HOA Lien: president says I owe $3000! help needed

Hi ya’ll, I’m new here. I purchased a small vacant lot in Nocona, Texas in a run-down neighborhood for $500. The seller’s husband passed away in 2022. They had seen the property a decade ago and were appalled by the lack of upkeep and the dilapidated amenities. They refused to pay the $150 annual HOA fees.

The president emailed me directly after receiving a copy of my neighbor letter. He claims that the property owes HOA dues going back to 2012 at $150 per year, plus a $25 fee per year, plus a 6% interest of $702! This is crazy.

The seller says she was never sent a notice of a lien. I confirmed that a lien was filed by the HOA in 2023 in Montague County.

I told him that what I’ve seen online is that there is a statute of limitation of 4 years in Texas for HOA dues. So if he filed the lien in 2023, the property would be on the hook for dues from 2020-2023. I told him I’d be willing to pay that.

He claims that the HOA took Montague County to court over liens for tax delinquent properties “and won”. I think he’s trying to scare me.

Does anyone know if there is, in fact, a statute of limitation of past due HOA dues?

How can I reasonably fight this? He says he will waive the lien if I “donate” the property back to the HOA. Either way, this seems like a suspicious money grab to me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Sounds like the burden of proof is on him. Tell him to provide all the court docs showing the court’s verdict, or it never happened.

This also seems suspicious. Not saying it couldn’t happen, but that seems like a weird proposal to solve a relatively minor problem.