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Drummer Boy Homes Ass'n, Inc. v. Britton (2016)

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Drummer Boy Homes Ass’n, Inc. v. Britton (2016)

Citation: 474 Mass. 17 (2016); 47 N.E.3d 400 · Court: Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, SJC-11969 · Decided: March 29, 2016

Massachusetts’s leading condominium super-priority (“super-lien”) decision, endorsing the rolling priority lien. The Supreme Judicial Court held that under G. L. c. 183A, § 6, a condominium association may bring successive legal actions to establish and enforce multiple contemporaneous priority liens on a unit — each carrying a six-month period of priority over the first mortgage — for successive periods of unpaid common-expense assessments. See massachusetts, hoa-super-priority.

Facts

Unit owners Carolyn and Randy Britton withheld monthly common-expense assessments to the Drummer Boy Homes Association following a dispute over parking rights. The association sought to enforce its statutory lien for the unpaid assessments. The question was whether the association was limited to a single six-month super-priority period over the first mortgage, or whether it could obtain priority for multiple successive six-month periods by filing successive actions.

Holding

The SJC held that G. L. c. 183A, § 6, permits an association to establish and enforce multiple contemporaneous priority liens by filing successive legal actions, each with a six-month period of priority over the first mortgage, to recoup successive periods of unpaid common expenses. The association may therefore maintain a “rolling” series of six-month super-priority liens rather than being capped at one six-month window.

Reasoning

  • Statutory text and structure. Section 6(c) grants the association priority over a first mortgage to the extent of the common expenses assessed during the six months immediately preceding the action to enforce the lien. The court read nothing in the statute to bar the association from filing successive enforcement actions, each generating its own six-month priority window.
  • Underlying policy balance. The court emphasized the statute’s purpose of balancing the association’s need to collect assessments to maintain the common property against the first mortgagee’s interest in protecting its security. Permitting successive six-month liens preserves the association’s collection power for prolonged delinquencies without eliminating the mortgagee’s priority for amounts outside each six-month window.
  • Procedure required. The priority attaches through the statutory enforcement mechanism (filing an action within the relevant period); the association must act to perfect each successive six-month priority lien — it does not accrue automatically without enforcement.

Practical impact

  • For investors / operators: In Massachusetts, a condominium association’s rolling six-month super-liens can subordinate substantial value to the association, and a first mortgagee that fails to pay off accruing super-liens can see its position steadily eroded — relevant to anyone underwriting or purchasing encumbered condominium units. See lien-survival.
  • For mortgage lenders / servicers: The decision is a caution that paying a single six-month super-lien may not clear the priority exposure; successive enforcement actions can stack multiple six-month priority windows. Active monitoring and prompt payoff of association arrears is the defensive posture.
  • For associations: Confirms a powerful collection tool against chronically delinquent units while requiring the association to follow the statutory enforcement procedure for each six-month period.

Good-law status

Still good law. Decided March 29, 2016; the rolling-six-month-priority holding has not been overruled as of last_verified 2026-06-02. (Massachusetts’s super-lien statute is distinct from the UCIOA single-six-month models in Nevada and D.C.; the “rolling” feature is specific to G. L. c. 183A.)

Why it matters

Drummer Boy defines the scope of the Massachusetts condominium super-lien — establishing that it is not a one-time six-month window but a renewable priority that can roll forward through successive enforcement actions — making it the key authority for lien-survival and equity analysis at a Massachusetts condominium foreclosure.

Applies in →

massachusetts (binding precedent). Illustrative for other states with condominium common-expense super-lien statutes.

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes a court decision for educational purposes and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Verify against the primary opinion and consult a licensed attorney in the relevant jurisdiction before acting. Last verified 2026-06-02.

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