Homeowners associations are, too — often over a few hundred bucks.

In many situations, homeowners are losing their properties over a few hundred dollars in delinquent homeowners assessments.

What’s more, [lawyer Bob] Tankel said he’s advising his homeowners association clients to foreclose quickly, before the lender does. A homeowners association lien is inferior to a claim brought by a lender holding the mortgage, Tankel said. So if a bank files first, the association may not be able to collect the back dues.

“We’re always in a race to the courthouse steps,” Tankel said.