October 11, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster

I was shocked when I read that some 5,500 homes have been filed upon for foreclosure by HOAs since 2018 in North Carolina, a state that has a significant population of HOA residents. Not sure how that compares to other states like MN (although we’ll check it out), what really caught my eye was this story from The Charlotte Observer:

A former Charlotte HOA president has taken his neighborhood association to court, alleging it improperly approved a $2,400 special assessment and sought to foreclose on his home when he refused to pay.

Yikes. Serve on a board as president, step away, new board creates an assessment, former president refuses to pay, and foreclosure proceedings begin. Let the good times roll.

Rodney McCalister, former president of the Reflections Homeowners Association in east Charlotte, said the board violated its governing documents by approving a $2,400 per year special assessment in 2021 without securing the required homeowner votes. McCalister said he objected to how the fee was approved and billed, but the board and its management company ignored his concerns. When he refused to pay, McCalister said the HOA restricted his account access, sent his balance to collections and eventually filed a lien that led to foreclosure proceedings on his property.

Apparently the assessment was designed to fund some repair work on the exterior of the building that houses HOA units. But reading on, it sounds like the dispute between board and former prez runs a bit deeper, if my spidey senses are speaking to me correctly:

His lawsuit, first filed in Mecklenburg Superior Court in May, seeks more than $235,000 in damages and a full audit of the HOA’s finances from 2014 to 2024, according to court records. It also accuses the association of “unlawful actions” and “a lack of transparency,” including withholding financial records, mismanaging payments and removing his working fireplace in 2024, which he said reduced his property value.

Audits? Fireplaces? Financial records? Oh boy. Where’s the Tylenol?

He’s also reportedly spent nearly $15K in legal expenses pursuing this action.

“It’s cost me way more than the $2,400 they said I owed,” he said. “But it’s about doing what’s right. This never should have happened in the first place.”

Another episode of As the HOA Stomach Turns. Read the whole thing from the Charlotte Observer HERE.