A ____________ is a legal claim by one party (community association) on the property of another (delinquent owner) to obtain the payment of a debt or the satisfaction of an obligation.

• A. foreclosure
• B. personal money judgment
• C. lien
• D. bad debt write-off

Answer: (C)

A lien is a legal claim on someone else’s property to secure the payment of a debt or the satisfaction of an obligation. In a community association, when a owner’s assessments go unpaid, the association can record a lien against the owner’s property. This creates a security interest attached to the property itself, so when the property is sold or refinanced, the debt owed to the association must be paid from the proceeds before title can transfer free of that lien. The lien remains tied to the property regardless of ownership, which is why it’s such a powerful tool for recovering delinquent funds.

Foreclosure is the process used to force the sale of the property to satisfy the debt, and it typically follows the existence of a lien; it’s the remedy, not the claim itself. A personal money judgment is a court order against the owner personally to pay the debt and does not automatically attach to the property unless and until it’s converted into a lien or used to pursue other collection methods. A bad debt write-off is an accounting action recognizing the debt as uncollectible, not a legal claim against the property.