Q: No liens, no foreclosure in 12 years on old HOA assessment dues due to mismanagement

A: I assume you are talking about a Florida HOA. You appear to be writing from Michigan but asking about a Florida issue. Best to promptly consult an attorney handling community association law in your area. I personally would need to research your issue to give a reliable answer - but be aware of this: REGARDLESS of how old a claimed debt is, and regardless of the limitations period for suing on the original debt, if you receive a statement of account showing you are currently in debt, and you fail to dispute the statement in writing, you can be sued for "Account Stated" for up to 4 years following the issuance of the statement.(!!!!) That issue is separate from the issue of whether the HOA can take legal action on a claimed assessment debt under applicable community association law. So if it happens that the latter would not permit them to go back that far (which, as I said, I cannot say yes or no on), they'd be able to get around that obstacle by you failing to dispute the Statement of Account. (NOT telling you that disputing it will make your problem go away; obtain reliable advice at a legal consultation.)

A: The statute of limitations is five years; however, if you made payments in the 12 years they are applied to interest, late fees, attorneys' fees and costs first and then any remaining balance is applied to the oldest assessment. If you hadn't made any payments in those 12 years you would have a statute of limitations issue but even if there are no other charges payments are applied to the oldest assessments first, not the assessment due when you make the payment.