Nebraska HOA Laws: What Homeowners Need to Know in 2026

Nebraska has no single HOA act. Condominiums created after January 1, 1984 fall under the Nebraska Condominium Act; older condos keep the 1963 Condominium Property Act plus listed sections of the newer law. For subdivision associations the core statute is § 52-2001: a recorded assessment lien, foreclosable like a mortgage, that lapses unless enforcement starts within three years.

Which Nebraska statute governs your association

For pre-1984 condominiums, § 76-826(a) extends only these parts of the newer act: §§ 76-827, 76-829 to 76-831, 76-840, 76-841, 76-869, 76-874, 76-876, 76-884 and 76-891.01, and subdivisions (a)(1)–(6) and (a)(11)–(16) of § 76-860 “to the extent necessary in construing any of those sections.” They apply “only with respect to events and circumstances occurring after January 1, 1984,” and do not invalidate existing provisions of the master deed, bylaws or plans.

Section 52-2001 reaches an association “whose members consist of a private group of fee simple owners of residential real estate” formed to impose and receive payments, fees or charges for (A) use, rental, operation or maintenance of common elements and services to members, (B) late payments and, “after notice and opportunity to be heard,” fines for violating the association’s documents, or (C) preparing and recording amendments, resale statements or statements of unpaid assessments. Co-owner and unit-owner associations under either condominium act are excluded (§ 52-2001(11)).

The § 52-2001 lien for subdivision associations

Enacted in 2010 (LB 736) and last amended in 2013 (LB 442):

• When it attaches. From the time the assessment is due and a notice stating the dollar amount is recorded where mortgages are recorded. If an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount can be a lien once the first installment is due.
• What it secures. Unless the declaration says otherwise, fees, charges, late charges and interest are enforceable as assessments.
• Rank. Ahead of every other lien except (a) liens and encumbrances recorded before the declaration or agreement, (b) a first mortgage or deed of trust recorded before the association’s notice for the delinquent assessment being enforced, and (c) real estate taxes and other governmental assessments or charges. It is not subject to the homestead exemption. The declaration, bylaws or rules cannot backdate the lien to the declaration’s filing or put it ahead of a mortgage recorded before the association’s notice (§ 52-2001(8)).
• Enforcement. Foreclosure “in like manner as a mortgage on real estate,” with reasonable notice to affected lienholders. A suit for the money, or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, is also allowed.
• Deadline. The lien is extinguished unless enforcement proceedings start within three years after the full amount becomes due.
• Fees. A judgment “must include costs and reasonable attorney’s fees for the prevailing party,” whichever side prevails.

An owner who asks in writing is entitled to a recordable statement of unpaid assessments within ten business days, binding on the association, its board and every member (§ 52-2001(7)).

The escrow deposit at purchase

An association may require anyone who buys on or after September 6, 2013 to pay into an escrow account until it holds up to six months of assessments for that lot (§ 52-2001(10); for condominiums under the Nebraska Condominium Act, § 76-874.01). The money sits in an interest-bearing checking account at a Nebraska bank, savings bank, or building and loan or savings and loan association, beyond the reach of the association’s creditors. It may be applied to that owner’s delinquent assessments and then have to be replenished, and it comes back with interest when the owner sells with all assessments paid. A declaration may set a larger deposit.

Condominium owners: lien, meetings, records, resale

The condo lien in § 76-874 uses the same rank, three-year limit, fee-shifting and ten-business-day statement as § 52-2001, and it reaches pre-1984 condominiums for events after January 1, 1984.

Under § 76-866 the association meets at least once a year. The president, a majority of the executive board, or owners holding 20 percent of the votes (or a lower share the bylaws set) may call a special meeting. Notice goes out “not less than ten nor more than fifty days in advance,” by hand or postage-prepaid mail, with the time, place and agenda, flagging any proposed amendment, budget change or motion to remove a director or officer. All financial and other records must be “reasonably available for examination” by any unit owner and the owner’s agents (§ 76-876). Fines need notice and an opportunity to be heard (§ 76-860(a)(11)).

Before conveyance, a selling owner, or anyone in the real estate business offering the unit, must give the buyer the declaration (without plats and plans), the bylaws, the rules, and the § 76-884 information: the monthly assessment and anything unpaid, other owner fees, the latest balance sheet and income statement, the current operating budget, a statement that the insurance policy is available on request, any leasehold terms, and threatened or pending litigation. The association must supply this within ten days of the owner’s request, and the buyer owes no more than the amounts it states. The duty does not apply to a sale that requires a developer’s public-offering statement, and under § 76-878(b) no resale statement is needed for:

• gifts and transfers under a will;
• transfers ordered by a court;
• transfers made by a government body;
• foreclosures and deeds given in place of foreclosure;
• sales to a real estate business that plans to resell the unit;
• sales the buyer can cancel at any time and for any reason without penalty;
• condominiums of 25 or fewer units where no one holds a right to add units or a reserved power to fold the condominium into a larger one, a group of condominiums or other real estate;
• condominiums with no units intended for residential use.

Incorporated HOAs and the Nonprofit Corporation Act

A member of an incorporated association may inspect and copy the records in § 21-19,165(e), including member-meeting minutes and financial statements for the past three years, after giving written notice five business days or more in advance (§ 21-19,166). Accounting records, the membership list and excerpts of other minutes need the same notice plus three showings: good faith and a proper purpose; a reasonably particular description of both purpose and records; and a direct link between the records sought and that purpose (§ 21-19,166(b)–(c)).

When the Secretary of State administratively dissolves an HOA and nobody reinstates it, a city or village may petition to be appointed custodian (LB 304, 2015), on the findings listed in § 18-3104(1). Court-awarded custodian costs become a lien on each lot. Besides other lawful routes, an officer or director may apply for reinstatement, or three or more members may call a meeting to replace the board and approve the application (§ 18-3105).

Short-term rentals: the 2019 city preemption stops at private rules

Section 18-1758 bars cities and villages from prohibiting short-term rentals but “shall not be construed to affect regulations of a private entity,” naming associations under both condominium acts.

Questions from Nebraska owners

Can my subdivision HOA foreclose on my house?

Yes. Section 52-2001 lets it foreclose its recorded lien like a mortgage if it acts within three years after the full amount came due.

Our condominium was created in 1979. Which act applies?

The Condominium Property Act, plus the § 76-826(a) sections, lien, records and resale rules among them.

Will I get the escrow deposit back?

Yes, with interest, when you sell and all assessments are paid (§ 52-2001(10)(d)).

See also Nebraska closing costs for 2026, Nebraska homeowner insurance, Nebraska real estate, selling a home in an HOA, the HOA glossary, and Iowa HOA law.