On this page: Does this apply to you? · Behind on dues · Liens and foreclosure · Violation letters and fines · Buying or selling: the $200 statement · The 2027 annual report · Board members · Budgets: a majority of all · HOA or condo at a glance · Who to ask · What changes next
Does this apply to you?
Find your community's declaration at the county register of deeds. Look at the recording date and whether it says "condominium". Those two facts decide which law is yours. (Section numbers below are from the North Carolina General Statutes.)
| Your home | Main law | Worth knowing |
|---|
| HOA (planned community) created on or after 1 January 1999 | Planned Community Act, ch. 47F (47F-1-102(a)) | Not for 20 lots or fewer, or where every lot is nonresidential, unless the declaration says the Act applies (47F-1-102(b)). The association must be a nonprofit corporation (47F-3-101). |
| HOA created before 1 January 1999 | Its own documents, plus listed sections of 47F (47F-1-102(c)) | The list covers fines, meetings, interest, liens, foreclosure, records and the $200 statement, for events from 1 January 1999, unless the articles or declaration expressly say otherwise. It does not include the budget vote. Owners holding 67% of the votes (or a smaller majority the declaration sets) can opt into the whole Act (47F-1-102(d)). |
| Condo created after 1 October 1986 | Condominium Act, ch. 47C (47C-1-102(a)) | The association may be a profit or nonprofit corporation, or an unincorporated nonprofit association (47C-3-101). |
| Condo created on or before 1 October 1986 | Unit Ownership Act, ch. 47A, plus listed sections of 47C (47C-1-102(a)) | The list includes the budget vote, fine hearings, meetings, liens and records, for events after 1 October 1986. Chapter 47A adds a yearly outside audit (47A-20). |
| Townhome | Usually 47F; 47C if legally created as a condominium | Our reading. Go by the declaration, not the building style. |
| Housing co-op | No North Carolina statute for residential housing co-ops was found | Rare, and run under their own corporate documents. Ask a North Carolina-licensed attorney. |
Check this one: older condos. Where chapter 47A and a listed 47C section cover the same thing (liens or records, say), our reading is that the 47C section governs events after 1 October 1986. Ask your association's attorney.
No state agency oversees North Carolina HOAs. The Department of Justice says "no state or federal agency oversees homeowners' associations" and tells anyone unhappy with an HOA board decision to "consult private counsel experienced in HOA matters". See Who to ask.
Behind on dues: the two 15-day letters
These rules, and those in the next section, are the same for HOAs (old and new) and condos (older condos for events after 1 October 1986). One exception: the 18% interest cap isn't on the list of sections that reach pre-1986 condos (47C-1-102(a)).
- Late charges. No more than the greater of $20 a month or 10% of the unpaid installment (47F-3-102(11); 47C-3-102(a)(11)).
- Interest. No more than 18% a year (47F-3-115(b); 47C-3-115(b)).
- Suspension. After 30 days unpaid, and notice and a chance to be heard, the association may suspend privileges or services, but never access to your lot (47F-3-102(11); 47C-3-102(a)(11)).
- Other fees. Service, collection, consulting or administration fees only if the declaration "expressly" allows them (47F-3-116(h); 47C-3-116(h)).
Letter one: at least 15 days before any lien
The association must mail you a statement of the amount due by first-class mail at least 15 days before it files a claim of lien. It goes to the home, your address of record with the association, and the county tax records address if different (47F-3-116(b); 47C-3-116(b)).
Letter two: 15 days to pay without lawyer's fees
Before it can charge you its collection attorneys' fees and court costs, the association must mail a notice by first-class mail stating the balance and naming a person and phone number to discuss a payment schedule. You then have "15 days from the mailing of the notice by first-class mail to pay the outstanding balance without the attorneys' fees and court costs" (47F-3-116(e); 47C-3-116(e)).
Check the postmark. Our reading is that the 15 days run from the date the letter was mailed, not the day you opened it, so note the postmark.
