Law360, New York (September 11, 2015, 3:08 PM EDT) -- Due to a judgment handed down last year by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Chase Plaza Condominiums Association Inc. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA (decided Aug. 28, 2014), mortgage lenders involved in both residential and commercial properties are wisely cautious about financing deals secured by condominium properties. In the Chase Plaza case, the D.C. Court of Appeals held that the traditional condominium association lien with regard to the most recent six months of assessments trumps the lien of a "first" mortgage, and thus, the condominium association can foreclose on such lien and wipe out all other liens, including the mortgage lien. Despite the ominous result of the D.C. Court of Appeals' holding for mortgage lenders, there are steps mortgage lenders can take in closing condominium financing transactions to protect themselves from the possibility of being wiped out of the line of creditors by the "six months" lien of a condominium association. Until the Chase Plaza case holding is challenged and appealed, mortgage lenders must creatively take certain measures such as those discussed in this article to attempt to protect their mortgage liens....