HOA Horror Stories: NASCAR driver, Raleigh mom call for more oversight

More than 50 percent of North Carolina homeowners have a house governed by a homeowners association, but when it comes to the rules regulating HOAs, there really are not many. Some homeowners and lawmakers are asking for change to keep these little governments from running amuck.

The Hobbs family in Raleigh said their HOA in Village Lakes treated them unfairly. 

Becky Lew-Hobbs said her family hit a rough patch when her husband could not find work. She admits her family got behind on their HOA dues.

She said they owed $1,143.89. The late bill ended up costing them their $160,000 home. 

“I definitely had no idea a homeowners association could foreclose upon you,” said Lew-Hobbs.

Records show the house was foreclosed in June of 2009, but the Hobbs said they did not find out until April of 2010. They had been living in the foreclosed home for 11 months and did not know until they got an eviction notice. 

“We had five days to pack up the house and leave,” said Lew-Hobbs. 

Lew-Hobbs said she could not afford a lawsuit to fight her HOA. 

NASCAR driver Todd Bodine did have the money. 

Bodine said he did not know his neighborhood had an association when he bought his house. 

“I'd never even heard of a homeowners association,” said Bodine.

Bodine got in a four-year legal battle with his HOA over a pool house.

‘”They made us tear the whole structure down, knowing they were going to let us rebuild the roof over the bar. This is exactly what was there, but they made us tear it down to rebuild it,” said Bodine. 

The pool house ended up costing Bodine two-thirds of what his house in Mooresville's Harris Village is worth. 

“When everything was said and done, lawyer's fees, fines, building it, rebuilding it, it's going to be about $250,000,” said Bodine. 

Bodine said he was trying to stand up for what was right, but the HOA’s attorney, Keith Black, said Bodine was in the wrong. 

“I guess I would call it silly, but I would say they brought it on themselves, the silliness was them,” said Black.

In Harris Village, the HOA board has to approve buildings like the Bodine’s pool house.

Bodine said he got approval and even got signatures from five board members, but the HOA says the permission was subject to seeing the final plans. 

Black also said if they let the Bodines get away with building what they wanted, there would be consequences. 

“Then they open the door for anybody and everybody else to say, ‘Well, I want to paint my house purple and have pink toilet seats in the front yard,’” said Black. 

Mooresville Mayor Pro-Tem Chris Carney said egos got in the way of compromise. 

“To me it felt a little more personal. They had to take it down so the HOA could be proven right,” said Carney. 

The Bodines said their pool house was not bothering anyone. As a matter of fact, they said they took a neighborhood survey and 67 percent of the neighbors were on their side. 

“The neighbors who were adjacent to the home actually called to say they had no problem with the structure and they were upset because they did not feel their voice was being heard,” said Carney.

When the Bodines started building the first pool house they were out of town. The board sent them an email to tell them "construction of the covered porch needs to cease immediately."

The Bodines responded "first of all we have all permits and this building/covered porch was approved."

“They said no, we're not going to do it, you are wrong, kiss our rear end, we'll see you in court,” said Black. 

And they did see each other in court, but the Bodines lost. A local judge agreed with the HOA. So did the appeals court, and the State Supreme Court wouldn't even hear the case. 

As the Bodines tried to fight back, they were fined $100 daily. 

“I think that there's a lot of non-logic that goes along with the power,” said Bodine. 

That power now has a lien on Bodine's home, until he pays off his debt to the HOA. He still owes them more than $30,000. 

NBC-17 News asked Bodine if the fight was worth it. 

“The fight was worth it if something good comes from it, if they can have HOA law reform, and make it better for the people who live in HOA communities to not feel scared,” said Bodine. 

Currently the only action a homeowner can take against their HOA is taking them to court, and not everyone can afford that. 

“When a homeowner has a problem with the homeowners association, they have to dig into their own pocket to pay an attorney to fight a battle that is paid for in part by their own homeowner association dues,” said Representative Bill McGee, R-Forsyth County.

McGee is on the House Select Committee on Homeowner's Associations. He wants to see a place where homeowners can go for free, a so-called better business bureau for HOAs. 

McGee would also like to see more communication between HOA boards and homeowners, better record keeping, require all business decisions be made in public, and if you take on your HOA and win, they had to foot the bill. 

“We also think there should be some way that they can at least recoup the dues they have paid when their own dues are going to fight them in court in a battle,” said McGee. 

Lew-Hobbs also wants lawmakers to look at the power HOAs have to foreclose. 

“I don't think a homeowners association should have the power to foreclose because we were past due for about $1,000. For that the homeowners association gained a home that was worth around $160,000,” said Lew-Hobbs. 

The Hobbs got to move back into the house they were evicted from after paying more than $7,000. 

Last month, Governor Bev Perdue signed a bill that would have helped the Hobbs and Bodines because now real estate agents have to disclose more information about the HOA to potential buyers.

The law also gives homeowners 90 days to pay up before facing foreclosure after a lien has been placed on their home. 

Village Lakes HOA’s attorney Ed Flowers refused to comment, citing attorney client privilege.