Payment plans are the board's choice
The board may allow installments "in the board's sole discretion". Neither side has to offer or accept a plan (47F-3-116(i); 47C-3-116(i)). The statute's only duty is that the fee letter names someone to call about one (47F-3-116(e)).
Letters for this: the ledger and how payments were applied, a statement of unpaid assessments, a payment schedule, attorney's fees charged before the 15 days ran, and fees the declaration doesn't allow.
Liens and foreclosure
- The lien. An assessment unpaid 30 days or longer becomes a lien when a claim of lien is filed with the clerk of superior court in the county (47F-3-116(a); 47C-3-116(a)). Its first page carries a bold, capitalized warning that begins "THIS DOCUMENT CONSTITUTES A LIEN AGAINST YOUR PROPERTY" (47F-3-116(c)).
- Three years. The lien ends unless enforcement starts within three years after filing (47F-3-116(c); 47C-3-116(c)).
- Rank. Ahead of other liens except a mortgage or deed of trust recorded before it, and tax and government liens (47F-3-116(d)).
- Fines. Fines imposed after a hearing "shall be assessments secured by liens" (47F-3-107.1; 47C-3-107.1), but only a judge can foreclose a lien for fines alone (47F-3-116(h)).
Foreclosure without a court: 90 days and a vote on your lot
The power of sale, with no lawsuit, needs an assessment unpaid 90 days or more, a board vote to start foreclosure "against the specific lot" (or unit, for condos), and a lien that isn't based only on fines (47F-3-116(f), (h); 47C-3-116(f), (h)). After the lien is filed and before foreclosure starts, you must get a notice of intent to foreclose (47F-3-116(f)(5)). A trustee then runs the mortgage power-of-sale process in Chapter 45, Article 2A, with notice of a hearing before the clerk served "not less than 10 days prior" (45-21.16(a)).
- The $1,200 cap. If you don't contest the debt or lien after the 15 days that follow the pre-lien statement, the attorneys' fees and trustee's commission charged to you can't exceed $1,200 together, not counting costs or expenses (47F-3-116(f)(12); 47C-3-116(f)(12)). The cap ends if you dispute the debt or raise any defense (47F-3-116(f)(12)).
- The 10-day upset bid. After the sale, anyone may raise the bid within 10 days of the report of sale, by at least 5% and at least $750. Each upset bid opens another 10 days (45-21.27).
- Stopping it late. Pay the debt and all expenses before the upset bid period ends and the trustee dismisses the case and the lien is cancelled (47F-3-116(f)(8)).
Check this one: the clerk's hearing. This is the process the statute borrows from mortgage foreclosures; ask the clerk of superior court's office or a North Carolina-licensed attorney how it runs. In Riverpointe Homeowners Ass'n v. Mallory (Court of Appeals, 2008), an owner who attended and took part in the clerk's hearing was held to have waived defects in the notice of it.
The court route, and the bank
An association can instead foreclose through a court action, sue for the money, or take a deed in lieu. Then the winning side gets costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, with no $1,200 cap (47F-3-116(g)). If a lender forecloses a first mortgage, the buyer at that sale isn't liable for assessments due before it took title; they become common expenses shared by all owners (47F-3-116(j); 47C-3-116(j)).
Check this one: the 90 days. Our reading is that the 90-day rule belongs to foreclosure without a court. The statute puts no 90-day threshold on the court route, so ask a North Carolina-licensed attorney about your own dates.
Letters for this: asking whether the board has voted to foreclose on your lot, and a payoff request to the trustee before the upset bid period ends.
Violation letters and fines
- Notice and a hearing first. Fines and suspensions need "notice and an opportunity to be heard" (47F-3-102(12); 47C-3-102(a)(11)).
- The default hearing. Unless the declaration sets its own procedure, the hearing is before the board or a panel of members who are not officers or board members, and you get notice of the charge, a chance to present evidence and notice of the decision. The fine can be up to $100, imposed "for each day more than five days after the decision that the violation occurs". A panel decision can be appealed to the board within 15 days (47F-3-107.1; 47C-3-107.1).
