QUESTION: Can we amend our CC&Rs to state that a purchaser of a unit must pay delinquent assessment from prior owners?

ANSWER: By statute and case law, the buyer of a property is not personally liable for the delinquent assessments of prior owners. Civil Code §1466, Mountain Home v. Pine Mountain. If you want to increase the likelihood of getting paid, you should record a lien against the property for the delinquent amounts. That gives your association its best protection against loss.