The national Community Association Law Seminar is by far the best HOA or condo legal program I attend each year. The year’s Law Seminar, sponsored by the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and the College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), is the 38th annual and will be held January 18-21 in Las Vegas, NV. While the Law Seminar provides about 13-20 hours of CLE and is mostly attended by attorneys, it’s not only for attorneys. Attendees include community association managers, bankers, other industry professionals and even homeowners who want to learn about HOA/condo law changes and trends. For insurance professionals who work … Continue reading →

New Year’s Day begins a new CAI-NC Chapter year. As this is my last Chapter update, I’d like to look back at some of our Chapter’s 2016 accomplishments and look forward to upcoming changes in 2017. The Chapter has accomplished much this year, including: Our Chapter’s successes this year have been the work of many individuals, including our Management Company Champions and Supporting Partners, committee chairs and members, Regional Council officers and members, LAC officers and members, and other volunteers. My special thanks to Leslie Blum, our experienced and professional Chapter Executive Director, who works incredibly hard behind the scenes. … Continue reading →

Well, this is a first—I’ve never done a community association legislative update just before Christmas. After all, the General Assembly doesn’t meet in December. But what’s been normal about politics in 2016? Earlier this week the General Assembly convened for a special legislative session to deal with issues related to hurricane disaster relief. At the end of that session, legislators issued a proclamation convening a new special session to deal with other unnamed issues. A number of bills have been filed, ith many dealing with restructuring aspects of state government following the recent elections. However, at least one proposal has … Continue reading →

A recent topic that we have been following is the congressional bill to permit HAM radio towers in community associations. We learned today that H.R. 1301 regarding HAM radio operation in planned communities failed to pass the Senate. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) opposed the original version of H.R. 1301, which would have required homeowners associations to allow installation of HAM radio antennas regardless of any prior restrictions or architectural requirements. With CAI’s support, H.R. 1301 was amended to require that antennas be approved prior to installation. The new Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2017 and it … Continue reading →

We all love our pets, and most consider them part of our families. However, homeowners may be surprised to learn that their Association may be able to restrict the number, type, or breed of pet allowed in their community.  With certain limitations, the presence of pets or other animals may even be prevented altogether.  While some, including myself, may choose not to live in a planned community with these type of restrictions, there may be perfectly good reasons for their implementation, including prevention of pet waste on common areas, damage to Association property, and increased liability. In order to restrict … Continue reading →

With election time upon us, we always get questions regarding political signs in homeowners associations and condominiums. My colleague, Jim Slaughter, authored a blog on “Q&A on Political Signs in HOAs and Condominium Associations” a few weeks ago that addresses some of the most common questions we get.  As a quick follow-up to his blog, here are a few items from South Carolina to keep in mind: First, it is always important to remember that unlike North Carolina, South Carolina does not have any HOA-specific statute that affects the display of political signs. So, if your association has specific rules in … Continue reading →

Political Signs in NC & SC Associations With a month to go before a major political election, questions about political signs are rolling in. Can we do something about political signs on association property? How many signs can an owner have in his yard? Can the association remove signs from a homeowner’s yard? One reason we get so many questions about political signs is that North Carolina has one of the most complicated sign statutes in the country. (South Carolina has no such statute). Adopted in 2005, the NC statute provides different authority for community associations based on when the … Continue reading →

Modern society is moving toward better, faster, and easier methods of communication and transacting business. There was a time when sending a letter was the standard form of communication.  Indeed, “regular mail” and hard-copy printed versions of documents are still the standard in most legal systems in the United States.  However, the trend over the past several years has been to move to faster, more efficient methods of communicating and operating. Unfortunately, legal systems are often the last to join the party. The laws involving homeowners associations and condominiums are no different.  In fact, many associations find themselves stuck with … Continue reading →

This week’s opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals contained three cases involving community associations. That’s about a record, and further evidence of the growing trend in terms of the number of reported HOA/condo appellate cases. One case, Kimler vs. The Crossings at Sugar Hill Property Owner’s Association, Inc. (August 2, 2016), involves the process for amending a declaration in a homeowners association created prior to 1999. While the case doesn’t provide groundbreaking new law, it does support a position HOA attorneys have argued for several years. In short, the Crossings at Sugar Hill (the “Association”) was created as a … Continue reading →

