Community Act for NC

Started by JudithT • 4 replies • 1905 views

💬 Join us to post & get advice from 50,000 HOA & Condo leaders.

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in

JudithT (North Carolina)
Posts: 3

Posted:

Our association has never been incorporated since the developer left. All we currently have is a set of covenants which have no enforcement value, since we do not have a legal entity for an association.
We have been in contact with an attorney here in Asheville, NC, who formulated a generic North Carolina Planned Community Act for us to accept.
There is quite a bit of argument about this immense amount of legalese. People are afraid to approve it as it appears to be more than what we need for an association of 28 homes with no common areas, except at the entrance to our one-block subdivision.
I would like to hear if any other associations have been through this hurdle and can offer any advice or assistance.
Thanks

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Judith, your Declaration sets up your Association. What you need are by-laws to define the organizational structure. An attorney is not needed to do this, you can use another HOA's by-laws as a guide to create your own. If you chose to incorporate then Articles of Incorporation need to be drafted and filed with your Secretary of State. This gives your Board additional protection against legal action against individual Directors. Example Articles of other HOAs can be viewed on the SOS website. You can eliminate legalese which scares members.

JudithT (North Carolina)
Posts: 3

Posted:

Thank you for a reply. As I understand what you have said, we probably don't need this Planned Community Act, just our Declaration and by-laws. Articles of Incorporation, though not necessary, will give the Board additional protection. I am not sure what the SOS website is. I tried looking on the NC Secretary of State website but was unable to find any examples of Articles.

When this subdivision was built starting 1988, the developer wrote a restrictive agreement that said it could not be changed til 2018. Now that developer is out of business. So we have been told the only way we can enforce this agreement is to adopt the Planned Community Act. This doesn't make sense to most us. Appreciate any help.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Judith, by "a restrictive agreement" do you mean the Declaration of CC&Rs? If this is your Declaration and the Association is now controlled by the owners, it doesn't matter that the developer is out of business. If a competent attorney feels you need to adopt the Planned Community Act in addtion to the Declaration it should be considered. I have not reviewed either so I can not help.

JudithT (North Carolina)
Posts: 3

Posted:

I have one more question about this situation. Can you tell me the difference between a Restrict Agreement entered into between the subdivision developer and the financial institution that did the developer's financing and a declaration/by-laws? Can we adopt a declaration and set of by-laws while a restrictive agreement is still valid?
Thank you for you help.

🎯 You've read this entire discussion

Join the conversation with 50,000 HOA & Condo Leaders:

✓ Ask follow-up questions
✓ Share your experience
✓ Get expert advice
✓ Access 350,000 discussions

Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in here