Newport, North Carolina

Why HOAs and Management Services Providers Have ‘Bad Names’.

Why HOAs and Management Services Providers Have ‘Bad Names’. In 2021, we purchased a single-family residence in a low-density HOA development along the Crystal Coast in Newport, NC. The home had been one of several built by a developer who constructed homes in ‘Phase 1,’ then eventually sold other parcels of land to other developers who completed additional phases. At the time of purchase, the home was almost 20 years old, had been owned by a single owner who had carefully and lovingly maintained the property, made wise improvements, and survived a few hurricanes. We knew we were blessed to purchase the home for the sale price, and the sellers assured us that the self-managed HOA typically only collected a minimal annual assessment of less than $250/lot. There were 100 properties in the development and no HOA-owned amenities (i.e., no playground, no pool, no clubhouse, no picnic shelters). The only property owned and maintained by the HOA were several undeveloped parcels of land at the front of the development, a few curb-outlet swales throughout the development (including one between our property and our neighbor’s property), and some trees/bushes that were historically maintained by a landscaping contractor. We’d never owned property in an HOA or COA before, but we searched online and found nothing to indicate that this HOA would be a problem of any kind. Fast forward five years, and I could fill a book with ‘stories’ and records to validate the many experiences that we had along with other property owners — and it all started when the board ‘changed’ and a majority of the ‘new’ board directors decided that they needed to start extreme oversight through extreme inspections with NO ACCOUNTABILITY to owners…not even the very minimal accountability required through the low-level NC laws that are supposed to protect HOA property owners. At one point, I volunteered to serve on the board, and less than three months later, I was unlawfully removed through a secret vote that was never recorded. Could I have fought the other board directors? Sure. Should I have? Not sure — frankly, it wasn’t worth it. What I did instead was create a separate social media presence and begin advocating for local and state-wide reform in HOA laws. Within two years, that board had changed five times and has returned to ‘silent’…but not without some highly questionable financial actions, unlawful meetings, unlawful attempts to hold elections, unlawful records, a management services provider that does nothing and still gets paid each month — and the list could go on and on. I have records to prove all of it — but we’re currently in the process of selling that property because we no longer have a need to maintain a second property in NC. It’s still a great house, and we truly hope that the new owners will be as blessed as we were while we owned the property. We have wonderful neighbors that go out of their way to help each other, and we live in the quietest section of the development on a cul-de-sac that is ideal for families with kids. Will we ever purchase property in an HOA again? Not unless absolutely necessary. Through my years of advocacy efforts, I learned that what we experienced is common in NC. I connected with other property owners who are advocating for the same reforms that I advocated for — with some of them having been in much worse situations/circumstances than we were in.