- Condos have a ceiling. "Reasonable fines not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00)" (47C-3-102(a)(11)). The HOA section says only "reasonable fines" (47F-3-102(12)).
- Older HOAs can fine. Wise v. Harrington Grove Community Ass'n (2003) held that a pre-1999 HOA could not fine without that power in its documents. A 2004 law (S.L. 2004-109) reversed the effect, and Riverpointe (2008) upheld an older HOA's fines. Older HOAs can fine today unless their own documents expressly say they cannot.
- Lawyers' fees. In an HOA enforcement suit, only if the declaration provides for them (47F-3-120).
Check this one: HOA fines above $100 a day. Whether the $100 daily limit in 47F-3-107.1 binds an HOA whose declaration sets its own fine procedure isn't settled by the text. Ask a North Carolina-licensed attorney.
Letters for this: a request for a hearing on a fine, or an appeal of a fine decision.
Buying or selling: the $200 statement
- What it is. On written request from "a lot owner or the lot owner's authorized agents", the association must give a statement of unpaid assessments and other charges against the home (47F-3-118(b); 47C-3-118(b)).
- Deadline. "Within 10 business days after receipt of the request" (47F-3-102(13a); 47C-3-102(a)(12a)).
- Fee. No more than $200, plus up to $100 to expedite "if the request is made within 48 hours of closing" (same sections).
- It binds the association, the board and every owner (47F-3-118(b); 47C-3-118(b)). It reaches older HOAs and condos too (47F-1-102(c); 47C-1-102(a)).
- Where the cap came from. S.L. 2020-90 (HB 902), Part IV, effective 2 July 2020, inside a bill about state purchasing, the Global TransPark and a prison pilot.
The $200 cap is on one document, not every fee at closing. It isn't a resale certificate: chapter 47F has no resale certificate law. Our reading is that a buyer gets the statement through the seller or the closing attorney, who normally orders it. The statute names no penalty for a late statement.
The seller's disclosure and three days to cancel
In most resales the seller must give the buyer the "Residential Property and Owners' Association Disclosure Statement" no later than the buyer's offer (47E-4(b1); 47E-5). It covers the association's contact, the regular assessment and what it pays for, any approved assessments or special assessments, judgments and lawsuits, and any fees the association or its manager charges for the sale. The seller may answer "No Representation" (47E-4(b1)).
If it isn't delivered by the time of your offer, you may cancel in writing, without penalty, deposit refunded. The right ends at the earliest of the end of the third calendar day after you receive it, the end of the third calendar day after the contract is made, or settlement or occupancy. Send the notice by hand or prepaid US mail (47E-5). The first sale of a never-inhabited home is exempt from the disclosure (47E-2(b)), and court-ordered, foreclosure, estate and family transfers are fully exempt (47E-2(a)).
Check this one: the form. The Real Estate Commission's form is known as REC 4.22. We saw revision 8/21 only on a listing copy, so ask your agent which revision is current.
Condos, and transfer fees
- Condo resales. The seller must also give, before conveyance, a statement "setting forth the monthly common expense assessment and any other fees payable by unit owners" (47C-4-109).
- New condos from a developer. The buyer gets a public offering statement and may cancel "at any time" in the "seven calendar days following the execution of the contract", with all payments refunded (47C-4-108).
- Transfer fees. Private transfer fee covenants recorded after 1 July 2010 don't run with the land and can't be enforced against later owners, buyers or lenders (39A-1, 39A-3, 39A-4), but reasonable association fees are excluded, as long as no part has to be passed to a third party (39A-2(2)). No dollar cap on transfer fees, capital contributions or lender questionnaire fees was found. The seller's disclosure must list fees the association or its manager charges for the sale (47E-4(b1)).
Check this one: special assessments at closing. Not law: NC REALTORS (Q&A revised 30 September 2022) says the standard Offer to Purchase and Contract (Form 2-T) has the seller pay special assessments approved before settlement (para. 8(k)). Ask your agent about the current form.
