What Association Lien Services. does

Association Lien Services (ALS) is a privately held California firm founded in 1987 by Sandra L. Gottlieb, Esq. and David Swedelson that specializes in collecting delinquent assessments, late fees, interest, attorneys' fees, and collection costs on behalf of community associations — condominiums, planned developments, and other common interest developments. Its core offering is a California Civil Code-sanctioned non-judicial foreclosure process, structured as a four-step methodology (Notice of Intent to Lien, Notice of Delinquent Assessment/Lien recording, Notice of Default recording, Notice of Sale/Foreclosure), with attorney supervision at every stage and structured payment-plan options to resolve delinquencies short of foreclosure. The firm is structurally affiliated with the SwedelsonGottlieb community association law firm, which provides ongoing legal counsel and supervisory oversight for collection activities.

ALS operates a single proprietary technology product, the Assessment Recovery Management System (ARMS), an online portal that delivers 24/7 real-time collection-status reports, account updates, and board-level reporting to association clients and managing agents. The website is built on the FRONTSTEPS HOA platform, and ALS supplements the service with educational content via HOALawBlog.com, LawForHOAs.com, and reference tools such as the Davis-Stirling Conversion Table.

The business model is contingency-based and oriented to the delinquent homeowner rather than the association client: ALS charges no upfront fees or deposits to associations, collecting late charges (10% or $10/minimum, per month), 12% annual interest on unpaid balances, attorneys' fees, and collection costs from the delinquent homeowner upon recovery, plus a $350 cancellation fee if the home is lost to a senior lender or in bankruptcy. Its primary end market is California HOAs and the property management companies that serve them, reached through direct sales, online collection-agreement onboarding, inbound web/phone traffic, and industry content marketing. Operational scale is small (11–50 employees, headquartered in Los Angeles), with mid-market property management firms and select HOAs (e.g., Mission Viejo Swim & Racquet Club, Harveston Community Association) among the named client base.

Name

Association Lien Services.

Legal name

Association Lien Services

Website

https://alslien.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Association Lien Services is a California-based, privately held firm founded in 1987 that collects delinquent HOA assessments for condominiums, planned developments, and common-interest developments via an attorney-supervised, non-judicial foreclosure process and a proprietary 24/7 online status portal (ARMS), charging contingency fees to delinquent homeowners rather than upfront fees to associations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HOA Assessment Collection Services

NAICS

Collection Agencies (56144)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty & Regulated Collections (Medical, Student Loan, Government, HOA) (BPAAAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Legal Collections Support (Pre-Lit, Litigation Admin, Judgment Recovery) (BPAAAEAH), Third-Party Debt Collection Agencies (Consumer & Commercial) (BPAAAEAB), Real Estate Payoff & Lien Release Services (BPAJAOAI)

Keywords

• HOA assessment collection
• Delinquent assessment recovery
• Non-judicial foreclosure services
• Community association collections
• HOA lien services

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Collection Fees from Delinquent Homeowners: ALS collects delinquent assessments, late fees, interest, attorneys' fees, and collection costs directly from the delinquent homeowner through the non-judicial collection process. No upfront fees or costs are charged to the association client.
2. Association Cancellation Fee: In the event the homeowner loses their home to a senior lender or through bankruptcy, ALS charges the Association a $350 cancellation fee plus hard costs for title reports.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Association Lien Services collects delinquent assessments, late fees, interest, attorneys' fees, and collection costs on behalf of California community associations (condominiums, planned developments, and other common interest developments) using the California Civil Code-sanctioned non-judicial collection process. Services are attorney-supervised at every step, with all fees and costs recovered from the delinquent homeowner rather than charged upfront to the association. The Assessment Recovery Management System (ARMS) provides 24/7 real-time online status reporting to association boards and managing agents.

Product overview

Association Lien Services (ALS) offers a unified assessment lien collection service for California community associations, combining attorney-supervised collection expertise with proprietary technology. The core product is the Assessment Recovery Management System (ARMS), which provides 24/7 online access to real-time collection status reports. The service utilizes a four-step non-judicial collection process—Attorney's Letter/Notice of Intent to Lien, Notice of Delinquent Assessment/Lien, Notice of Default, and Notice of Sale/Foreclosure—designed to collect delinquent assessments, late fees, interest, and collection costs without actually foreclosing in most cases. ALS provides supporting resources including payment plan request forms, collection agreements, and compliance reference tools like the Davis-Stirling Conversion Table. No upfront fees are charged to associations; all costs are recovered from the delinquent homeowner.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ARMS (Assessment Recovery Management System): Online 24/7 real-time status reporting system for tracking collection efforts

Products and services

• Assessment Recovery Management System (ARMS) Proprietary online portal that provides 24/7 real-time status reports on collection accounts, allowing board members and managers to track delinquent assessment collection efforts from beginning to end.
• Non-Judicial Assessment Collection Services Attorney-supervised collection of delinquent regular and special assessments, late fees, interest, attorneys' fees, and collection costs on behalf of California community associations using the Civil Code-sanctioned non-judicial foreclosure process.

Quantifiable outcome

• Most delinquencies cleared within 90 days
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SwedelsonGottliebcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1987Co-founded by Sandra Gottlieb and David Swedelson in 1987. SwedelsonGottlieb is one of California's leading community association law firms, providing legal counsel on disclosure obligations, reserves, assessments, vendor contracts, governance, and litigation matters. The firm supervises ALS operations and provides ongoing legal support for collection processes and compliance.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Community Associations Institute (CAI): National trade association for the HOA and community association industry, providing education, advocacy, and professional credentials. Comparable as an ecosystem participant that shapes industry standards, hosts the awards recognizing ALS's leadership, and influences the regulatory environment in which ALS operates.
• CoreLogic: Real estate data and analytics provider whose property and lien data feeds assessment and collection workflows industry-wide. Comparable as an enabling data vendor whose records underpin HOA assessment collection, including processes like ALS's lien recordation and title report work.

Broad incumbents

• Associa: Largest U.S. community association management company, offering full HOA management including assessment collection. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping California presence and end-client overlap (HOAs and management firms), but operates at much larger scale and across the entire management stack rather than specializing in collection.
• AppFolio: Cloud-based property management software platform widely used by HOAs and community association managers, increasingly embedding assessment and collection workflows. Comparable as an incumbent in the HOA operations stack whose software capabilities overlap with ALS's ARMS reporting and could subsume parts of the collection workflow.
• Buildium: Property management platform serving HOAs, condominiums, and community associations with built-in accounting and assessment tracking. Comparable as a broad incumbent in HOA software whose bundled capabilities compete with standalone collection services like ALS.
• FirstService Residential: Large national residential property management company with a significant California footprint and dedicated community association services. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving the same HOA client base with bundled collection and management services.
• TOPS Software: Long-standing community association management software provider with accounting, assessment billing, and collection features. Comparable as an incumbent serving the same HOA management customer base with overlapping assessment and collection functionality.

Emerging players

• Vantaca: HOA management software platform offering integrated accounting, assessments, and homeowner communication tools. Comparable as an emerging player bringing modern SaaS workflows to the same HOA end-market that ALS serves through its ARMS portal.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Association Lien Services.