The North Carolina Court of Appeals has once again determined that restrictive covenants are largely extinguished by operation of the Real Property Marketable Title Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. 47B-1 et seq.) if not included in the chain of title in the preceding thirty years. The decision can be found at C.E. Williams, III et al v. Reardon et al. (Unpublished). Our blog on last month’s Marketable Title Act decision can be found at New NC Appellate Case: C Investments 2, LLC v Auger (Covenants and Real Property Marketable Title Act).
This decision leaves one additional case pending for decision in the Court of Appeals addressing similar issues, and at this point we can expect a consistent decision. We will continue to monitor this line of cases and the likely appeals to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
If you have questions about this or any other real estate or community association issue, please contact a Law Firm Carolinas attorney at any of our five offices for assistance.