In a decision issued today (December 17, 2019), the North Carolina Court of Appeals examined the authority of an association to review and deny submitted architectural plans. This is the second architectural committee decision from the Court of Appeals this year. (See “Don’t Screw Up Your Architectural Committee and Approval Process”) Duff v. The Sanctuary at Lake Wylie Property Owners Association, Inc. is an “unpublished opinion,” which means the decision is not controlling legal authority and should not be cited in other cases. However, even unpublished opinions give a sense of the Court’s thinking as to specific issues and how … Continue reading →

At Law Firm Carolinas, P.A., we closely monitor pending legislation that could affect our HOA and condominium clients.  One federal bill that may impact many communities, especially those near the coast or in locations where storm damage is more likely, is the Disaster Assistance Equity Act.  This bill was just introduced as H.R. 5337 in the House and would extend disaster relief funds to community associations where that relief was not previously available.  H.R. 5337 appears to have bipartisan support, making it more likely to eventually be signed into law in some fashion. According to the Community Association Institute (“CAI”), … Continue reading →

One of the “hot-button” questions we receive from HOAs is about their authority to tow vehicles that are improperly parked in the subdivision. The primary question that the HOA needs to ask is whether the vehicle they want to tow is parked in a Common Area (parking lot or private street in most cases). If the answer to that question is yes, then as long as the Declaration provides the HOA authority to control and maintain those common areas, then the Board of Directors can establish reasonable rules for the use of those common areas, which could include towing improperly … Continue reading →

The term for owner payments to a homeowner or condominium association in North Carolina is “assessments.“ That’s because the term “dues” doesn’t appear in any statute. Instead, “assessment“ is used to describe the payment that owners of an HOA lot or a condominium unit make to the association to pay for common costs of the community, such as real property taxes, insurance premiums, or other expenses to maintain, improve, or benefit the common property. General assessments are the topic of other blogs—this article is specific to special assessments. However, the phrase “special assessment“ also doesn’t appear in any statute. As … Continue reading →

The differences between service animals, therapy animals, and emotional assistance animals in HOAs and condominiums can get confusing, even to those of us that deal with them all the time. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) has created this attractive and helpful chart to distinguish between such animals! To download the chart, visit CAI’s Guide to Assistance Animals

Recently on a national HOA/condo list serve, a community association professional lamented that civility has fallen in HOAs and condos and asked about how to deal with homeowners who regularly bully or harass. Based on numerous instances, our firm’s attorneys would agree that there has been an increase in the number of “in your face” owners, whether that behavior is directed at other owners, directors, or the community manager. While there was a discussion online of “changing the community’s rules,” such language would not generally fly in North Carolina or South Carolina due to case law and statutes (but might … Continue reading →

Removal issues are almost always sensitive and highly charged emotional issues. It is important that the board of directors follows the required process correctly and seeks legal guidance when necessary. If your board directors has questions regarding removal of an officer or removal of a board member, please contact one of our community association attorneys here at Law Firm Carolinas. There is often confusion regarding the difference between removal of an officer and removal of a board member in a North Carolina or South Carolina Community Association. In most cases the sitting board of directors has the authority to remove … Continue reading →

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For years North Carolina has followed the national trend of promoting and encouraging green technology and cleaner and more efficient ways of producing energy.  For homeowners associations, the trend has been for state legislatures to create laws allowing installation of solar collectors, regardless of what the HOA may say.  Some states have required HOAs to allow installation under all circumstances, while other states have limited an HOA’s ability to deny an application to install a solar collector to certain specific instances.  For an overview of the current solar laws in North Carolina and how they impact your homeowners association, take … Continue reading →

Prior to Hurricane Dorian our firm again sent out emergency contact information (emails and cell phone numbers) for all our community association attorneys. The thought behind doing this before significant storms is that in the event of HOA or condo damage, immediate advice may be needed on who is responsible for making and/or paying for necessary repairs. (And, yes, we have gotten calls in the middle of the night about water pouring into a unit or a tree through the roof.) Even in quiet times, issues related to maintenance, repair and replacement are some of the more difficult ones we … Continue reading →

A South Carolina solar bill that was signed into law by Governor Henry McMaster in May this year might have impacts on your homeowners association by increasing the number of property owners looking to install some sort of solar technology on their property.  Since most HOAs have architectural approval procedures for changes to properties, that means that more and more solar applications are going to be submitted for approval. Solar panels, solar shingles, and other solar collectors are increasingly popular options in homeowners associations.  It is no secret that our country, our states, and our local governments are all looking … Continue reading →

At Law Firm Carolinas we keep track of legal trends and recent case law that impacts our HOA and condo clients.  Although it is a case out of Virginia, the decision in Sainani v. Belmont Glen Homeowners Association, Inc. highlights three important themes that HOAs in North Carolina and South Carolina should be aware of:  (1) there is a difference between rules and regulations and restrictive covenants, (2) the specific wording in covenants matters, and (3) HOA and condo boards must create restrictions that are clear and unambiguous. First, there is a distinct difference between rules and regulations that govern … Continue reading →

Yesterday, August 14, 2019, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued significant policy revisions to its condominium approval process. In addition to changes to the condominium project approval policy, the new policy provides a “single-unit approval process” for individual condominium units to be eligible for FHA mortgage insurance, even if the condominium project is not FHA approved. In addition, the new guidelines extend the recertification for approved projects from 2 to 3 years and will allow more mixed-use projects to be eligible for FHA insurance. Here are a few more specifics as to changes to FHA’s Single Family Handbook: The new … Continue reading →

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