Letters for this: requesting the statement, the owner's authority for an agent, a follow-up after 10 business days, a fee over the cap, an owner's records request, a buyer's request to the seller, cancelling for a late disclosure, and a new condo buyer's cancellation.
The 2027 annual report
S.L. 2026-52 (House Bill 517), approved 7 July 2026, changes the Nonprofit Corporation Act, chapter 55A. It doesn't amend chapter 47C or 47F, but it reaches every association that is a nonprofit corporation.
- When. Every nonprofit corporation files "by November 15 of each year" after the year it was formed (55A-16-22.1(c)), from 1 January 2027 (S.L. 2026-52, s. 2(f)).
- What. Among other items: the name, registered agent and office, principal office, principal officers, a brief description of activities and a corporate email (55A-16-22.1).
- Fee. $18 online, $25 on paper (55A-1-22).
- Late. After 60 days the Secretary of State may presume the report delinquent (55A-16-22.1(f)), which is a ground for administrative dissolution (55A-14-20). The Secretary first mails a notice. The association then has 60 days after mailing to fix the problem or show it doesn't exist; otherwise it is dissolved (55A-14-21).
- Coming back. Reinstatement has no deadline and relates back to the dissolution date (55A-14-22). Until 1 January 2029, the Secretary may waive the reinstatement fee for a late report (S.L. 2026-52, s. 2(e)).
Check this one: your first date. Our reading, shared by North Carolina practitioners: an association formed before 2027 first files by 15 November 2027. Nothing is due in 2026. A missed date means roughly: presumed delinquent about 14 January, then a mailed notice, then 60 days, then dissolution. Confirm the dates with the North Carolina Secretary of State. Being dissolved can create problems, so talk to your association's attorney.
Check this one: is yours a nonprofit corporation? HOAs created from 1999 must be (47F-3-101). Condo associations don't have to be (47C-3-101). Our reading is that a pre-1999 HOA may be unincorporated, and that the report doesn't reach an unincorporated association or a for-profit condo corporation. If yours is a nonprofit corporation, and most are, it applies. Search the name at sosnc.gov.
No dollar penalty for a late report was found; the risk is dissolution. You can read section 55A-16-22.1 in the session law, linked below.
Letters for this: asking whether the association's annual report is filed, and a director's letter to the board about it.
Board members: duties, meetings and records
- Duties. HOA directors must act "in good faith" under the 55A standards (47F-3-103(a)). Condo directors "stand in a fiduciary relationship to the association and the unit owners" (47C-3-103(a)). The HOA section has no "fiduciary" wording.
- Insiders. No payment to a board member, officer, or their business or relative unless the bylaws expressly allow it or the board approves it in advance for services or expenses (47F-3-118(c); 47C-3-118(c)).
- Meetings. An owners' meeting at least yearly, with notice 10 to 60 days ahead listing the agenda, including "any budget changes" (47F-3-108(a); 47C-3-108(a)). Owners holding 10% of the votes in an HOA, or 20% in a condo (or less if the bylaws say), can call a special meeting (same).
- The owners' forum. "At regular intervals" the board must let owners attend part of a board meeting and speak about their concerns (47F-3-108(b); 47C-3-108(b)).
- Quorum. Unless the bylaws differ, 10% of the votes for HOA owners' meetings and 20% for condos, halved after each meeting that fails for lack of one (47F-3-109; 47C-3-109).
- Removal. Owners can remove any board member, with or without cause, by a majority of those present and entitled to vote at a meeting with a quorum, except developer appointees (47F-3-103(b); 47C-3-103(b)).
- The board can't elect itself. It may fill a vacancy for the rest of the term, but can't elect board members or set their terms (47F-3-103(b); 47C-3-103(b)). Names must be published within 30 days of an election (47F-3-103(f); 47C-3-103(g)).
- Proxies. Must be dated. HOA proxies end after 11 months, condo proxies after one year (47F-3-110(b); 47C-3-110(b)).
