Delinquency

• You may owe money to your HOA if you fail to make your HOA fee payments. The HOA may also charge you late payment fees and interest on your delinquent amount. If your HOA has to hire attorneys and go to court for the foreclosure process, you may have to pay for their legal expenses as well. Business Insider reports a case in Texas where a homeowner who missed paying $800 worth of HOA fees ended up owing $5,000 after the HOA slapped on various fees to her debt.
  
  

Notification

• The HOA may send delinquent notices to your house if you miss your HOA fee payments. If you don't pay the required amount, you may receive a notice about the HOA placing a lien on your property. Near the end of the HOA foreclosure process, you may also receive another notice requesting that you vacate the property by a certain date.
  
  

Court Hearing

• In some states, the HOA has to go to court to start the foreclosure process. If your HOA starts a foreclosure against you in such a state, you will get to confront the HOA board and defend your case in a court hearing. In other states, the laws allow HOAs to carry out nonjudicial foreclosures. With a nonjudicial foreclosure, the HOA does not have to go to court to foreclose on a property. Instead, the HOA simply places a lien and advertises the process in the local newspaper.
  
  

Possible Defenses

• In the final stage, the HOA sells the property through an auction. Depending on your state laws, you may be able to stop the foreclosure process before the auction by hiring an attorney to defend your case or by negotiating with your HOA board. If you are a member of the military and you are stationed overseas during the foreclosure process, you may have protection from HOA foreclosures by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.