We live in a country where individuals and corporations transact business, enter into agreements, make purchases, and travel or move from state to state on a regular basis. Sometimes, these out-of-state interactions go south – a company or individual breaches a contract or a driver causes a collision and injures another person – and a lawsuit is filed. What happens if a defendant lives in or moves to North Carolina, but the judgment was entered in another state? Or, if the defendant has real property or other assets in North Carolina? Can a judgment obtained in another state be enforced … Continue reading
Earnest Money Deposit & Contract Default Damages Between North and South Carolina Residential Purchase Contracts
Many real estate attorneys, including Law Firm Carolinas, PA, work in North and South Carolina to handle matters in both states to benefit their clients’ best interests, but require competence in the laws of both states. There are many differences in the laws of each state, so your counsel must have requisite knowledge of both in order to handle these types of engagements for you effectively. One area of difference between North and South Carolina is how earnest money deposits made in connection with an accepted offer to purchase are treated once the contract terminates due to default. In North … Continue reading
I Want to Sell My Home But the Buyer Cannot Get Financing
CONCERNS WITH CONTRACTS FOR DEED / LAND INSTALLMENT CONTRACTS As my mother told me long ago, “There is more than one way to skin a cat.” If we establish that saying as truth, and there are many ways to accomplish the same goal, I would have to add that some methods are certainly better than others given the same fact pattern; experience teaches us this. It is my experience that if you are selling a home in North Carolina to a buyer who does not have all of the funds to purchase the property, either thorough available cash or an … Continue reading
Association Loans: What You Need to Know
Previous posts have looked at options for community associations in need of money (see Help, Our HOA (or Condo) Needs Money!). If your association has explored and rejected other possibilities (increased assessments, reserves, special assessment, etc.), a loan may be the best prospect. Questions about whether the loan is a good idea or whether the association will be able to pay back the funds are something that only the association can answer. Instead, this blog examines the legal process of what is involved when an association borrows money. Over 200 lenders currently make loans to HOAs and condos, according to … Continue reading
Law Firm Carolinas Attorneys Speaking at HOA/Condo Annual Conference AUGUST 2
The Annual Conference of the North Carolina Chapter of the Community Associations Institute will be held Thursday, August 1 and Friday, August 2 at the Wilmington Convention Center (515 Nutt Street). Attendees will include community association professionals and community leaders from across the state. During the Friday educational sessions, several Law Firm Carolinas attorneys will be speaking on issues of concern to community associations, including: Friday, August 2 at 8:30 am David Wilson (with Dawn Becker-Durnin, NFP, and Jessica Due, NFP) Contractual Risk Transfer for Communities: It’s Not Just About the Certificate of Insurance Communities need to outsource work such … Continue reading
Special Assessments for Your Condo or HOA
I am often asked to help homeowners associations and condominiums figure out ways to make ends meet. For those communities with cash flow problems it can be challenging. Raising dues is never a popular option, but is often necessary. The governing documents for most condominiums and homeowners associations allow the board of directors to unilaterally increase dues by some amount—usually between 10% and 15%—without a vote of the membership. That makes sense because an association should be able to make regular increases to dues to keep up with the costs of the association, both the expected costs and the unforeseen … Continue reading
I’m Just Buying a Home… Why Does a Judgment Against Me Matter?
When a client is purchasing a home, my primary job as an attorney representing the buyer is to research the chain of title for the property and to make sure that no one can, as I like to put it, “come out of the woodwork and claim an interest in the new home.” I explain this to clients during the closing by stating that before they own the home, their seller owned it, and someone else before them, and so on. We call this the “chain of title.” When those owners owned the property, they had the power to affect … Continue reading
Regulation of Display of American and North Carolina Flags in HOA & Condominium Associations
Happy Fourth of July! It is the time of year when our firm gets many questions regarding the display of United States and North Carolina flags in their community associations. Summer is a popular time of year for sun, sand, BBQ cookouts, and for display of patriotism! In our experience, we have found that most associations encourage the patriotic display of the United States and North Carolina flags, however reasonable restrictions on flag displays are common in community association governing documents. Both the North Carolina Planned Community and Condominium Acts limit the way in which associations restrict the display of … Continue reading
Top Declaration Amendments for an HOA or Condo in North Carolina & South Carolina – Part Three
Authored by Harmony Taylor & David Wilson We are often asked by board members for HOA and condominium associations to review their community’s documents and “update” them or “make them more modern.” While there is no one-size fits all solution for any community association, we have noticed that some declaration amendments are a good idea for most communities. Over the next few articles, David Wilson and Harmony Taylor will be exploring some of the amendments that we frequently recommend to the associations that we represent. Whether you are a single family, townhome, or condominium community, you may want to think … Continue reading
Top Declaration Amendments for an HOA or Condo in North Carolina & South Carolina – Part Three
Authored by David Wilson & Harmony Taylor We are often asked by board members for HOA and condominium associations to review their community’s documents and “update” them or “make them more modern.” While there is no one-size fits all solution for any community association, we have noticed that some amendments are a good idea for most communities. Over the next few articles, David Wilson and Harmony Taylor will be exploring some of the amendments that we frequently recommend to the associations that we represent. Whether you are a single family, townhome, or condominium community, you may want to think about … Continue reading
Parental Liability
A Guide for North Carolina & South Carolina Parents As the mother of two young children, I would like to think that my kids will always follow the rules, obey the law, and make good decisions. The realist in me knows, however, that they won’t always act as they should or as they’ve been taught. So what is my liability or legal exposure for the conduct of my children? Can I be held financially responsible for their wrongdoing? Generally speaking, parents are not required to act as insurers against wrongs, harms, or damages inflicted by their children. This maxim, however, … Continue reading
The HOA Has Foreclosed on a Home for Delinquent Dues, Now What?