- Records. Reasonably available to owners and their agents (47F-3-118(a); 47C-3-118(a)). A member of a nonprofit may inspect core records on five business days' written notice (55A-16-02).
- The free annual statement. An income and expense statement and a balance sheet, available to all owners at no charge, within 75 days after the fiscal year ends. A majority of the board, or a majority of owners present and voting at an annual meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose, can require a review or audit of the current or previous year's books (47F-3-118(a); 47C-3-118(a)).
Open meetings. Neither 47F nor 47C says every board meeting is open to all owners. What they guarantee is the regular owners' forum. Your bylaws may give you more.
What we didn't find. No training or certification rule for directors, no licensing of managers, no statutory list of records an association may withhold, and no copy-fee cap. HB 444 (2025) would have limited management contracts to one year; it is not law as of October 2026.
What a board can't ban
- Flags. Since 11 August 2026, a US or North Carolina flag up to 4 x 6 feet, flown under the federal Flag Code on property the owner exclusively owns, can't be prohibited or regulated; common areas still can be (47F-3-121, 47C-3-121, as amended by S.L. 2026-59, s. 4). The codified page on ncleg.gov still shows the old exceptions.
- Political signs. Signs on your own property can be barred earlier than 45 days before election day or later than 7 days after. Size and number can't be regulated more strictly than the local ordinance, and with no local rule at least one sign of 24 x 24 inches must be allowed (47F-3-121; 47C-3-121).
- Solar. Collectors on residential property can't be prohibited, or effectively prohibited, though location and screening can be regulated without preventing reasonable use, and collectors visible from the ground can be barred on a facade facing, or a roof sloping down toward, areas open to common or public access. Multi-story condo buildings with horizontally divided units are excluded (22B-20).
Letters for this: a records request, the annual financial statement, the owners' forum, a special meeting request, a hearing on a fine, and a director's disclosure of an interest.
Budgets: a majority of all the owners
Where the statutory budget vote applies (see below), a budget isn't approved by the owners. It stands unless enough of them reject it (47F-3-103(c); 47C-3-103(c)):
- Summary within 30 days. The board adopts a proposed budget and, within 30 days, sends every owner a summary and notice of a meeting.
- Meeting 10 to 60 days later. No quorum is needed.
- The test. "The budget is ratified unless at that meeting a majority of all the lot owners in the association or any larger vote specified in the declaration rejects the budget."
- If it's rejected, the budget last ratified by the owners continues.
Check this one: a majority of all. Our reading: that means a majority of every owner, not of those who attend. In a 200-lot HOA it takes 101 "no" votes to reject, however few turn up. Where lots carry unequal votes, ask your association's attorney how the count works.
Who has this vote: HOAs created from 1999, older HOAs that opted in under 47F-1-102(d), and all condos, including pre-1986 condos for events after 1 October 1986 (47C-1-102(a)). Pre-1999 HOAs that haven't opted in don't; their documents control budgets (47F-1-102(c), (d)).
Special assessments and reserves
Neither 47F nor 47C has a special assessment procedure. Costs caused by one owner's negligence or misconduct can be assessed to that lot (47F-3-115(e)); for condos, the rule covers misconduct only (47C-3-115(e)). Budgets may include reserves (47F-3-102(2)). Any surplus left after expenses, a reasonable operating surplus and reserve prepayments goes back to owners in proportion to their share of common expenses, or is credited against future assessments, unless the declaration says otherwise (47F-3-114).
Check this one: special assessments. Our reading is that the power to levy one, and any owner vote, come from your declaration and bylaws. Whether it must go through the budget vote isn't settled. Check your declaration, then ask whether the board treated it as a budget change, and ask a North Carolina-licensed attorney.
No reserve rules. No reserve study, reserve funding level or reserve disclosure rule exists in chapter 47F or 47C.
Letters for this: the full proposed budget, how votes will be counted, when the budget will be adopted, authority for a special assessment, the annual financial statement, inspecting records, calling a special meeting, and which law governs your budget.
