Many of my HOA clients hold their annual meetings in the first quarter.  The N.C. Legislature passed a law in 2013 that promotes mediation of HOA disputes, and mandates the publication of a notice to the community regarding the availability of the mediation process.  The statute is NCGS 7A-38.3F.

The part of the statute that requires publication of the annual disclosure reads:

“Association Duty to Notify. – Each association shall, in writing, notify the members of the association each year that they may initiate mediation under this section to try to resolve a dispute with the association. The association shall publish the notice required in this subsection on the association’s Web site; but if the association does not have a Web site, the association shall publish the notice at the same time and in the same manner as the names and addresses of all officers and board members of the association are published as provided in G.S. 47C-3-103 and G.S. 47F-3-103.”

Complying is as simple as posting a notice on the homepage of your community’s website.  If you don’t have a website, you should include the disclosure when you send out the required list each year with the names and addresses of the officers and directors after the annual meeting (you are doing that, right??)  The disclosure can be as simple as:

You are reminded that under NCGS 7A-38.3F, members of the Association may request a mediation with the Association to try to resolve a dispute that does not involve the collection of assessments. For a full explanation of the mediation process, refer to the statute linked above.