House Bill 511 “Credit Unions/Statutory changes” (with a full title of “An Act to Make Various Statutory Changes Related to Credit Unions”) was ratified by the North Carolina General Assembly on June 10, 2015, and signed by Governor McCrory on Friday, June 19, 2015. HB 511 becomes the second piece of community association legislation passed into law this year (see First Community Association Bill Signed into Law and NC Community Association Legislative Roundup – May 14, 2015). The bill concerns details in the early stages of a condominium. The NC Condominium Act previously required that funds for the purchase or reservation of a … Continue reading →

House Bill 513 “Real Property/Technical Corrections” (with a long title of “An Act to Make Technical Corrections and Other Conforming Changes to the General Statutes Concerning Real Property”) was ratified by the North Carolina General Assembly on May 28, 2015, and signed by Governor McCrory earlier today (June 4, 2015). As a result, HB 513 has the distinction of being the first of many pieces of community association legislation to make it into law this year (see NC Community Association Legislative Roundup – May 14, 2015). The bill is a follow-up to last session’s adopted changes to NCGS 47F-3-104 HB 330: … Continue reading →

Thursday, April 30, 2015 was the all-important “crossover deadline” in the North Carolina General Assembly. Without getting too much into the weeds, bills that are “non-budget” must generally have passed one chamber or the other by the crossover deadline to be eligible for consideration during the 2015/2016 session (although House and Senate rules are slightly different when it comes to crossover). CAVEAT: legislation referred to as “dead” doesn’t always mean “completely dead.” As the News & Observer noted several years ago: “[Legislative] rules are made to be circumvented, so there are many ways to keep legislation alive.”) Still, now seems a logical time to look … Continue reading →

With warmer weather, we’re getting our usual barrage of pool questions. Many deal with appropriate pool rules and pool signs.  Without question, pool issues are one of the more confusing areas of our practice in that there are few absolutes. That’s particularly the case when it comes to dealing with Fair Housing Act issues. The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) was originally adopted in 1968 and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The FHA was amended in 1988 to add protected classes of disability and familial status. The short version as to familial status is this: associations should not treat … Continue reading →

Have a condo or HOA association question you’d like to ask a lawyer? The North Carolina Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) is hosting an “Ask the HOA Experts: Q&A on Legal Issues Affecting Community Associations” on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, from 5:30-7:00 pm (sign-in begins at 5 pm) at the Employer’s Association, 3020 W. Arrowood Road, Charlotte. I’ll be participating along with my friend and community association attorney Mike Hunter with Horack Talley. (FYI, Mike and I were suitemates at UNC-Chapel Hill many years ago, but questions for this event will be limited to community association issues!) Topics could include: But it really depends on what … Continue reading →

As noted in my last legislative blog post, today (April 14) at 5 pm was the deadline for filing legislative proposals for this session other than appropriations or finance bills. Since most all bills that could impact North Carolina homeowner or condominium associations have now been filed, let’s take a look at them. Proposed NC Community Association Bills (listed in order of most recent filings first): ** This blog has been updated to include HB 931 filed on April 16 ** (1) House Bill 931: Const. Amendment/HOA Forecl. & Debt Setoff was filed on April 16, 2015, by Rep. Rodney Moore (D-Mecklenburg), Kelly M. Alexander, Jr. (D-Mecklenburg), … Continue reading →

So, what do state boards that regulate community association managers and dentists have in common? According to a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court last week, possibly more than you’d think. Interestingly, the case of North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission has received little attention beyond lots of chatter by licensing boards, regulatory lawyers, and state legislators. Dawn Bauman, CAI’s Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs, posted about the case to community association lawyers last week and there was not a single reply. This isn’t a case to be ignored, as it will likely impact many states … Continue reading →

On Wednesday, December 3, 2014, from 11:30 am-2 pm I’ll be speaking on “Hot Legal Topics in Community Management” at the Charlotte Lunch ‘n Learn of the NC Chapter of the Community Associations Institute. The program is at Maggiano’s Little Italy at South Park Mall (4400 Sharon Road) in Charlotte. The cost for the program is $30 for CAI members/$40 for non-members. Topics will include: If you wish to attend, please register AS SOON AS POSSIBLE at by calling CAI-NC at 919-929-9312, as you must register to attend. Sponsorships are available. Feel free to forward this information to any managers, directors, community members, or others … Continue reading →

An article from another law firm in the Charlotte Observer last week suggested that all North Carolina HOA and condominium associations must have Workers’ Compensation coverage or suffer the consequences. The article can no longer be found online, but here’s the short version: Since the article appeared, we’ve been inundated with questions from managers and associations as to whether they must rush out and purchase Worker’s Comp coverage, and if so, what product and in what amount? As you can imagine, both of these are complicated questions and could vary by association and circumstances. (For instance, only NC planned communities created after January … Continue reading →

Most often the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (also known as the “CCR’s,” “Declaration of Condominium,” “Restrictions,” or by other names) is the highest governing document within an association. Typically, the terms of this document cannot be waived without express authority. After all, the Declaration is a binding contract among the members of the Association. Of course, language in the Declaration usually yields to express state statute or federal law. With that in mind, it is rather concerning to read House Resolution 4969 (“Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2014”) introduced last month by Congressman Adam Kinzinger (16th District, Illinois). HR 4969 would rewrite … Continue reading →

Following this year’s national CAI Community Association (HOA and condo) Law Seminar, the College of Community Association Lawyers presented a “Best Manuscript Award” for the presentation with the best accompanying materials. First recipients of the Award were David Graf of Moeller Graf, P.C. in Englewood, CO and Steve Weil at Berding & Weil, LLP in Walnut Creek, CA for “Community Association Voting: Evolving Trends in Membership Elections of Directors and the Authorization of Corporate Action” (available at Law Seminar Best Manuscript). The 2015 Community Association Law Seminar will be held Wednesday, January 28 through Saturday, January 31, 2015, in San … Continue reading →

Community associations (HOAs and condos) can become cash-strapped for a variety of reasons—unexpected large repairs, increased utility expenses, weather related emergencies, or simply years of poor planning. Often the current board members are not the ones to blame. After all, they are simply trying to locate funds to pay necessary expenses, without which essential services such as water or electricity may be cut off. While there can be instances of financial malfeasance, most association financial crises are not the result of intentional wrongdoing. We see associations that kept assessments low for many years running headfirst into increased utility costs or unexpected expenses, at which … Continue reading →

The N.C. General Assembly is about to wrap up its two-year legislative session, so bills are flying around. In my legislative update of 2013 activity (www.lawfirmcarolinas.com/blog/nc-community-association-2013-legislative-roundup/), I noted several bills that while not adopted were still eligible for consideration in the 2014 Short Session. One of those, House Bill 330 (“Planned Community Act/Declarant Rights”) was signed into law by the Governor yesterday (Monday, July 7). HB 330, which was originally sponsored by Representatives Rob Bryan (Mecklenburg), Paul “Skip” Stam (Wake), Tom Murry (Wake), and John Szoka (Cumberland), was intended to clarify language in the Planned Community Act as to the transfer of … Continue reading →

A case issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals today suggests there are instances when an amendment to a Declaration (also known as Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) has to pass an “original intent” test.  In Wallach v. Linville Owners Association, Inc., the original Declaration provided for reduced assessments for lots owned by builders. Several years later and after transition, the membership followed the amendment process to amend the Declaration to require equal assessments from all lots (and eliminating the reduced rate for builders). On appeal, the builders argued that such an amendment “contravenes the original intent of the Declaration.”  The Court … Continue reading →