9 Investigates: Yes, your HOA can foreclose on you

CHARLOTTE — Charlie Cromartie was living in the Back Creek neighborhood in northeast Charlotte two years ago. She admits she owed back dues to her HOA. She says: just $132.

Cromartie says one thing led to another. She says the HOA claimed she was leasing out the house without the right paperwork. She says she wasn’t. She says the HOA fined her for weeds.

“Next thing I know I was getting fined $100 a day,” she said.

That was until she owed around $5,000. The HOA got a lien on her home and then started the foreclosure process.

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“I wasn’t just going to let them take that from me,” she said. “I decided to go ahead and just sell the house and at least walk away with something.”

Obviously, it was a hard decision. Cromartie is now in an apartment in another part of town and warning others: if you owe your HOA money, take it seriously, and if your HOA threatens to sell your home, take that seriously too.

“Just be careful and pay attention because they can definitely try and take your house from you,” she said. “I just feel like [HOAs] have too much power,” she said.

So do some North Carolina lawmakers. The General Assembly’s considering two bills to limit HOAs. The main difference: when associations would be able to foreclose.

One says never. The other says they’d have to wait six months to allow the homeowner to pay what they owe. There’s no telling if they’ll survive committee, but they have bipartisan support.

Caleb Prevatte is a Concord lawyer who represents dozens of HOAs, but wasn’t tied to Cromartie’s case. He says associations don’t pursue liens and foreclosure lightly.

“This is about fairness for the rest of the community,” Prevatte told Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke. “They are operating on tight budgets. and they really just want to make sure that everyone is paying their fair share so that the community can be safe and well-maintained and keep property values high for everyone.”

He says taking someone’s home is a last resort and that the number one reason he sees it get to that point: unpaid homeowner dues.

It can be hard to win a fight with your HOA. After all, you agree to live by their rules when you move into the neighborhood. That said, Stoogenke suggests, if you have an issue: