The question I’ve been asked most often this summer by association board members and industry professionals has been “What’s going on with House Bill 542?” There’s not been an easy answer. That’s because the provisions in the legislation have been such a moving target. On the NC General Assembly website, you’ll see four editions of the bill. Each adds a host of new requirements for North Carolina homeowner and condominium associations. Not listed on the website are at least eight prior “drafts” of HB 542, as different proposals were floated and either added or dropped from the proposed legislation following … Continue reading
Category Archives: HOA & Condo Associations
What Is the “Corporate Transparency Act” and Why It Matters to Your Association and Directors
For the past year, community association attorneys have been discussing the impact of the CTA (Corporate Transparency Act). Much of the discussion has been on whether the Act does or does not apply to homeowner and condominium associations. As the effective date of the law is January 1, 2024 (with first reports being due no later than January 1, 2025), the need for clear answers has become more pressing. What Is the CTA? The Corporate Transparency Act was enacted in 2021 as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. In short, the Act is intended to stop foreign actors … Continue reading
5 Law Firm Carolinas Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America
Five attorneys at Law Firm Carolinas have been named to the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Carole Albright, who is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law, has been recognized in the practice of Family Law. Keith Black, who is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law, has been recognized in the practices of Family Law and Family Law Mediation. Steven Black, who is a Board Certified Specialist in Residential Real Estate, has been recognized in the practice of Real Estate Law and Community Association (HOA and condo) Law. Jim Slaughter has been recognized in the practices … Continue reading
Lights, Camera, Lawsuit! Your Property, Common Property, and Intellectual Property
Movies and music provide immense amounts of joy and entertainment to people all over the world. Collectively, the movie and music industries are worth upwards of twelve figures in revenue in a single year (for those of you counting the zeros on your hands at home . . . that’s north of $100,000,000,000.00 a year!). Much like you may be protective of your property and your homeowner’s association may be protective of its common property, it is understandable that those in the movie and music industry are also extremely protective of their property. When most people hear the word “property” … Continue reading
Fourth Circuit Makes Ruling on Attorneys’ Fees Amount
Under North Carolina law, parties entering into loan agreements may specify an amount for attorneys’ fees, in the event that one of the parties breaches or there is a default. The prescribed amount of attorneys’ fees may be up to 15% of the amount owed under the terms of the loan agreement. Frequently, the loan agreement is silent about the specific amount of attorney’s and the agreement simply states that the breaching party shall be responsible for “all reasonable fees and expenses.” The applicable statute defines “reasonable” as 15%. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (which … Continue reading
Can Boards Make Decisions By Email?
Recently, a question came up on a national nonprofit list serve about whether boards can and/or should make decisions through unanimous consent by email. Here was my response. “Since this is a national question and I’m only licensed in North Carolina, what follows is not specific legal advice. Instead, let me provide a general discussion based on my many years of assisting boards as a parliamentarian and attorney. Most states have adopted some version of the model Nonprofit Corporation Act from the American Bar Association. The most recent is the Fourth Edition, but few states have moved to that. Membership … Continue reading
Legislative Update June 27, 2023 – House Bill 542 Adopted by Senate Judiciary Committee
Legislative proposals are always in flux. However, since I previously reported on HB 542 and other bills impacting community associations, I wanted to share that HB 542 (“HOA Revisions/Foreclosure Trustee Auctions”) was passed by the Senate Judiciary committee yesterday and will likely be voted upon by the entire Senate before long. Various stakeholders and legislators are working on the proposals. The bill as currently written would drastically change North Carolina community association law. The following provisions would apply to all HOAs and condos, whenever created, and whether the association is under the control of the developer or the homeowners: The … Continue reading
Carolinas HOA and Condo News – June 2023
To read entire issue, click on the image:
Meister, Slaughter & Marshall Recognized
Law Firm Carolinas Partner Adam Marshall was a presenter at the Community Association Institute’s (CAI) 2023 Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas. The conference was attended by over 2,600 community managers, homeowner board members, leaders and business partners from 44 states and 10 countries. Marshall and Augustus Shaw, IV, Esq. of Arizona, presented on “Navigating Board Officer Responsibilities and Avoiding Conflict.” Marshall was also recently appointed by the Greensboro City Council to the Greensboro ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) Board. Marshall has previously served on the Greensboro Human Relations Commission and Greensboro Board of Adjustment as well as Chair of the Greensboro Zoning Commission and … Continue reading
City of Greensboro Adopts New Short Term Rental Ordinance
At the May 23rd special City Council meeting, the Council adopted new regulations to govern and regulate short term rentals in Greensboro. Previously the City did not have provisions within their ordinance that directly spoke to short term rentals. As we are all aware, short term rentals are prevalent and are a growing sector of any local rental economy. Under the new ordinance, which will go into effect on January 1, 2024, a short term rental is defined as “the rental (for a fee or other valuable consideration) of a portion or all of available bedrooms of a residentially used … Continue reading
New South Carolina Law Allows Virtual Meetings for HOAs and Condos
