Looking for an expert

Our HOA is looking for an expert to offer their opinions

This is a paying job (1 night for 2 hours online plus the time it takes to review our HOA situation)

Please contact me if you would like more information.

Thanks

You can contact me, and we can discuss.

Hey Denise, yes small world, call me when I get back from vacation and we can discuss if you would like.

Denise:

If I were you and am interested in doing this you should deal with someone from North Carolina who has experience in an HOA in North Carolina. Gloria would seem to be an excellent choice as she has dealt with your state. A lot of us on here can give you general opinions and advice, but you need someone familiar with North Carolina law. Good Luck.

Here is the scoop in a nutshell.

Developer 1 buys 197 acres. 1999
City approves plats / plans for 197 acres
Developer 1 records documents only accounting for 96 acres in Exhibit A.
Developer 1 builds on 96 acres and releases the HOA to the owners. 2004
Developer 1 sells balance of land and plans to Developer 2 and does not disclose the full extent of Exhibit A only includes 96 acres. 2003
Developer 2 records documents to include balance of land. Thinking land was included in Exhibit A.2003
Developer 2 buys additional land and records it because they are majority voting power with balance of lots in the balance of original land deal.2004

6 years latter… 2007
Discovery that the original documents and Exhibit A did not include balance of original land deal and the balance when recorded was not done correctly to include additional land. (It would have been done correctly if the Exhibit A included a total of 197 acres)
Legal gets involved
Now we are 2 subdivisions
Developer 2 records new CCR’s

This is not a battle of who’s fault is it and who made the mistakes. We are over that now, and looking to fix the problems at hand so one day we can become 1 HOA again.

The lawyer told me that a good analogy would be. We need to go through the final divorce and separate before we can start dating and eventually get married again. Between the two HOA’s.

Now I was looking for someone who can help answer the following type questions.
1. Residents of the balance land bought by Developer 2 have a choice to belong to Developer 2 new HOA or not.
2. Residents who choose not to join will not have any voting rights but will they still have to mind the basic rules of the CCR’s (grass cutting, etc)? (because they did sign at closing for restrictions)
Stuff like that.

Now Gloria was our Management Company at the time this all went down. The current legal staff has vindicated the Board and the Management company. I personally think her company and services are great for any HOA. But with said the history she has with our HOA's may appear that her company's opinions on this matter could considered to be bias.

The lawyer you need is NOT a real estate attorney but one that deals with business law/contracts. A CC&R's are CONTRACTS and the HOA a corporation.
The lawyer's advice was right on. The analagy hits the issue right on the head. Your 2 HOA's are going to essentially need to get "married" if this is to work. However, your going to enter headache terriotory if one of the original HOA's was voluntary and the other NOT. It's going to have to be agreed up front it is is either optional or mandatory for any of this to even work.
Basically, ALL the homeowner's need to rewrite new CC&R's/By-laws and incorporate under 1 name. That means new board members unless BOTH boards agree to work together the first year to settle things out and then have reelections from the entire newly formed HOA.
A HOA stands for HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION. So whatever the majority of homeowner's want to do is the way it goes.

I totally disagree with hiring a Real Estate attorney. The contracts they deal with are home sales related and NOT corporate. Real estate attorney's main responsibilities are to make sure the sales contract with the buyer is legal and that NO liens are on the property.
HOA's ARE the different creature here. Although it does involve real estate in that all interested parties involved own property in a certain area. It does NOT mean that the laws are real estate related.
HOA's or POA's are agreements amongst property owners to associate with eachother and setup rules/guidelines they want their exclusive area to abide to and by. That contract is the Convenants and Restrictions that go along with the deed of the property. By-laws are the rules the homeowner's agree to amongst themselves that are not part of their deeds. Any violation of a CC&R's is a violation against their deed of their property. Which in essence is a CONTRACT amongst ALL the homeowners associated with eachother.
Basically, a HOA is a corporation For-Profit or Non-profit. It follows the rules of a corporation and thus does business as a corporation/business. It's business is executing regulations the homeowner's want. (Or shareholders). That is NOT real estate it's contractual terms.
NOT every lawyer deals with the same type of law. MOST lawyers won't touch HOA's with a ten-foot pole or charge an outragous amount to do so. The real trick is to find a lawyer willing to take the job than worrying what type they are in some areas.