Why a Charlotte couple is on the verge of losing their home over a $100 HOA fine
Jeffrey Baldwin paid his homeowners association dues on time for over 15 years. So when he went online to pay his annual $700 fee in January 2023, he was shocked to see a request for thousands of dollars.
The money accumulated, he discovered, due to a $100 fine for having a vehicle parked in front of his house that allegedly violated his northeast Charlotte neighborhood’s rules. But because the HOA never notified him of this charge, Baldwin said, it continued to add $100 fines every few months for the same violation.
In an effort to settle Baldwin’s and husband Levi’s account before a court hearing, the HOA agreed to waive $1,800 in fines, according to a letter sent to the couple. That still left nearly $2,500 including interest and delinquent charges.
Baldwin hopes he can prove to the court clerk the initial $100 fee was added improperly to his account, since the vehicle in question is not for commercial use, as violation states. He said the foreclosure process has ruined his and his husband’s credit, and he may file for bankruptcy if necessary in order to go through the process of arguing the validity of the debt.
“The clerk was ready to sell our house for $100,” Baldwin said. “It’s been stressful.”
An HOA official declined to comment for this story. The law firm representing the HOA declined to answer specific questions, but spoke generally about related cases, including the “false impression” some homeowners get that they’re being unfairly targeted.
Baldwin’s situation is not uncommon in North Carolina. Reporting by The Charlotte Observer found in 2023 HOAs filed to foreclose on over 5,500 properties since 2018. In the state, HOAs have the power to force foreclosures on homes for any amount of unpaid debt, according to Sharon Bey-Christopher, a managing attorney with Legal Aid NC.
“The North Carolina statute has holes big enough to drive Mack Trucks through it in terms of homeowner protection, and it gives the associations a lot of leeway,” she said. “People can potentially lose their homes for a couple thousand dollars.”
Legislators have attempted in recent years to curb some of the more predatory HOA practices, including House Bill 542 which died in committee in 2023, but it’s been difficult to get changes passed, Bey-Christopher said. HOA lobbyists often successfully stall or prevent legislation from being passed that would prohibit or lessen foreclosures from HOAs, according to previous reporting by the Observer.
Baldwin claims the HOA for his neighborhood called The Settlements practices selective code enforcement. The vehicle causing the fines is said to violate the neighborhood’s policy on commercial vehicles, he said, but the vehicle is used for personal uses only and has no markings or business information on it. What’s more, Baldwin said, there are numerous other households with years-old unpaid fines, but none of them has been foreclosed on, based on information from his online HOA portal.
The Settlements HOA president Vince Lamelza declined to comment, citing Baldwin’s right to privacy and fair debt collection laws.
“I can’t imagine someone who’s not fluent in the language trying to resolve this. My mom would not be able to do everything that I’m doing to try to save my house,” Baldwin said.
HOA dues sent back
Baldwin attempted to pay his annual HOA dues in the beginning of 2024, but had his check sent back to him two months later with a message that the HOA wouldn’t accept his payment until he paid all the additional fines and interests. He tried to contact the HOA eight times to find a solution or get more information but heard nothing back until he was notified of a lien against his house.
Baldwin isn’t going to let his house go easily, he said.
He’s been in front of a court clerk twice already. Both times, the clerk granted a postponement rather than approving the HOA to auction off the home.
The first postponement occurred because Baldwin contested the validity of the debt. The clerk issued a continuance the second time because the HOA failed to appoint a foreclosure trustee to present at the contested hearing, Baldwin said.
A court clerk was ready to sell his house for $100 before he contested the case, he said. At a hearing, the HOA asked for a continuance and another hearing is expected to be held in February, Baldwin said.
Besides being unfair, Baldwin said the HOA went about the foreclosure process in the wrong way. Because the basis of the foreclosure is unpaid fines, not recurring annual dues, the association needed to file a judicial foreclosure, which requires court approval to sell the home, not a nonjudicial foreclosure like it did, he said.
Carolina Law Firm, representing the HOA, sent a statement to The Observer via email saying homeowners sometimes feel they are being unfairly targeted due to a lack of knowledge about other cases, and that they give homeowners multiple notices before taking any debt collecting action.
“No enforcement action is pursued until the Association has exhausted all reasonable efforts to communicate with the owner to work out a solution to any violation,” Partner Harmony Taylor wrote. “Because the Association cannot share the details of enforcement against other lot owners, owners may get the false impression that they are being targeted. This is not the case, and the Association goes to great lengths to make sure that enforcement is reasonable, fair, and consistent.”
What an attorney says about HOA dispute
Baldwin should have been allowed to pay his HOA dues without needing to first pay off his additional fines, Jason Pikler, a senior attorney with the North Carolina Justice Center, said. Requiring Baldwin to first pay off the fines forces him to default on his HOA dues.
“That seems unfair,” Pikler said. “You can’t cause someone to default and then say, ‘oh, the person defaulted,’ so I think he has a pretty good claim.”
If Baldwin isn’t successful in his hearing, the HOA could force the sale of his house unless he pays what it contends he owes them.
“What I would want is for this to be dismissed, for us to be allowed to pay our HOA fees and just kind of move forward from this,” he said.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
