North Carolina HOA Assessments, Liens & Foreclosure (G.S. 47F-3-116)

G.S. 47F-3-116(a) provides that "any assessment attributable to a lot which remains unpaid for a period of 30 days or longer shall constitute a lien." Subsection (f) lets the association, after its executive board votes to foreclose a specific lot, "foreclose a claim of lien in like manner as a mortgage or deed of trust" under power of sale (Chapter 45, Article 2A) once the assessment is unpaid 90 days or more; subsection (g) preserves the option of judicial foreclosure. In an uncontested foreclosure, attorneys' fees and the trustee's commission "collectively charged to the lot owner shall not exceed one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200)." An owner may stop the sale by paying the debt and costs before the upset-bid period expires.

No flat statutory penalty: the owner owes the unpaid assessments, interest, late charges, costs, and capped attorney/trustee fees. The lien can be foreclosed nonjudicially after 90 days, leading to loss of the home at a power-of-sale or judicial sale.