Why a brokerage rule reaches an association

Rule .0104 is the provision the Commission relies on to require a written agency agreement for association management. Repealing and replacing it resets the paperwork rule for every broker-managed North Carolina association.

That matters in a specific, practical way. Where an association's manager is a licensed broker, the management agreement is not just a contract — it is also the document a regulator can measure against a rule. If the rule changes, the required contents of that agreement change with it, and existing agreements may need revision at renewal.

Because the replacement rules have not been adopted, .0104 remains in force today and the existing requirement stands. This is a watching item, not an action item.

The oversight gap, stated honestly

Put the pieces together and the North Carolina position is unusual among large states:

• No community association manager licensure. No education requirement, no examination, no bonding, no State disciplinary process, no complaint route.
• No HOA regulator. The Department of Justice states it has no authority over associations; the Secretary of State says it cannot help with an HOA problem.
• Broker rules reach only brokers. A management company that employs no licensed broker for the work, or an association managed by a self-employed individual who is not a broker, sits outside .0118 entirely — including the trust-account and 90-day statement requirements.

The consequence for a board is that whether your manager is a broker determines whether any State rule governs how your money is held, and most boards have never asked. It is a one-question due-diligence item with a real answer.

For an association whose manager is not a broker, the protections have to come from the management agreement itself — a dedicated account in the association's name, defined reporting frequency, fidelity coverage, audit rights, and defined records-return obligations on termination. None of that is supplied by law in North Carolina.

What the legislature has and has not done

Manager regulation has been on the North Carolina reform agenda for a decade without result. A Community Association Managers Licensure Act concept dates to 2015-era bills and has never been adopted.

The recent bills addressed manager contracts rather than manager licensure. Senate Bill 378 would have capped management contracts at two years, limited non-renewal notice, created a termination right on auto-renewal, and barred compensating an agent based on fines collected. House Bill 444 carried similar provisions. Neither passed.

One structural change did occur, and it is worth noting because every licensure proposal turns on it: Session Law 2026-41, the 2026 appropriations act signed July 7, 2026, restructured how Real Estate Commission members are appointed, shifting seats from the Governor to the General Assembly, the State Auditor and the Commissioner of Labor.

What to watch next

Republication of the agency rules. The Commission indicated revised text would be republished with a new comment period and hearing, with the matter returning in September 2026. That is the moment for an association or management company to comment.

Open comment periods, for completeness. The Department of Insurance has a periodic review of its Actuarial Services Division rules open to October 13, 2026 — relevant only indirectly, as the data rules behind homeowners and dwelling rate filings. The Code Officials Qualification Board has amendments open to November 16, 2026. There is no HOA- or condominium-specific rule open for comment before any North Carolina agency today.

The 2027 long session. If manager licensure returns, the reconstituted Commission is the body that would administer it, and the appointment change is a live variable in how that proposal is received.