Sherrills Ford isn’t a city that people outside of the area know all that well. Situated about 45 minutes northwest of Charlotte, near Lake Norman, it’s a tiny North Carolina community with a population of under 1,000, according to the 2000 census. And it truly is tiny: according to WSOC, there are only about 80 homes in the area, but just 20 or so owners. So when homeowners in the Magnolia Cove neighborhood learned of the latest increase to their monthly homeowners association fees, it’s an understatement to say they were taken by surprise.
Just four months after the HOA last raised fees, residents were told they will once again be paying more. The most recent increase doubled the monthly cost to $2,500. Five years ago, the monthly dues were just $158. That’s a 1,482% jump in costs, in the span of just a half decade.
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As breathtaking as that new amount may be, it’s not nearly as bad as the HOA initially proposed. The original plan was to raise the monthly fees to $7,500.
Why so much?
The HOA says the increase is necessary due to legal strife.
In 2024, more than 20 homeowners sued the HOA and some of its officers over what they said was a failure to answer financial questions. The HOA says the claims were dismissed, some voluntarily and some by the court. A jury, it says, also found some homeowners liable for defamation, which resulted in monetary and punitive damages…