§ 1367 Civ.

  (a) A regular or special assessment and any late charges, reasonable
costs of collection, and interest, as assessed in accordance with Section
1366 Civ., shall be a debt of the owner of the separate interest at the
time the assessment or other sums are levied. Before an association  may
place a lien upon the separate interest of an owner to collect a debt
which is past due under this subdivision, the association shall notify
the owner in writing by certified mail of the fee and penalty procedures
of the association, provide an itemized statement of the charges owed by
the owner, including items on the statement which indicate the principal
owed, any late charges and the method of calculation, any attorney's
fees, and the collection practices used by the association, including the
right of the association to the reasonable costs of collection. In
addition, any payments toward such a debt shall first be applied to the
principal owed, and only after the principal owed is paid in full shall
such payments be applied to interest or collection expenses.

  (b) The amount of the assessment, plus any costs of collection, late
charges, and interest assessed in accordance with Section 1366 Civ.,
shall be a lien on the owner's interest in the common interest
development from and after the time the association causes to be recorded
with the county recorder of the county in which the separate interest is
located, a notice of delinquent assessment, which shall state the amount
of the assessment and other sums imposed in accordance with Section
1366 Civ., a legal description of the owner's interest in the common
interest development against which the assessment and other sums are
levied, the name of the record owner of the owner's interest in the
common interest development against which the lien is imposed, and, in
order for the lien to be enforced by nonjudicial foreclosure as provided
in subdivision (d) the name and address of the trustee authorized by the
association to enforce the lien by sale. The notice of delinquent
assessment shall be signed by the person designated in the declaration or
by the association for that purpose, or if no one is designated, by the
president of the association, and mailed in the manner set forth in
Section 2924b Civ., to all record owners of the owner's interest in the
common interest development no later than 10 calendar days after
recordation. Upon payment of the sums specified in the notice of
delinquent assessment, the association shall cause to be recorded a
further notice stating the satisfaction and release of the lien thereof.
A monetary penalty imposed by the association as a means of reimbursing
the association for costs incurred by the association in the repair of
damage to common areas and facilities for which the member or the
member's guests or tenants were responsible may become a lien against the
member's separate interest enforceable by the sale of the interest under
Sections 2924, 2924b, and 2924c, provided the authority to impose a lien
is set forth in the governing documents. It is the intent of the
Legislature not to contravene Section 2792.26 of Title 10 of the
California Code of Regulations, as that section appeared on January 1,
1996, for associations of subdivisions that are being sold under
authority of a subdivision public report, pursuant to Part 2 (commencing
with Section 11000 Bus. & Prof.) of Division 4 of the Business and
Professions Code.

  (c) Except as indicated in subdivision (b), a monetary penalty imposed
by the association as a disciplinary measure for failure of a member to
comply with the governing instruments, except for the late payments, may
not be characterized nor treated in the governing instruments as an
assessment which may become a lien against the member's subdivision
interest enforceable by the sale of the interest under Sections 2924,
2924b, and 2924c.

  (d) A lien created pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be prior to
all other liens recorded subsequent to the notice of assessment,
except that the declaration may provide for the subordination thereof
to any other liens and encumbrances.

  (e) After the expiration of 30 days following the recording of a
lien created pursuant to subdivision (b), the lien may be enforced in
any manner permitted by law, including sale by the court, sale by
the trustee designated in the notice of delinquent assessment, or
sale by a trustee substituted pursuant to Section 2934a Civ.. Any sale by
the trustee shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of
Sections 2924, 2924b, and 2924c applicable to the exercise of powers
of sale in mortgages and deeds of trusts.

  (f) Nothing in this section or in subdivision (a) of Section
726 Civ. Proc. of the Code of Civil Procedure prohibits actions against
the owner of a separate interest to recover sums for which a lien is
created pursuant to this section or prohibits an association from taking
a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

  (g) This section only applies to liens recorded on or after January 1,
1986.

(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1101, § 4. Effective January 1,
1997.)