In a follow up to a recent article, House Bill 4049 has now passed both the SC House and the Senate and was signed into law on Friday, May 19, 2023, by the governor. In short, the new law will open the door for most homeowners associations and condominiums in South Carolina to allow remote member participation and to conduct virtual membership meetings. This bill will also allow those with health concerns to more easily participate in their association’s meetings. The decision whether to do so, and what conditions may apply for doing so, would be within the discretion of … Continue reading
NC Community Association Legislative Update – May 9, 2023
Thursday, May 4, was the “crossover deadline” in the NC General Assembly. That’s the date bills not related to taxes or spending must have passed one chamber to be eligible for consideration during the 2023-2024 legislative session. CAVEAT: In terms of legislation, “dead” doesn’t always mean “completely dead.” A News & Observer story once noted that legislative rules “are made to be circumvented, so there are many ways to keep legislation alive.” (For instance, proposals sometimes appear later in other bills as “technical corrections.”) With the crossover deadline behind us, now is a good time to revisit my last legislative update (NC … Continue reading
SC Community Association Legislative Update – May 8, 2023
With the winding up of the SC Legislative session fast approaching, the deadline for bills to be introduced has now passed, and it is time to look at where things are now that the dust has settled. South Carolina saw several proposed bills potentially affecting homeowners associations and condominiums filed. As of this writing, one of those bills is on its way to likely becoming law, while a couple of others have at least garnered the attention of many legislators. With the crossover deadline behind us, now is a good time to see which bills are still active that could … Continue reading
Two Pending NC Bills Would Significantly Change Association Governance and Practice
Law Firm Carolinas partner Harmony Taylor serves on the NC Legislative Action Committee (NC-LAC), a committee of the Community Associations Institute. The NC-LAC monitors and makes recommendations on legislation that affects community associations, and its members talk with legislators on issues of concern to HOAs and condos. The NC-LAC has allowed the firm to share the following update on two proposals of interest. The legislature continues to consider a number of laws this session which would significantly impact community associations in North Carolina. HB 542 has been referred to the Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House. HB 551 … Continue reading
Proposed NC Law Changing Declaration Amendments Would Harm Associations and Owners
As described in my recent NC Community Association Legislative Update, an HOA/condo bill moving through the NC General Assembly is Senate Bill 553/House Bill 551 “Landlord/Tenant and HOA Changes.” SB 552 and HB 551 are mainly focused on landlord-tenant issues, but both include a provision that any declaration amendments made by an HOA or condo association would “only affect lot owners whose lots are conveyed or transferred after the amendment takes effect.” Such an outcome impacting ALL declaration amendments would have disastrous consequences on many associations. As a reminder, amendments to declarations can only be adopted if overwhelming supported by … Continue reading
Condo Charged with Discrimination for Delay in Approving Assistance Animal
In a recent case out of Pennsylvania, a condominium association was found to have violated Fair Housing laws for its delay in approving requests for reasonable accommodation for an emotional support animal belonging to a resident and for imposing conditions on the animals’ use of the common area. The Dorchester Owners’ Association in Philadelphia is a condominium with a rule against keeping pets. Two different owners requested an exemption from the rule based on their disabilities. One, Louise Hamburg, obtained a letter from a clinical psychotherapist that said she was treating Ms. Hamburg. It was later discovered that the statements in the … Continue reading
NC Bill to Restrict HOA/Condo Collections Would Harm Associations & Owners
As described in my recent NC Community Association Legislative Update, one bill moving through the NC General Assembly is HB 542 “Protect Homeowners’ Rights.” In addition to placing further requirements on associations as to the collection of past due assessments, the proposal would prohibit the filing of a lien against an owner who fails to pay obligatory association assessments unless the amount is $2,500 “or one year of unit owners’ association assessments, whichever is lesser.” The bill’s attempts to add protections to owners not paying obligatory dues may be well intentioned, but such a dollar cap before a lien can … Continue reading
New South Carolina Bill Would Allow Virtual Membership Meetings for HOAs
House Bill 4049, which was initially introduced in February, was approved by the SC House yesterday (April 18, 2023) and has now crossed over to the SC Senate for consideration. The bill would allow for remote participation at homeowners association membership meetings. Up until now, unless the governing documents for a homeowners association or condominium specifically allowed remote participation at a membership meeting, there was no specific statute in South Carolina authorizing membership meetings to be held virtually. One of the positives of the COVID pandemic was that many more people became comfortable with video conferencing and other similar means … Continue reading
NC Community Association Legislative Update – April 18, 2023
Ahh, Spring has arrived! Bees are buzzing. Birds are singing. The deadline for filing HOA/condo bills in the legislature has arrived…. For the current two-year session of the NC General Assembly (2023-2025), several important dates have just passed. There are exceptions to all rules, but generally the filing deadline for Public Bills in the North Carolina Senate and House ended at 3 pm today. That makes now a good time to look at proposed legislation that, if adopted, would impact North Carolina’s homeowner and condominium associations. The following bills are not in order of the impact they would have upon … Continue reading
NC Bar Journal Article on Meeting Procedure & Robert’s Rules of Order
In case it’s of interest, the article “Robert’s Rules of Order: An Interview” appears in the most recent NC State Bar Journal (Spring 2023). The article, by Executive Director Alice Neece Mine, covers what lawyers should know about meeting procedure, why Robert’s is still relevant today, changes in the new Robert’s, virtual and hybrid meeting procedures, common mistakes about meeting procedure, tips for keeping meetings short and productive, and more. As a reminder, both the NC Planned Community Act and NC Condominium Act require that unless otherwise provided in the bylaws, association and board meetings must “be conducted in accordance … Continue reading