What happens when an HOA completes a foreclosure sale of its claim of lien for unpaid dues? There are several common outcomes which are listed below in order of frequency in our experience: (1) The owner/occupants are evicted and the house is left empty. The Association should include this property on its general liability policy in case someone gets hurt on the property. Eventually, if there is a mortgage on the property (and there is almost always a mortgage) the mortgage company will eventually foreclose and take title from the Association. It is a common misconception that the Association is … Continue reading
United States Supreme Court Case Involves North Carolina Trust Beneficiaries
North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust. This month the United States Supreme Court decided a case that involved North Carolina trust beneficiaries. The question asked was whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permitted North Carolina to tax the income of a trust just because the beneficiaries live in North Carolina. The Supreme Court answered no. Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, North Carolina (or any state) has the authority to tax a trust if the trust has “minimum contacts” with the state. North Carolina DOR took the … Continue reading
It’s Not Over Until It’s Over
If you are separated or you’re considering separating from your husband or wife in North Carolina, one of the first questions you’ll get from an attorney is “what was your date of separation?” One of the reasons is that spouses are presumptively entitled to one-half of all “marital property.” Marital property includes real estate, bank accounts, vehicles and even lottery tickets that are acquired with marital funds or by marital efforts from the date of marriage to the date of separation. You may have read recently that a Michigan man who bought a Mega Million lottery ticket prior to separating … Continue reading
You’ve Been Separated from Your Spouse for One Year in North Carolina. Should You File for Divorce?
In North Carolina, you and your spouse have to be separated from one another with the intent of at least one of you to remain permanently separate and apart. Once you reach the one year’s separation, filing for divorce is fairly straightforward. But SHOULD you file just because the year has passed? Things you should consider before filing are: (1) will you lose health insurance coverage under your spouse’s plan?(2) do you have property you want distributed to you or debt you want distributed to your husband or wife?(3) do you need financial support in the form of alimony from … Continue reading
Carolinas HOA & Condo News – June 2019
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Should Movers Be Scheduled for Right After My Closing?
A REALISTIC VIEW OF THE CLOSING I always tell my first-time homebuyers the same advice; never make plans to move in to your new home right after closing. While there is a general expectation to receive keys to your home on the day of closing, there are numerous known delays which can create stress if you find yourself in a rush to the house after closing. As a general rule, the seller, or whichever party is holding the keys to the home, will provide the keys to the buyer once the deed to the property has been recorded in the … Continue reading
Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite!
Bed bugs have become a growing area of concern for planned communities across the country. Although no community is immune, bed bugs are most commonly found in single-family homes, condominiums, and hotels/motels. Because of their ability to travel from location to location, bed bugs can easily spread and infest multiple areas. This makes condominiums, townhomes, and single-family residences the perfect target for these tiny pests. You may be wondering how and why bed bugs are of importance to homeowners associations. I will be the first to admit that Board members and managers rarely seek advice regarding pest prevention. After all, … Continue reading
New Challenges in Cyber Security for Real Estate Transactions
The manner by which real estate transactions are conducted has changed a great deal over the past several years. Deals that were formerly completed entirely using ink and paper, are now becoming electronic, particularly when it comes to the movement of money. The cashier’s check was formerly the preeminent mode for moving funds from one account to another for a real estate transaction. This generally worked well and, excepting the occasional story about a fraudulent check, there were relatively few problems. The most noticeable downside to checks, from the perspective of a party to the transaction, was that the movement … Continue reading
South Carolina Tax Liens – 2019 Statutory Changes
The practice of searching title to South Carolina real property may be changing soon. Governor Henry McMaster recently signed a bill allowing for the creation of a statewide filing and indexing system of liens imposed by the South Carolina Department of Revenue that will take effect on July 1, 2019. Currently, state tax liens are filed with the office of a county’s Register of Deeds, Register of Mesne Conveyance, or Clerk of Court. Once the new system is implemented, liens will instead be filed in a statewide registry that will be publically accessible and searchable online. The most significant result … Continue reading