For many North Carolina and South Carolina businesses, the annual holiday party provides a festive, valuable opportunity to express their gratitude, reward company loyalty, and bolster goodwill amongst employees and, potentially, key customers, clients, and vendors. But with such an opportunity also comes potential downfalls or opportunities for employers to incur unwanted or intended liability.     So how can a wise employer capitalize on the positives of holiday gatherings without becoming a Scrooge? By focusing on how and where liability may arise and planning for your festiv ..read more

Originally by Alice Sturgis, The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (often called “Sturgis”) was first released in 1950 as a simpler alternative to the Robert’s Rules of Order of its time. The Standard Code had fewer motions, updated archaic terms, modernized some practices, and cited court decisions about procedure as evidence of correct meeting procedure. In short, Sturgis focused more on principles than having a rule for every situation. While holding a much smaller market share than Robert’s, The Standard Code has a loyal following. For instance, many of my physician or dentist assoc ..read more

For the past year, community association attorneys have been discussing the impact of the CTA (Corporate Transparency Act). Much of the discussion has been on whether the Act does or does not apply to homeowner and condominium associations. As the effective date of the law is January 1, 2024 (with first reports being due no later than January 1, 2025), the need for clear answers has become more pressing. What Is the CTA? The Corporate Transparency Act was enacted in 2021 as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. In short, the Act is intended to stop foreign actors … The post What Is th ..read more

Five attorneys at Law Firm Carolinas have been named to the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Carole Albright, who is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law, has been recognized in the practice of Family Law. Keith Black, who is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law, has been recognized in the practices of Family Law and Family Law Mediation. Steven Black, who is a Board Certified Specialist in Residential Real Estate, has been recognized in the practice of Real Estate Law and Community Association (HOA and condo) Law. Jim Slaughter has been recognized in the practices … Th ..read more

Movies and music provide immense amounts of joy and entertainment to people all over the world. Collectively, the movie and music industries are worth upwards of twelve figures in revenue in a single year (for those of you counting the zeros on your hands at home . . . that’s north of $100,000,000,000.00 a year!). Much like you may be protective of your property and your homeowner’s association may be protective of its common property, it is understandable that those in the movie and music industry are also extremely protective of their property. When most people hear the word “property” … The ..read more

Member records requests is a frequent topic of consultation with boards and managers. The law in North Carolina is somewhat nuanced when it comes to what constitutes a record of the association, and who is entitled to review that record and under what circumstances. Here, we look at North Carolina law generally related to records requests and how a community should evaluate and respond to a request for records. In this state, homeowner, property owner and condominium members have certain document inspection rights under the Nonprofit Corporation Act, Chapter 55A of the North Carolina General S ..read more

Under North Carolina law, parties entering into loan agreements may specify an amount for attorneys’ fees, in the event that one of the parties breaches or there is a default. The prescribed amount of attorneys’ fees may be up to 15% of the amount owed under the terms of the loan agreement. Frequently, the loan agreement is silent about the specific amount of attorney’s and the agreement simply states that the breaching party shall be responsible for “all reasonable fees and expenses.” The applicable statute defines “reasonable” as 15%. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ..read more

In case it’s of interest, the article “Robert’s Rules of Order: An Interview” appears in the most recent NC State Bar Journal (Spring 2023). The article, by Executive Director Alice Neece Mine, covers what lawyers should know about meeting procedure, why Robert’s is still relevant today, changes in the new Robert’s, virtual and hybrid meeting procedures, common mistakes about meeting procedure, tips for keeping meetings short and productive, and more. As a reminder, both the NC Planned Community Act and NC Condominium Act require that unless otherwise provided in the bylaws, association and bo ..read more

Recently, a question came up on a national nonprofit list serve about how long various documents should be kept by an association, such as board meeting materials. Here was my response.  “Your question has both legal and political aspects. Since I don’t practice law in your state, I can’t say what specific language or practice should be used for record retention, but here are some general considerations: While a bit dated (which means I should update it!), here’s an article I wrote on “Association Documents: Keep or Toss?” that appeared in a national magazine some time ago but is mostly ..read more

In my work as an attorney, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, and Certified Professional Parliamentarian-Teacher, I work with quite a few different parliamentary manuals. That’s because different organizations use different books as their procedural guide for membership and board meetings. I’m often asked about differences, so here’s a guide to the three parliamentary books most likely to be encountered. (If more information is needed, my Notes and Comments on Robert’s Rules, Fifth Edition goes into greater detail as well as compares specific practices between the books.) A “parliamentar ..read more