesting an installment payment plan. Under Florida Statute § 718.116(6)(a), a condo board can authorize installment payments by board resolution. HOAs under Chapter 720 have similar discretion. Associations generally prefer a payment plan to the cost and uncertainty of litigation.
Your letter should state: (1) the financial hardship causing the difficulty; (2) your proposed payment schedule; (3) a request that the association hold off on recording a lien while you are making plan payments; and (4) your contact information for follow-up. Keep a copy of everything you send and document any response.
Step 2: Apply for Loss Mitigation With Your Mortgage Servicer
Submit a complete loan modification or other loss mitigation application to your servicer as soon as possible. Under CFPB Regulation X, once a complete application is received, the servicer cannot move forward with a foreclosure sale — buying you critical time. The application must include all required documentation: pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, and a hardship letter explaining the circumstances that led to the forbearance and describing the HOA assessment as an additional hardship factor.
Step 3: Get a Free HUD Counseling Session
A HUD-approved housing counselor can help you evaluate your options across both the mortgage and the HOA tracks at no cost. Call 1-800-569-4287 to find a certified counselor near you. Counselors who work with Florida homeowners regularly understand how HOA assessment debt interacts with mortgage loss mitigation and can help you prioritize your steps.
Step 4: Know When Bankruptcy Becomes the Right Answer
If the combined mortgage arrears and HOA special assessment are too large to address through negotiation, filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy creates an automatic stay that immediately stops both proceedings. Inside the Chapter 13 plan, you can cure mortgage arrears over three to five years and address the HOA special assessment as a creditor claim. This is not a first resort — it has long-term credit implications — but it is the most reliable tool when both a mortgage servicer and an HOA are actively pursuing collection simultaneously.
What If the Special Assessment Is for a Condo Building With Structural Issues?
If your special assessment relates to a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) under Florida's SB 4-D requirements, there is an additional consideration: buildings with significant structural deterioration may have occupancy issues or face termination proceedings. If your association is levying a large assessment for structural repairs and you have doubts about the building's long-term viability, consult a Florida condo special assessment attorney before making payments. In some cases, a termination of the condo regime is possible, and owners receive a share of sale proceeds rather than paying into a costly repair.
For condos where structural assessments are creating genuine financial hardship for multiple owners, the HOA reserve fund and special assessment guide covers lien rights, foreclosure timing, and negotiation strategies in more detail.
How Florida's High Foreclosure Rate in 2026 Affects Your Options
Florida led the nation in foreclosure filings in the first half of 2026, with one in every 373 housing units receiving a filing — the highest rate of any state, according to ATTOM's mid-year 2026 report. That elevated filing volume means servicers and HOAs are both processing a large number of delinquent accounts simultaneously, which creates both pressure and opportunity.
Pressure: servicers and associations are moving faster on delinquent accounts, and the Florida foreclosure timeline is shrinking to its shortest average since 2013. Opportunity: servicers actively prefer modification over foreclosure when the numbers support it, and associations facing many delinquent accounts are often more willing to negotiate payment plans than pursue dozens of individual foreclosure lawsuits.
Knowing your home's current value matters in both conversations. Use the equity estimator to get a quick sense of whether your home value supports full payoff of both the mortgage and the HOA lien. If you have equity, you have more leverage in every negotiation and more paths to resolution.
How Barrett Henry Helps Florida Homeowners Facing Both Pressures
Barrett Henry is a Broker Associate at REMAX Collective with 23+ years helping Florida homeowners navigate distressed property situations across all 67 counties. When a homeowner is facing both a forbearance exit and an HOA special assessment, the interaction between the two debts — and the two separate legal processes — requires someone who understands how Florida's judicial foreclosure system, CFPB servicer rules, and HOA lien rights all fit together.
Whether you are evaluating whether your home's value supports a sale before either lender acts, navigating a condo association that is threatening to record a lien, or trying to understand which debt to address first, start with the foreclosure checklist and the equity estimator for a free, no-obligation starting point.
Facing foreclosure in Florida? Get free help today — no cost, no obligation. Barrett Henry helps homeowners in all 67 Florida counties.
