The number of lawsuits and orders from Homeowners Associations (HOAs) against debtors has increased 2.7 times since the start of the full-scale war

The record year for lawsuits against co-owners was 2023 when HOAs filed 1,400 lawsuits. This may be linked to the lifting of the ban on penalties for utility debts at the end of 2023.

However, the number of court cases did not decrease last year. By the end of 2024, 3,600 cases against debtors had already been filed in court, including both lawsuits and court orders. This is 2.7 times more than at the start of the full-scale war when only 1,340 such cases were filed throughout the entire year.

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How many lawsuits against debtors were filed by HOAs

Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Number of lawsuits	84	140	527	655	1,495	1,373

The most lawsuits over HOA debts were filed in Dnipropetrovsk region: 644 cases, accounting for 18% of the total last year. Odesa region follows closely with 547 cases (15%). Zaporizhzhia region ranks third, where homeowners’ associations took legal action 488 times (14%).

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More homeowners’ associations (HOAs) are opting for court orders to recover debts. These cases are reviewed without summoning the parties—if the submitted documents meet legal requirements, a court order is issued. This allows HOAs to seek enforcement and collect debts from delinquent owners.

Since the full-scale war, the number of court orders has increased yearly: 2022 — 685 orders, 2023 — 1,800 orders, 2024 — 2,200 orders. This nearly matches pre-war levels. The share of court orders compared to lawsuits has also grown from 51% to 62%, reflecting the removal of restrictions on debt-related penalties.

HOAs must file a lawsuit within three years to avoid case dismissal. For example, in one case, a debtor owed ₴133,000, but the court rejected the lawsuit due to an expired deadline.

Under the law, HOAs cannot impose collective responsibility for an individual’s debt. Each homeowner is personally responsible for their own unpaid dues. Debts are owed directly to neighbors, not just the HOA.

Despite this, Opendatabot obtained a court ruling where a debtor’s unpaid amount was redistributed among other homeowners—an alarming precedent for HOAs.

«The debt recovery system works when the debtor has assets that can be seized, such as a car. However, if no such assets exist, the arrest on an apartment can be quickly lifted by claiming it is the debtor’s only place of residence or by listing minor children there. Therefore, the only effective measure against stubborn debtors remains finding weaknesses in their activities, such as illegal use of the building’s common property. In our practice, there are many cases where, through systematic work with debtors, they eventually pay off their debts independently. For those who find this difficult, there is a written warning that details how the HOA cannot proceed with necessary repairs (such as sewage, ceiling, elevator, or ventilation system maintenance) due to the debtor’s actions», 

— comments Stanislav Draganov, President of the Association for Innovative Development of Households.