A fight over one missed $400 payment cost a North Carolina woman her home, which was later flipped for nearly $900,000.
Taylor Sanders saw none of that profit. She now views herself as a cautionary tale. The lesson: Don’t underestimate the power of your neighborhood homeowner’s association.
“This is just the beginning,” she told Action 9 News in Charlotte. “I want to make sure I educate other people. I want to make sure they know about it. I want them to know their rights.”
Sanders’ story goes back five years when she was first informed she owed $400 in unpaid dues to the Weddington Hills Homeowner’s Association.
The HOA sent her multiple letters, but Sanders told Action 9 News she never received them. She acknowledges the $400 debt.
The board moved ahead with punitive action, acquiring a lien on her property in February 2021. Two months later, she received a letter saying she owed about $1,200 and was told foreclosure proceedings would soon commence.
“I thought it was a joke,” Sanders told the station.
It wasn’t, and soon Sanders would lose her 3,300-square foot home. It was sold, according to county records, for a paltry $49,000.
But the indignity didn’t stop there. Five months later, the new owner flipped Sanders’ home for $850,000.
“Oh my God. It’s devastating for my children,” she said. “I don’t wish this on anyone.”
The Weddington Hills HOA has declined comment. But their actions were entirely legal, leaving Sanders with no recourse.
Currently, under North Carolina law, HOAs have the authority to place a lien on a property if a homeowner doesn’t pay fees and dues.
If those dues remain unpaid, the HOA can initiate foreclosure proceedings. They’ve been given this power to enforce community standards, though, like Sanders, not everyone fully understands where their rights end and responsibilities begin.
An HOA can foreclose if fines are unpaid but, usually, the goal is to resolve the issue with the homeowner, not evict them.
Homeowners can appeal, but otherwise, their options are limited.
North Carolina legislators are considering a bill that would give homeowners increased rights. The new law would require a homeowner’s board to meet certain criteria before obtaining a lien on the property.
A HOA would be required to give delinquent dues payers proper notice about recoupment, providing clear details about the debt and the consequences of non-payment,
However, the bill has been stalled in the Legislature since last May.
