HOA Fines – Revenue or Enforcement? Question:  Can a North Carolina homeowners’ association impose a recurring fine for a violation of the restrictive covenants (CCRs) after the violation has been cured? In short, are fines permissible as a revenue stream instead of just to force compliance with the CCRs? Answer:  By statute (N.C.G.S. § 47F-3-107.1) in North Carolina, daily fines can be imposed only after written notice to the owner and a hearing, and only for as long as an ongoing …

The Annual Budget Ratification for Homeowner Associations with Outdated Budgets Question: My homeowners’ association (“HOA”) board presented members an outdated budget for us to ratify for the current year. How can an outdated budget, not previously seen or discussed, be legal? Answer: Most HOAs in North Carolina are organized as non-profit corporations. North Carolina law requires that HOAs hold an annual budget ratification meeting in advance of each fiscal year (though the law doesn’t apply to planned communities formed prior to …

HOA Fines – Revenue or Enforcement? Question:  Can a North Carolina homeowners’ association impose a recurring fine for a violation of the restrictive covenants (CCRs) after the violation has been cured? In short, are fines permissible as a revenue stream instead of just to force compliance with the CCRs? Answer:  By statute (N.C.G.S. § 47F-3-107.1) in North Carolina, daily fines can be imposed only after written notice to the owner and a hearing, and only for as long as an ongoing …

North Carolina Community Association Legislative Wrap-Up – July 2017 Courtesy of Greensboro attorney Jim Slaughter of Black, Slaughter, Black, following is a summary of the status of various legislative bills in the North Carolina legislature that could affect condominium and community associations.  Jim always has his ear to the ground for the legislative goings-on in Raleigh, and I appreciate him allowing me to reprint his article here. The General Assembly adjourned its 2018 regular session this month, so questions have …

Can My HOA Do This? This week’s column was written by my law partner Cynthia Jones, who is licensed to practice law in North and South Carolina. Question:  I live in a planned community in South Carolina that has deed restrictions. The restrictive covenants say nothing about homeowners’ association (HOA) assessments and have no provisions that allow for the restrictions to be amended. Is it legal for my homeowners’ association to amend the covenants to impose mandatory HOA assessments or fines …

Should Using the Pool Cost You More? Question:  Are there any homeowners associations (“HOAs”) that assess dues to different homes based upon the individual homeowners’ use of or impact on the neighborhood amenities?  Our community includes private streets that the HOA pays to maintain. We have residents that live in the front of the development that say they should pay a lower assessment rate because they don’t use all of the streets. The HOA’s board of directors feels that this is …

Dealing with a Difficult Developer Question:  The developer of our community is refusing to turn over control of our homeowners’ association (HOA) to the homeowners even though all of the houses are sold. He maintains that he owns the two streets in our small subdivision and has filed paperwork to turn them over to the state of North Carolina, but until that happens he won’t relinquish control of the HOA. The HOA is effectively being run by one person, who is …

E-mail Intelligence – Does Your Board Possess it? This week’s column was written by my colleague Donna Dimaggio Berger. Donna is a Shareholder in the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff and is the author of the popular Community Association Law blog which can be found at www.communityassociationlawblog.com.   Today, I am discussing the pros and cons of homeowners’ association (HOA) board members and managers using email for community correspondence, and how to craft a sound email policy for your association. …

HOA Boards must be wary of potential conflicts of interest Question:  What is a reasonable course of action for homeowners who have legitimate concerns about a board member with a clear conflict of interest? For example, say a homeowners’ association (HOA) has a board member who is also a contractor specializing in replacing siding. This person, along with the other board members, makes the decision to interpret a provision of the restrictive covenants (the CCRs) that requires homes to have a …

Can an HOA collect after a mortgage foreclosure? Question:  When there are past-due HOA assessments for a property, and a mortgage lender forecloses on the property and takes title, who can the HOA collect the unpaid HOA assessments from following the foreclosure? Answer:  This is a follow-up question from a column I wrote in 2015 that can be found here: https://carolinacommonelements.com/2015/05/01/after-foreclosure-who-pays-past-hoa-dues/ In a typical mortgage foreclosure, the foreclosing lender has a first-priority lien on the property, which means that the foreclosure …