Condominium and Cooperative Law in North Carolina
Cooperatives and condominium developments are examples of arrangements identified as "common interest communities."
This is a type of community in which the individual residents rent or own residential units in a building, or collection of buildings, but are collectively accountable for taking maintaining the common areas in their communities, such as lawns, gardens, swimming pools, and the like. This responsibility is typically taken care of by charging the residents a periodic maintenance fee, to pay for the upkeep of the common areas.
If you just look at one of these communities, you won't be able to tell whether it's a cooperative or a condominium community.
This is because there are no defining physical characteristics which are distinct to one type of cooperative community, but not the other. The significant differences aren't embodied in physical characteristics, but in the legal ownership arrangement governing the communities: in a condominium community, the residents own the units they live in. In a cooperative community, the units are rented.
Laws and Regulations Concerning Common Interest Communities in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
There are various laws in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that might be applicable to common interest communities. But most of these laws are not unique to common-interest communities. Rather, they usually concern zoning, land use, and contract law, which are applicable to most other types of real estate, as well.
Your day-to-day life in a common interest community will likelyy be impacted more by the rules set by the owner or manager of the property, rather than any local or state laws.
Because the land they occupy is typically private property, it is the owners of this property who make most of the rules that will affect your daily conduct. A responsible manager will typically make rules designed to balance your right to live as you please in your own residence, with the right your neighbors have to a clean, safe, and quiet living environment.
The enforceability of some of these rules may depend on Chapel Hill, North Carolina's laws controlling relations between landlords and tenants.
Can a Chapel Hill, North Carolina Attorney Help?
If you have problems with your landlord, your homeowners association, or a neighbor, a reliable Chapel Hill, North Carolina real estate lawyer may prove invaluable.