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
Category Archives: HOA & Condo Associations
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
Records Retention & Records Retention Policies
Recently, a question came up on a national nonprofit list serve about how long various documents should be kept by an association, such as board meeting materials. Here was my response. “Your question has both legal and political aspects. Since I don’t practice law in your state, I can’t say what specific language or practice should be used for record retention, but here are some general considerations: While a bit dated (which means I should update it!), here’s an article I wrote on “Association Documents: Keep or Toss?” that appeared in a national magazine some time ago but is mostly … Continue reading
Homeowners Association Not Responsible for Owner’s Out of Pocket Expenses
In a recent decision by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the Court held that a condominium association was not responsible for out of pocket expenses incurred by an owner when she was forced out of her unit while repairs were made. In Gehrke v. Gates at Quail Hollow Homeowners’ Ass’n, an owner sued her condominium association for all the costs she incurred while she was forced out of her unit for repairs. To read the full case, click here. Marguerite Gehrke was a unit owner in The Gates at Quail Hollow Homeowners’ Association, Ltd. (the “Association”), in Charlotte, North … Continue reading
Pickleball Court Conversion Considerations to Avoid Placing Your Association in a Pickle
Homeowners associations are tasked with managing and overseeing the common areas of a neighborhood, which many times include recreational facilities such as tennis courts. In recent years, pickleball, a game that is a mixture of tennis, ping pong, and badminton, has grown in popularity, and residential developers are now regularly including pickleball courts as an amenity in newer neighborhoods. Some more established communities are also engaging with the trend, and are considering converting their existing tennis courts into pickleball courts. This decision to accommodate pickleball as a neighborhood amenity can be surprisingly controversial, as it can reduce the number of … Continue reading
Podcast on NC HOAs & Condos
If you like podcasts, NC attorney Justin Ckezepis does a program on real estate issues and hot topics called “Today’s Real Talk.” Here’s the latest program that went live this week–a discussion with me about community associations, the authority of HOAs and condos, and various issues they face, including document amendments, rental restrictions, lot violations, collection of assessments, virtual meetings/electronic voting, and more. While the segment is focused on the Carolinas, some aspects are universal. Who Can Tell You What You Can & Can’t on Your Property? Understanding HOAs
What is the Statute of Limitations and Statute of Repose for NC / SC HOAs?
Homeowners associations and condominiums frequently hire contractors to perform work within their communities. Although some work is obviously poor, it is not always apparent that a contractor’s work was defective. Where defective work is not discovered until some time later, most boards of directors want to know whether the time has passed for the association to bring suit against the contractor. When we talk about time limitations to bring suit, there are two types of statutes involved. The first is called the statute of limitations—this is the one most people are familiar with. Generally speaking, the statute of limitations is the time … Continue reading
The Purpose of Assessments: What Is an Appropriate Use of Association Funds?
We are often asked what an association can or cannot spend their money on. In fact, this blog was inspired by a request from one of our regular readers. Associations are tasked with performing various community functions based on the requirements of their particular governing documents and state statute. You will often hear us say that assessments are the “lifeblood of an association.” That is because without them the association cannot do its job. There are some obvious uses for community funds, such as paying for the maintenance of the common area, improving association property, hiring professionals such as managers, attorneys, and … Continue reading
Are Pickup Trucks “Commercial Vehicles” and Can HOAs Ban Them? Florida Pickup Man Says “No.”
In North Carolina, many Associations have covenants that prohibit “commercial vehicles” or “trucks.” In North Carolina, the top two best-selling vehicles and three of the top five vehicles in the state are pickup trucks. With the volume of pickups on North Carolina roads, and the number of truck-related covenants in place, the intersection is a common one to encounter, and the HOA is the traffic cop that is stationed at that intersection. Recently in Florida, this intersection was the subject of a dispute between an HOA and a homeowner. The homeowner purchased a 2022 Rivian R1T, which recently was named MotorTrend’s Truck of … Continue reading
What Can Members Vote on at an HOA or Condo Membership Meeting?
A question came up during a recent online discussion about “what members can do at an HOA or condo membership meeting?” Specifically, the questioner wondered if a member could seek recognition and unexpectedly make a motion to “make the association do most anything.” It’s a good question, and one we community association lawyers spend time analyzing. Hate to say, “It depends,” but facts matters. This is not a question that can be answered in a vacuum without specifics. State statutes and governing documents (usually the bylaws or articles of incorporation) vary as to what authority the membership has versus the … Continue reading