What it means for you
Three tools, all illustrative
Each tool shows what the documents say, side by side. None of them can tell you what you are owed or what a court would decide. They are not legal advice.
Illustrative
Refund checker
Answer two questions to see what the recorded Declaration, the Association's audit, and the proposal each say about the 2012 amenity assessment refund.
Assessment amount: $2,760 for a home, $2,200 for an unimproved lot. Amounts from the general ledger and the 2025 audit, Note 12. A lot owner who later builds pays $560 more to reach the home amount.
You are not sure. A closing statement from your purchase may show a payment of $2,760 or $2,200. The recorded text also says “The Association shall keep a record of all special assessments which have been paid by each Owner.”
What the 2013 recorded Declaration says
Article Five, Section 6(d), Book 410 Page 769
An owner who sells “shall be entitled to a refund of the Recreational Assessment paid by such Owner”. The same section sets a condition: “Such payment shall be only out of funds received by the Association (or the Recreational Amenities) paid by the purchaser of such property.”
What the 2025 audit says
“The total outstanding liability associated with this decision at December 31, 2025 was $1,858,960.” It is carried on the balance sheet as a liability. The same note says: “Effective August 8, 2025, the Association ended the practice of charging the initial special assessment of $2,760 or $2,200 to new property owners.” “The Association will repay the $2,760 or $2,200 special assessment at the time a property owner sells their property.”
What the proposal does
Proposed Declaration, Article Six, Section 6, page 27
It deletes Section 6(c) to (e) of the 2013 text, including the refund promise, without redline markup. The word "refund" appears nowhere in the proposed Declaration.
Illustrative only. This tool does not say whether you are owed money. Whether a refund survives the change is a question for counsel.
Illustrative. Not legal advice.
Foreclosure timeline explainer
Move the slider, or use the buttons, to step through an unpaid assessment day by day. The left column is the recorded 2013 Declaration together with state law; the right column is the proposal. Whether each state-law step binds APPOA today is itself a question for counsel (see the note below the table).
| When | Today (2013 Declaration and state law) | Under the proposal | The law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0A bill comes due and goes unpaid | An assessment is due. Once it is past due, interest can run at a rate the Board sets, up to 18% a year, because the 2013 Declaration provides for interest (Article Five, Section 7, Page 770). | Same. The 18% interest sentence moves into the lien section (Article Six, Section 9, page 28). | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-115(b) “bears interest at the rate established by the association not exceeding eighteen percent (18%) per year” |
| At least 15 days before a lienNotice by first-class mail | Before a claim of lien is filed, the Association must mail a statement of the amount due by first-class mail at least 15 days ahead. This was already in the 2013 Declaration (Pages 770 to 771). | Kept (page 28). | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116(b) “No fewer than 15 days prior to filing the lien, the association shall mail a statement of the assessment amount due by first-class mail” |
| Day 30Earliest lien under the proposal | Not yet. The 2013 Declaration waits 90 days before an unpaid assessment can become a lien. | An assessment unpaid for 30 days or longer is treated as overdue and as a lien on the property (page 28). The redline marks this change: ninety is struck and thirty inserted. | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116(a) “remains unpaid for a period of 30 days or longer shall constitute a lien” |
| Before attorneys' feesNotice before attorneys' fees | State law: an owner may not be charged attorneys' fees and court costs until notified in writing of the Association's intent to seek them, with 15 days to pay the balance without them. | Not written into the draft. The draft cites subsection (e) only for the fee cap. | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116(e) “A lot owner may not be required to pay attorneys' fees and court costs until the lot owner is notified in writing of the association's intent to seek payment of attorneys' fees” |
| Day 90Lien under the 2013 Declaration; earliest foreclosure under both | The 2013 Declaration allows a lien after 90 days unpaid. Under state law, foreclosure may start only if the assessment has been unpaid for 90 days or more, and only if the Board votes to foreclose on that specific lot. | A new sentence (marked) says APPOA will not start foreclosure until the assessment is at least 90 days past due. The draft does not write in the Board vote on the specific lot. | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116(f) “if the assessment remains unpaid for 90 days or more. The association shall not foreclose the claim of lien unless the executive board votes to commence the proceeding against the specific lot.” |
| Before foreclosure startsNotice of intent and the trustee | State law: before a power-of-sale foreclosure starts, the owner must get written notice of the Association's intent to foreclose. The Board appoints a trustee, who can be the Association's own lawyer if the owner does not contest the debt. | Neither the notice of intent nor the limits on the Association's lawyer serving as trustee are written into the draft. | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116(f)(5) and (f)(6) “Counsel for the association may be appointed by the association to serve as the trustee and may serve in that capacity as long as the lot owner does not contest the obligation to pay” |
| After the noticesHearing before the Clerk of Superior Court | There is no lawsuit and no trial. A hearing before the Clerk of Superior Court checks only for a valid debt, a default, and notice to those entitled to it. The Clerk's order can be appealed to a judge within 10 days. | Same procedure: the 2013 Declaration and the draft both allow foreclosure under power of sale under Article 2A of Chapter 45. | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116(f)(7) N.C.G.S. 45-21.16(d1) “If a valid debt, default, and notice to those entitled to receive notice under G.S. 45-21.16(b) are found to exist, then the clerk of court shall authorize the sale” |
| Sale and upset bid periodPublic sale, then 10 days for upset bids | The home is sold at public auction, followed by a 10-day upset bid period. Paying the debt and all costs, including attorneys' fees and the trustee's commission, before that period ends stops the sale. The only other route is to ask a superior court judge to stop the sale on legal or equitable grounds, which requires a bond. If the owner does not contest, attorneys' fees and the trustee's commission together are capped at $1,200, not counting costs. | Same sale procedure. The draft caps only reasonable attorneys' fees at $1,200, where the statute caps attorneys' fees and the trustee's commission together. | N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116(f)(8) and (f)(12) N.C.G.S. 45-21.27 N.C.G.S. 45-21.34 “then attorneys' fees and the trustee's commission collectively charged to the lot owner shall not exceed one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200), not including costs or expenses incurred” |
Whether these state-law steps bind APPOA today depends on N.C.G.S. 47F-1-102(c), which applies N.C.G.S. 47F-3-116 to communities created before 1999 unless the declaration expressly provides otherwise, and on how the 2013 Declaration's notice clause (Article Eleven, Section 11) is read. Under the proposal, Article One says the Act does not apply except as expressly incorporated. These are questions for counsel. State law sets no minimum dollar amount for a lien or a foreclosure.
Illustrative. Not legal advice.
Illustrative
Records cost estimator
Estimate what GEN 1.1 would charge for documents that are not on the community website, and compare it with the cost standard in the Nonprofit Corporation Act.
What the policy charges
“There is a minimum charge of $200.00 for the first hour for staff to retrieve any document that is not available on the community website.”
$200 minimum for the first hour, then $50 for each additional hour or part of an hour, plus $0.25 per copy, paid in advance.
With JavaScript on, the estimate appears here. $200 minimum for the first hour, then $50 for each additional hour or part of an hour, plus $0.25 per copy, paid in advance.
The policy does not say whether the $200 minimum applies once per request or once per document, so the estimator shows both readings.
What state law allows
“The corporation may impose a reasonable charge, covering the costs of labor and material, for producing for inspection or copying any records provided to the member. The charge shall not exceed the estimated cost of production or reproduction of the records.”
GEN 1.1 was edited September 29, 2026; the September 25 version read “a minimum charge of $200.00 for the staff to retrieve” without "for the first hour". See the September 25 version.
Illustrative. Not legal advice.