HOA or condo at a glance
| Rule | HOA (ch. 47F) | Condo (ch. 47C) |
|---|
| Covered in full | Created on or after 1 January 1999 (47F-1-102(a)) | Created after 1 October 1986 (47C-1-102(a)) |
| Budget vote reaches older ones | No, unless opted in (47F-1-102(c), (d)) | Yes (47C-1-102(a)) |
| Fines | "Reasonable" (47F-3-102(12)); default procedure up to $100 a day after 5 days (47F-3-107.1) | Not over $100 (47C-3-102(a)(11)); same default procedure (47C-3-107.1) |
| Owners who can call a special meeting | 10% (47F-3-108(a)) | 20% (47C-3-108(a)) |
| Owners' meeting quorum | 10% (47F-3-109) | 20% (47C-3-109) |
| Proxy life | 11 months (47F-3-110(b)) | One year (47C-3-110(b)) |
| Board duty | Good faith (47F-3-103(a)) | Fiduciary (47C-3-103(a)) |
| Developer handover | Set by the declaration (47F-3-103(d)) | 120 days after 75% conveyed, or two-year limits (47C-3-103(d)) |
| Association form | Nonprofit corporation if created from 1999 (47F-3-101) | Profit or nonprofit corporation, or unincorporated nonprofit association (47C-3-101) |
| Resale disclosure | The 47E statement (47E-4(b1)) | Plus a monthly assessment statement (47C-4-109) |
The same for both: the $200 statement, the two 15-day letters, the lien, the 90-day rule, the $1,200 cap, and judge-only foreclosure for fines.
Who to ask
- Your board or managing agent, in writing.
- The county register of deeds: declarations and amendments.
- The clerk of superior court: claims of lien and power-of-sale foreclosure files (47F-3-116).
- The North Carolina Secretary of State (sosnc.gov): whether your association is a nonprofit corporation, its registered agent and, from 2027, its annual report. It doesn't resolve HOA disputes.
- A North Carolina-licensed attorney. The North Carolina Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service (919-677-8574) offers referred clients an initial 30-minute consultation for $50.
- Your closing attorney and real estate agent: the $200 statement, the disclosure statement and the contract forms.
- The Department of Justice, Consumer Protection, (877) 5-NO-SCAM, for consumer complaints generally. It says no state or federal agency oversees HOAs, and it points people unhappy with a board decision to private counsel.
- The North Carolina Real Estate Commission publishes the disclosure form. It isn't an HOA regulator.
There is no North Carolina HOA ombudsman, commission, regulator or complaint office. HB 1174 (2026) would create a complaint system at the Department of Justice. It is not law as of October 2026.
What changes next
- 11 August 2026. Associations lost the exceptions that let them restrict a US or North Carolina flag (S.L. 2026-59, s. 4).
- 1 October 2026. New nonprofits need at least three directors (S.L. 2026-52).
- 1 January 2027. The annual report rule takes effect (55A-16-22.1).
- 15 November 2027. On our reading, the first annual reports are due.
- 1 January 2029. The reinstatement fee waiver for late reports ends.
The General Assembly next convenes at noon on 13 January 2027 (120-11.1). No 2024 or 2025 session law changed chapters 47C or 47F in substance.
Bills to watch, none of them law as of October 2026. HB 444 (2025) has sat in House Judiciary 1 since 6 May 2025. Its first version proposed a cap on fines, budget votes over 10%, 180 days before foreclosure, and mediation. It has not passed. HB 1174 (2026) would create a Department of Justice complaint system. HB 1212 (2026) would deal with solar, gardens and accessory dwelling units. Our reading is that bills that don't pass in the 2025 to 2026 session don't carry over, but similar bills may be filed in 2027.
General information only, not legal advice. Current to October 2026. The official text of the North Carolina statutes is linked below. Check it, and ask your association's attorney or a North Carolina-licensed attorney about your own situation.
