There’s a well-known quote that says, “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” It’s credited to Otto von Bismarck and means that the legislative process can be messy and confusing. That idea came to life this week in the North Carolina Senate.
As a reminder, Senate Bill 378 (“HOA Revisions”) was passed by the NC Senate in May. It is now being looked at by the North Carolina House. The bill includes too many provisions to list here and would be the most radical change to the NC Planned Community Act and NC Condominium Act in three decades. If you want more background, take a look at NC Community Association Legislative Update – May 7, 2025.
Also, due to a wording problem as described in Senate Bill 378 Could Devastate North Carolina’s Community Associations—And Burden Responsible Homeowners, the bill could cause enormous financial harm to North Carolina’s 15,000+ homeowner and condominium associations and their owners.
That was the situation until yesterday.
The Senate’s State and Local Government Committee was meeting to talk about House Bill 372. That 1-page bill, which already passed the House, was named the “Home-Based Business Fairness Act.” It was drafted to prevent cities from banning small, no-impact businesses that people run from their homes. In other words, nothing at all to do with community associations. (The bill when it entered the committee hearing yesterday can be found here.)
But during the committee’s discussion, something surprising happened. The committee voted to add all 18 pages of Senate Bill 378 to House Bill 372. This added the same exact HOA and condo rules, including the flawed section about assessments. Now House Bill 372 is no longer just about home-based businesses, but includes all the current language of SB 378. That includes the poor wording about assessments that makes the bill internally inconsistent and punishes homeowners who pay their dues on time.
With these changes, House Bill 372 passed favorably out of the Senate committee and is now headed to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
So what happens next? It’s hard to say. Senate Bill 378 and House Bill 372 might both move forward individually. Or one might be changed to fix the wording issues. Or maybe neither will pass. What is clear is that lawmakers don’t appear finished with HOA and condo law changes during the current session.
This week is an example of why it’s important to pay attention while laws are being made. Things can change quickly and without much notice. As the famous philosopher Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Stay tuned.