Community Associations Institute (CAI) North Carolina Legislative Action Committee (NC LAC) advocated during the 2026 legislative session on behalf of the approximately 2,861,000 North Carolinians living in 1,162,000 homes in more than 14,900 community associations across our state. North Carolina’s 2026 legislative session began on April 21 and while it is scheduled to adjourn on December 14, the bulk of legislative work has concluded for the year.

CAI OPPOSED THE FOLLOWING BILLS

NC LAC opposes legislation for various reasons, including, but not limited to legislation at odds with CAI’s public policy positions. If a LAC believes it may need to consider or adopt any legislative or regulatory position that would be in conflict with CAI’s official positions, it requests a deviation to be considered by CAI’s Government & Public Affairs Committee and/or Board of Trustees.

SB 1047 Regulatory Reform Act of 2026

This bill began as a measure focused on reforming the collection of energy tax credits and was amended late in the legislative session to encompass a broad range of policy areas, including community association governance. This bill, as proposed, created unreasonable limitations on fine collection and lien procedures, mediation requirements and records inspection. The NC LAC believes fine collection and lien procedures are important tools to protect the community from chronic nonpayment of assessments and noncompliance of rules, consistent with CAI’s Effective Collection of Community Association Assessments Public Policy and Foreclosures by Community Associations to Collect Delinquent Assessments Public Policy. NC LAC also had concerns about the implementation of proposed records inspection and copying language in the bill which would have placed undue administrative and cost burdens on volunteer homeowners including a shortened timeline of 5 days to respond to inspection requests for contracts.

Status: Successfully DIED in House.

CAI SOUGHT AMENDMENTS TO THE FOLLOWING BILLS

CAI LACs work with legislators to champion legislative amendments to better align the language with CAI’s public policy positions on topics impacting the community association industry.

HB 372 Home-Based Business Fairness

This bill was carried over from 2025 and went through several rounds of revisions before passage. What began as a bill focused on municipal regulation of no-impact home-based businesses quickly snowballed into a broader HOA reform bill that touches every aspect of community association living. However, after much back and forth between lawmakers during the 2026 legislative session, and with input from NC LAC, this bill was eventually brought back to a version more closely resembling what was originally proposed.

The final version of the bill focuses only on regulating how cities can treat no-impact home-based businesses, with an explicit carveout allowing community associations to continue to regulate home-based businesses based on the circumstances and needs of their individual communities.

Status: Successfully amended and PASSED. Signed by Governor July 7, 2026. Effective immediately.

HB 1174 Homeowners’ Associations Oversight Act

This bill charges the North Carolina Department of Justice with hearing all community association-related disputes. It also imposed reporting requirements on the number of complaints received, and the associations involved in complaints, and did not allow the Department to issue new community association rules or arbitrate disputes.

As noted in CAI’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Public Policy, NC LAC supports transparency, homeowner education, accountability, and sound governance within community associations. NC LAC reached out to lawmakers to amend the bill to meet these objectives while incorporating appropriate safeguards for fairness, accuracy, and due process.

Status: Died in Committee.

HB 1212 Homeowners’ Associations Accessory Limitation Ban

This bill stipulated that associations must allow solar panels, pollinator gardens, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on individual lots. HB 1212 contained no provisions protecting the right for associations to impose reasonable rules and regulations.

NC LAC recognizes the growing interest in sustainability and housing flexibility and reached out to legislators to find common ground. As noted in CAI’s Conservation, Sustainability, and Green Issues Public Policy and CAI’s Accessory Dwelling Units Public Policy, NC LAC encourages consideration of implementation standards that provide reasonable flexibility while recognizing interests of homeowners who purchased property subject to existing recorded covenants.

Status: Died in Committee.

SB 1051 Don’t Zone Out Child Care

This bill voided any restrictions by associations on home-based childcare so long as the property owner held a valid license from the state.

As noted in CAI’s Residential Childcare Facility Public Policy, NC LAC recognizes the importance of increasing access to licensed childcare services. However, NC LAC believes additional implementation flexibility would help communities address legitimate operational concerns while still advancing broader childcare accessibility goals.

Status: Died in Committee.

Get Involved in CAI’s North Carolina Advocacy Work through Your Local Chapter!

In addition to NC-CAI LAC’s strong and effective advocacy work in Raleigh, the NC-CAI Chapter provides information, resources, education programs and best practices designed to help you and your communities throughout North Carolina thrive.

Not a member yet? Join a growing global network of more than 51,000 community managers, management company executives, homeowner leaders, and business partners, and open up a world of opportunities for professional growth, networking and industry knowledge.

Find your local chapter at https://www.caionline.org/find-a-chapter/.

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