Union County, NC HOA Rules: Assessment & Dues (2026)

050 of the Unified Development Ordinance requires a property owners association whenever property owners, rather than the county or a municipality, will be responsible for maintaining and controlling streets, open space, recreational facilities, or other shared infrastructure within a subdivision. That association must have legal authority to maintain and exercise control over the common areas and facilities it covers, and the ordinance singles out one specific power the association must hold: the power to compel contributions from residents or property owners to cover their proportionate share of maintenance costs.

In practice, this means the county will not approve a plat for a development with an HOA-maintained pool, entrance landscaping, or private street unless the HOA's governing documents actually give it enforceable assessment authority, not just a voluntary dues arrangement. The developer must submit the documents establishing the association to the planning administrator before the final plat is approved and recorded, and county staff review is expressly limited to confirming that clear legal authority over common areas and assessment collection exists; the county does not otherwise regulate how the HOA calculates or spends its dues. This requirement applies to subdivisions platted anywhere the UDO governs, meaning unincorporated Union County outside any town's corporate or extraterritorial jurisdiction.