For those in the community association industry watching this year’s legislative session, it was fairly quiet. Of the 10 or so legislative proposals specifically dealing with homeowner or condominium associations still alive for the two-year session (see this recent Legislative Update), only a few bills even received discussion. None were adopted. In that regard, 2016 was uneventful. That said, one significant legislative act NOT specifically related to HOA’s and condos will almost certainly cost community associations money. And may require some community association budgets to be increased. And it has to do with sales taxes. For many years North Carolina … Continue reading →

At this time of year we often get questions from homeowners, managers, condominium and homeowners association boards about what flags may be displayed and under what circumstances. In South Carolina, both federal law and state law come into play. South Carolina law provides that homeowners associations and condominiums in South Carolina must permit the display of one portable, removable United States flag in a respectful manner, consistent with federal law, on the premises of the property of which he is entitled to use. Federal Law provides that homeowners associations and condominiums “may not adopt or enforce any policy, or enter … Continue reading →

Since my last update, the North Carolina CAI Chapter has realized some great achievements! Annual Conference & Expo The 2016 Annual Conference in Greensboro was a huge success! There were more than 225 attendees representing 32 management companies and 5 communities. That’s one of our largest attendance figures ever, and certainly a record for the Triad! Sixty exhibit booths were sold. And a little more than a quarter of this year’s attendees were first-time attendees, which speaks well for the future. Evaluations by conference participants also provided other valuable information. 89% of attendees rated the overall Annual Conference experience as … Continue reading →

For attorneys who practice community association law, there has been ongoing discussion at national HOA/condo legal events about whether a community manager is covered by the attorney-client privilege. In general the attorney-client privilege shields communications between an association and its attorney for materials prepared in anticipation of litigation or trial. Such communications usually lose their privilege if made in the presence of a third party. The concern has been that if legal communications that would otherwise be privileged are between the attorney and manager or if a manger is copied on a legal communication to the association, does that waive … Continue reading →

As 2016 President of the NC Chapter of the Community Associations Institute, I provide an update in each issue of “Serving NC,” the state CAI Chapter newsletter. Look for the new issue, which should arrive this week. However, I wanted to provide my most recent update, which provides information on some of the Chapter’s many activities.  For more details, visit the Chapter website at www.cai-nc.org. Also, mark your calendar and register ASAP for the 2016 NC-CAI Annual Conference and Expo on April 7-8 in Greensboro at the Sheraton Four Seasons. This will be a great event! Julie Adamen of HOA Manager Newsline is the keynote speaker. Learning sessions include excellent … Continue reading →

The City of Charlotte’s next fiscal year draft budget proposes to stop trash service for multifamily units. Such a move would be exceptionally unfair to owners of townhomes and condominium, who pay property taxes like other homeowners. While a Charlotte based dispute might not seem to directly impact you if you don’t live in the city, it does. Cash-strapped municipalities around the country are looking for more ways to push costs for previously provided services from the city to homeowners, often in planned communities or condominium associations. If such reductions in services become the norm in Charlotte, you can be assured they will soon appear elsewhere. Below … Continue reading →

Homeowner and condominium associations have become a major force in our state. North Carolina’s population recently passed 10 million, making it the 9th largest state. However, we are the 5th largest state in number of community associations. That equates to almost 14,000 associations with more than 2 million residents! With this growth has come an explosion of media coverage and legislative proposals concerning homeowner and condominium associations. Such changes mean the education, professional credentialing, online and printed resources, networking opportunities, and advocacy that CAI provides are more important than ever. There are four CAI membership categories Information on membership category dues and benefits can … Continue reading →

As highlighted in his recent blog post, Jim Slaughter of Law Firm Carolinas., noted the explosion of drone purchasing and use. This post is designed to supplement Jim’s summary of specific drone-related laws passed in North Carolina by providing an update on specific South Carolina drone-related laws. The recent Christmas season shows that drone purchases are on the rise in South Carolina and nationwide. South Carolina law does not define what type of aircraft would constitute a drone. While most proposed rules and regulations use the terms Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (“UAV”) or Unmanned Aircraft System (“UAS”), South Carolina’s proposed legislation … Continue reading →