What a Triangle lot's covenants and HOA rules mean before you buy

A lot's restrictive covenants, and the declaration that sets up a homeowners association (HOA), are recorded with the land at the county's Register of Deeds. They can limit what you build and bring dues, fines and liens, so they belong in the conversation before you commit to a lot. When you send us a lot's address, send the deed restrictions too if you have them: they're part of telling you straight whether the lot is a fit for the home you have in mind.

What are covenants, and where are they kept?

Restrictive covenants are private rules recorded with the land, separate from town zoning. For planned communities, state law (G.S. 47F-2-101) says the declaration, the main covenants document, must be signed like a deed and recorded in every county the community touches. That's why the Register of Deeds has it, and why a community that crosses a county line has its declaration recorded in each county.

These are public records, and most Triangle counties put them online. Wake County's Register of Deeds, for example, records deeds, survey maps and restrictive covenants, with some records going back to 1785.

Covenants can change. Under G.S. 47F-2-117, owners holding at least 67% of the HOA votes can amend a declaration, or a higher share if the declaration requires it. An amendment takes effect only when recorded, so the recorded amendments matter as much as the original document.

Older deeds can hold troubling language. Wake's Register of Deeds and volunteers searched about 600,000 pages and found about 15,000 deeds with racially restrictive covenants, now shown on a searchable public map. The oldest on file is from 1906.

Your next step: before you commit, have a real estate attorney read the covenants and tell you what they mean for your plans.

What can an HOA in North Carolina do?

The Planned Community Act covers communities created on or after January 1, 1999. It does not cover newer communities with 20 or fewer lots unless their declaration opts in. Many key sections, including HOA powers, fines, assessments and liens, also apply to older communities unless their papers say otherwise.

Unless its own documents say otherwise, an HOA may adopt rules and budgets, collect assessments (dues), regulate common areas and charge late fees of up to $20 a month or 10% of the unpaid installment, whichever is greater. After notice and a chance to be heard, it may suspend privileges (but not access to your lot) once dues are 30 or more days late, and may fine owners for breaking the rules.

• Fines: unless the declaration sets its own process, an owner gets a hearing first. A fine can be up to $100 per violation, plus up to $100 a day if the violation continues more than five days after the decision. Fines can become liens.
• Budgets: a budget stands unless a majority of all owners votes it down.
• Liens: under G.S. 47F-3-116, an assessment unpaid for 30 days or more becomes a lien (a legal claim on the property) when filed with the clerk of superior court. After 90 days unpaid, and a board vote on that specific lot, the HOA can foreclose. A lien made up only of fines can be foreclosed only through a court case.
• Empty lots: the HOA does not have to mail certain lien notices to an address it knows is a vacant lot, or to a lot with no postal address.
• Before closing: an HOA may charge up to $200 for a statement of unpaid assessments and must provide it within 10 business days.

Changes have been proposed. House Bill 444, the "Homeowners Association Reform Bill," would change HOA powers and require mediation before HOA-owner lawsuits. The UNC School of Government's legislative tracker lists its latest action as a May 6, 2025, re-referral to a House committee.

Your next step: once you own the lot, make sure the HOA has your real mailing address, so its notices reach you while the house is being built.

What does the seller of an empty lot have to tell you?

Less than you might expect. G.S. 47E-4 requires an owners' association and mandatory covenants disclosure statement covering the HOA contact, dues, what dues pay for, approved special assessments, pending lawsuits and transfer fees, and the property disclosure must also cover restrictive covenants and zoning.

But the Residential Property Disclosure Act covers property with one to four dwelling units, and it exempts the first sale of a never-lived-in home from the property and HOA disclosure statements, though not from the separate mineral, oil and gas rights disclosure. Because the law is written for homes, ask a real estate attorney what disclosures, if any, come with an empty lot.