North Carolina HOA laws & resources.

Laws impacting North Carolina associations.

North Carolina's homeowners' and condominium associations are governed by a well-developed set of state statutes, alongside the federal laws that apply nationwide. HOPB hosts the full text of every one of these North Carolina statutes, each with a plain-language guide.

North Carolina HOA Law Guide Browse every statute we host in full — the Planned Community Act, Condominium Act, Unit Ownership Act, Nonprofit Corporation Act, Debt Collection Act, and State Fair Housing Act — with the official text and section-by-section anchors.

Looking beyond the core acts? See related & miscellaneous North Carolina laws — broader statutes that can affect a community, plus the laws people often assume apply to associations but don't.

Three things are worth knowing about how North Carolina's HOA law works:

• North Carolina uses a two-track structure. Planned communities (subdivisions of single-family homes and townhomes) are governed by the Planned Community Act, while condominiums are governed by the Condominium Act (for condominiums created on or after October 1, 1986) or the older Unit Ownership Act (for condominiums created before that date). On top of that, nearly every association is a non-profit corporation — every planned-community association formed on or after January 1, 1999 must be. Much of a community's day-to-day governance still comes from its own recorded documents — the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs), bylaws, and articles of incorporation. To be enforceable, an association's CC&Rs must be recorded with the county land records.
• North Carolina regulates HOA debt collection at the state level — unusually strongly. The North Carolina Debt Collection Act (NCDCA) prohibits unfair or deceptive debt-collection practices, and — unlike the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which applies only to those collecting debts for others — the NCDCA reaches creditors collecting their own debts. North Carolina courts have held that an association collecting its own past-due assessments can be a “debt collector” under the NCDCA. HOA fees are “debts” and homeowners are protected “consumers.” Victims can file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office, the FTC, or the CFPB.
• Members have a statutory right to mediation. North Carolina associations must notify their members at least annually of the right to initiate prelitigation mediation of condominium and HOA disputes (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-38.3F). Associations and members can contact the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission or the Mediation Network of North Carolina to request a mediator. This does not apply where the dispute is solely a member's failure to pay assessments.

HOA contact information and documents.

• Important Facts About North Carolina Homeowner Associations — a plain-language guide to how North Carolina associations are governed and what boards can and cannot do when running an association, holding meetings, budgeting, collecting assessments, and enforcing covenants.

• The North Carolina Homeowners' Association Directory — visit HOPB's HOA Directory and select North Carolina to reach the state's official corporate registry (the North Carolina Secretary of State's business search), where you can search under the community's name or subdivision to find an association's contact information, list of board members, and corporation documents, such as its articles of incorporation.

• Association records and inspection — all financial and other records, including records of the association and executive board meetings, must be made reasonably available for examination by any lot owner and the owner's authorized agents. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-118 (for planned communities), § 47C-3-118 (for condominiums created after October 1, 1986), and § 47A-20 (for condominiums created before that date), together with the corporate records provisions of the Nonprofit Corporation Act (§§ 55A-16-01 through 55A-16-03).

• Recorded documents — an association's Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs), amendments to CC&Rs, bylaws, lien notices, HOA notices, plats, maps, and other community documents can be found by visiting the register of deeds in the county where the association is located. To be enforceable, an association's CC&Rs must be recorded with the county land records.