Attorneys Adam Marshall and David Wilson of Law Firm Carolinas will be presenters and speakers at the Community Associations Institute (CAI) 2025 National Law Seminar. The annual seminar is put on by the College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL) and is the premier legal event for community association lawyers and other industry professionals. Their topic is titled “Weathering the Storm: Getting Your Community Clients Through PR Nightmares.” Every attorney who works with community associations will at times have to help their clients navigate potential PR disasters—whether combatting false narratives, half-truths, & other misleading statements from a vocal minority or speaking … Continue reading
Category Archives: HOA & Condo Associations
Corporate Transparency Act Blocked Nationwide by Texas Federal Court
The federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) applies to most community associations and has certain federal filing requirements that start as to existing HOAs and condos on January 1, 2025. For more details, see our prior blog posts (What Is the “Corporate Transparency Act” and Why It Matters to Your Association and Directors, Update on The Corporate Transparency Act: Tips for Managers and Board Members, Be Aware of Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Scams!) or these videos by my law partner Steve Black: Manager’s Update on Corporate Transparency Act or Board of Directors Update on the Corporate Transparency Act. However, yesterday, December … Continue reading
Suspended Voting Rights Meant Homeowner Couldn’t Run for Board
In a recent case from Colorado, the Colorado Court of Appeals held that an HOA could prevent a homeowner whose voting rights had been suspended from running for election to his board of directors. To read the entire Colorado case, here is a link: Majersky v. LCM Property Management, Inc., No. 24CA0046 (Colo. App. Oct. 10, 2024). NOTE: Although this case is not binding in North Carolina or South Carolina, it may still be helpful to take a look at the reasoning used by the Colorado court. Gregory Majersky was a homeowner in the Summerfield Villas Homeowners Association. The professional … Continue reading
Be Aware of Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Scams!
Recently one of our clients received a solicitation titled “Mandatory Beneficial Ownership Reporting.” It was noted as form 5102 and states that there is a filing fee of $119.00. The form looks very legitimate and like any other tax form you might receive from the federal government. However, beware of these types of solicitations, as the form received is a known scam. It is important to note that there is no governmental fee associated with filing Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI). The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the governmental entity where BOI is to be reported, has published the following Alert: … Continue reading
Liability for Fallen (or Threatening to Fall) Trees
This year, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and other storms which have affected our region, we are frequently asked who is responsible for cleanup or damage from fallen trees. This blog won’t address Hurricane Helene issues directly, as this would require an in-depth discussion of insurance and complicated issues involving FEMA, State, and local government. Information on that can be found in Jim Slaughter’s recent blog, Legal Tips for HOAs and Condos Following a Natural Disaster. Instead, this blog seeks to address the more common scenarios that come when trees fall from one property to another and cause property … Continue reading
North Carolina Hurricane Helene Resources Sheet
Earlier this month we shared information on Legal Tips for HOAs and Condos Following a Natural Disaster, which included links to past association articles as well as online resources. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) has prepared a three-page handout on state, local, and federal resources that might assist those impacted by Hurricane Helene. The document includes guidance on: The North Carolina Hurricane Helene Resources sheet can be found below. CAI will be posting and updating the document as more information becomes available, but said we could share in hopes it is of help.
Legal Tips for HOAs and Condos Following a Natural Disaster
Whenever a natural disaster strikes–whether hurricane, flood, tornado–our office is inundated with calls from HOAs and condo associations on how to move forward. That’s a difficult question to answer globally, as no one size fits all. Community associations vary. Condominiums, townhomes, and single family homes are owned differently and have different responsibilities. Governing documents, such as declarations or bylaws, also have different wording on who is responsible for maintenance of certain items. As a result, while this article can’t provide legal advice for a specific association, here are tips to consider. (1) Prevent further damage. Almost without exception, associations are … Continue reading
Collections, Force Majeure and Other Contractual Considerations Post-Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene’s impacts and devastation are still being assessed, but we are already hearing from community associations in the Western part of North Carolina about catastrophic damage to dwellings and infrastructure. Now the focus is simply on restoring access to working phones, power and water, and making sure that association members are safe with access to emergency services. Soon, however, we will begin the arduous task of damage assessment and rebuilding. All of this will take enormous amounts of money. We are already receiving questions about whether associations should impose some type of moratorium on collection of assessments from owners … Continue reading
Update on The Corporate Transparency Act: Tips for Managers and Board Members
As of today (September 3, 2024), the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) (see What Is the Corporate Transparency Act and Why It Matters to Your Association and Board Members) remains unchanged and still requires registration of certain information by almost all boards of directors of HOAs and condos with FinCEN (the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). Below are links to updated videos on CTA requirements for managers and board members. CTA Video for Community Managers CTA Video for Sharing with Board Members For reference, the FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information page can be found at https://fincen.gov/boi. Feel free to share. If you have questions about the CTA … Continue reading
David Wilson Named CCAL Fellow
Congratulations to Law Firm Carolinas’ partner David Wilson, who has been named a Fellow in CAI’s College of Community Association Lawyers! The College, which was created in 1994, recognizes excellence in the practice of community association law. Of the thousands of attorneys who work with homeowner and condominium associations in the US, there are fewer than 200 current CCAL Fellows. As a past national CCAL President, I can say without reservation that David reflects the high standards of professionalism, professional involvement, and passion for community association law the CCAL designation was created to spotlight. David’s practice has been 100% HOA/condo law in both North … Continue reading
Why Are Our HOA/Condo Bylaws So Bad?
