Section 1: Overview

North Carolina takes a middle path on who may serve on a homeowners association board. Two parallel statutes, both drawn from the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, give every community an executive board, a standard of care borrowed from corporate law, rules for the period when the developer still runs things, and a way for owners to remove a director. What the statutes do not do is decide who gets to run. They leave that to each community’s own documents. The state requires no certification, sets no term limit, and erects no automatic bar against owners who fall behind on dues or carry a criminal record.^{1, 2}

Condominiums created on or after October 1, 1986 answer to the North Carolina Condominium Act, Chapter 47C. Planned communities created on or after January 1, 1999 answer to the North Carolina Planned Community Act, Chapter 47F.^{3, 4} Older communities follow different rules: a condominium created before October 1, 1986 falls under the earlier Unit Ownership Act, Chapter 47A, and a planned community created before January 1, 1999 is reached only by a short list of Chapter 47F sections named in G.S. 47F-1-102, plus its own covenants and the Nonprofit Corporation Act.^{3, 4}

That structure sets North Carolina apart from heavy-touch states. Florida makes a condominium board member sign a certification and earn an education certificate, and it caps service at eight straight years. California disqualifies a non-member from the ballot by statute.^{5, 6} The sections that follow trace where director qualifications come from, lay out the rules on eligibility, disqualification, and tenure, and review what lawmakers and the courts have done lately.

Section 2: Where director qualifications come from

2A. The two statutes and their effective dates

North Carolina runs two parallel statutes for common interest communities. The North Carolina Condominium Act, Chapter 47C, governs condominiums created in the state on or after October 1, 1986.³ The North Carolina Planned Community Act, Chapter 47F, governs planned communities created on or after January 1, 1999.⁴ Both grew out of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, and both carry parallel section numbers: the executive-board provision is § 47C-3-103 for condominiums and § 47F-3-103 for planned communities.^{1, 2}

Keep the two acts apart. A provision of Chapter 47C does not reach a planned community, and a provision of Chapter 47F does not reach a condominium, even when the section numbers line up. G.S. 47F-1-103(23) defines a “planned community,” and that definition makes clear that neither a cooperative nor a condominium counts as one — though the real estate that makes up a condominium or cooperative may sit inside a larger planned community.⁷

Older communities follow a different track. A condominium created before October 1, 1986 falls under the Unit Ownership Act, Chapter 47A, though G.S. 47C-1-102 applies a specified list of Chapter 47C sections — including § 47C-3-103 on executive board members and officers — to those older condominiums for events that occur after October 1, 1986.³ A planned community created before January 1, 1999 is reached only by the short list of sections in G.S. 47F-1-102. That retroactive list includes just § 47F-3-103(f), which requires the association to publish the names and addresses of its officers and board members. It leaves out the executive-board, removal, fiduciary, and declarant-control provisions in § 47F-3-103(a) through (e).⁴

On the board itself, each act does four things. It sets up an executive board that may act for the association, fixes a standard of care by pointing to the Nonprofit Corporation Act, handles declarant control, and lets owners remove board members.^{1, 2} Neither act requires a director to earn a certification or complete training, neither imposes a term limit, and neither automatically disqualifies an owner who is behind on assessments or carries a felony conviction.^{1, 2}

Footnotes

1. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47C-3-103, Executive board members and officers ↩
2. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-103, Executive board members and officers ↩
3. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47C-1-102, Applicability (North Carolina Condominium Act) ↩
4. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-1-102, Applicability, and § 47F-1-108, Supplemental general principles (North Carolina Planned Community Act) ↩
5. Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(d), Bylaws (director certification, education, term limit, and eligibility provisions) ↩
6. Cal. Civ. Code § 5105, Election rules and candidate qualifications ↩
7. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-1-103(23), Definitions (“Planned community”) ↩
8. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-101, Organization of owners’ association ↩
9. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47C-3-101, Organization of unit owners’ association ↩
10. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55A-8-30, General standards for directors ↩
11. N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 55A, Article 8 (§§ 55A-8-03 Number of directors; 55A-8-05 Terms of directors generally; 55A-8-06 Staggered terms; 55A-8-42 Standards of conduct for officers) ↩
12. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55A-8-08, Removal of directors elected by members or directors ↩
13. S.L. 2026-52 (H.B. 517), N.C. General Assembly (amending G.S. 55A-8-03 and 55A-8-25, effective Oct. 1, 2026; new G.S. 55A-16-22.1 annual report, effective Jan. 1, 2027) ↩
14. Village at Motts Landing Homeowners’ Ass’n v. Aftew Props. LLC, 2023 NCBC 57 (N.C. Super. Ct. Aug. 14, 2023) ↩
15. Port Trinitie Homeowners Ass’n v. Port Trinitie Ass’n, 2025 NCBC 43 (N.C. Super. Ct. Aug. 7, 2025) ↩
16. House Bill 444 (2025-2026 Session), Homeowners Association Reform Bill, bill history and text, North Carolina General Assembly (last action: re-referred to House Judiciary 1, May 6, 2025; died at the May 8, 2025 crossover deadline) ↩
17. Miss. Code Ann. Title 79, Chapter 11, Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act ↩
18. FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension, interim final rule, 90 Fed. Reg. 13697 (Mar. 26, 2025) (domestic entities, including incorporated associations, exempt from BOI filing); see also H.R. 425, Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, 119th Cong. (pending repeal of the Corporate Transparency Act) ↩