The HOA/condo attorneys at Law Firm Carolinas are regularly asked to create or to amend association bylaws. On any given day, different attorneys are working on edits or even complete rewrites of association bylaws. Before getting into why that is so often necessary, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page. Here are the governing documents most all associations have (or need to have): With that background as to the different documents, let’s focus again on why bylaws so often don’t seem well crafted for a community association. The primary reason we are so often asked to assist with … Continue reading
When Is an HOA or Condo Rental Restriction Unreasonable (Part II)
As attorneys, we are regularly asked by homeowner and condominium associations to assist with restrictions on rentals, whether complete or percentage bans, restrictions on short-term rentals, or limiting corporate rentals. (See past articles, including HOA/Condo Rental Restrictions, Corporate Owners & Institutional Investors and Short-Term Rentals in North Carolina and South Carolina HOAs and Condominiums). In February of this year, the NC Court of Appeals struck down a condominium rental amendment as unreasonable. (When Is an HOA/Condo Rental Amendment Unreasonable?) Yesterday, August 6, 2024, the NC Court of Appeals again visited the issue of whether a specific declaration amendment restricting rentals is reasonable. … Continue reading
Conveying the Common Elements: What you need to know
It doesn’t really come up often, but there are times when the Association may want to convey some portion of their common elements to a third party. There could be various reasons for this, including but not limited to, a land swap with a neighboring community, changing Lot boundaries, as part of a negotiation in a condemnation proceeding, etc. How common elements are conveyed is dependent on the age of the community and whether or not we are talking about the common elements of a planned community or a condominium. NCGS § 47F-3-112 states, in part: “(a) Portions of the … Continue reading
Huge Jump in Condominium Insurance Premiums
Here’s an interesting (and frightening) insurance article from The Wall Street Journal. The report seems available on the subscribers’ only site as well as generally online, so here’s a link that should work: Big Jump in Insurance Costs Strikes Condos. One association’s insurance renewal went up four times with 12 carriers refusing to even quote a policy, likely due to the many recent natural disasters and higher rebuilding costs. Industry statistics show average condo insurance increases of 20% with some being 300% to 1,000%. And such increases come on the heals of some states requiring greater expenditures by condominiums as … Continue reading
Feeding Wild and Feral Animals in HOAs
As development continues to crowd out open space previously occupied by wild animals, North Carolina community associations find themselves increasingly close neighbors with deer, racoons, foxes, and other “wild” animals. These animals come into yards and happily munch on gardens, landscaping and occasionally someone’s beloved cat or dog. Combine development issues, poor control of domestic animal breeding, and owners with sympathies for hungry and thirsty animals, and you are left with an association caught between reasonable controls on animals and those who want to help them. We are often asked what associations can (and should) do to regulate wild animals … Continue reading
SC Community Association Legislative Update – June 17, 2024
With the second regular session of the 125th South Carolina General Assembly now adjourned, it is time to look at where things are now that the session has ended. Over this most recent legislative session, South Carolina saw a number of bills potentially affecting homeowners associations and condominiums filed. Two were signed into law. Several more gained the attention of legislators, and one was passed by the House but died in the Senate. Many of these bills, had they been enacted, would have been detrimental to condominiums and homeowners associations. With the session now over, it is time to see … Continue reading
Keeping Your Community Association Solvent in A High Inflation Economy
If you are like me, you are becoming acutely aware of rising costs in our current economic environment. While inflation appears to be cooling off a bit, it certainly is not coming down at the rate necessary for most Americans to see much of a difference. In a post COVID world, we have seen prices of food, goods, and labor soar. And while we are all hopeful for some relief from rising costs in the near future, we must prepare as best we can to live and operate in a high inflation economy. Homeowners and condominium associations are certainly not … Continue reading
CAI’s Common Ground Article on Jim Slaughter
The most recent Common Ground from the Community Associations Institute includes an interview with Law Firm Carolinas’ partner Jim Slaughter following his Don Buck Award recognition. The article includes Jim’s thoughts on proposed HOA/condo legislation, what Board members and owners often forget about community associations, and the need for Board members and homeowners who appreciate their associations to better communicate that message. The one-page article can be found at https://lsc-pagepro.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=20613&i=819074&p=62&ver=html5.
Legislative Update – NC House Select Committee on HOAs Files New Bill
As the short session continues and the legislature continues to negotiate House Bill 542 with interested parties, a new bill was introduced on May 1, 2024 by Representatives Frank Iler, Steve Tyson and Ya Liu. House Bill 959, entitled an AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE NORTH CAROLINA CONDOMINIUM ACT AND THE NORTH CAROLINA PLANNED COMMUNITY ACT, TO MANDATE PRELITIGATION MEDIATION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN OWNERS’ ASSOCIATIONS AND THEIR MEMBERS, AND TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO COLLECT AND REPORT ON COMPLAINTS SUBMITTED TO IT INVOLVING SUCH DISPUTES, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATIONS, … Continue reading
Carole Albright Recognized as Leader in the Law
Carole Albright, Managing Partner of Law Firm Carolinas, has been recognized by NC Lawyers Weekly as a 2024 Leaders in the Law Honoree. The award recognizes legal professionals who have gone above and beyond in their profession through contributions to the practice of law as well as service to the broader community. Carole is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law as well as a Certified Parenting Counselor and is past Chair of the Family Law Section of the Greensboro Bar Association. She co-chaired and helped organize and lead the Course Planning Committee of the NC Family Law Specialists for … Continue reading