HOA takes steps to sell couple’s home over fine, then drops case

CHARLOTTE — “I have a home to go home to tonight because of you. Thank you for saving my home and thank you fighting for justice,” Jeffrey Baldwin told his lawyer on Tuesday.

Baldwin emerged from court and choked up as he thanked his lawyer, James White.

Baldwin and his husband live in The Settlements in northeast Charlotte where they’ve lived for almost 20 years. They say they paid their dues on time for years.

“Owning a home was the American dream and basically HOAs are taking away the American dream of many people,” Baldwin told Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke.

Then, they say, in 2022, the HOA fined them $100 over a parking issue. They fined the couple for having, what they thought was, a commercial vehicle, but the homeowners argued it was not commercial.

Either way – they say – they didn’t pick up on it until the following year when they went to pay their annual dues and, by that time, the fine had turned into thousands.

9 Investigates: Yes, your HOA can foreclose on you

“The letters would mention around [$]1,300, but then other letters would say it was $4,800,” Baldwin said.

They refused to pay. The HOA got a lien on their property and started the foreclosure proceedings to sell their house. They say a clerk ruled in the board’s favor, and they appealed.

“This is not just about saving my home. It’s about changing the laws so that we have HOA reform and accountability,” Baldwin added.

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Then, in court on Tuesday, instead of pushing to sell the house, the HOA’s lawyers withdrew their foreclosure petition. They emailed Stoogenke, “The Association withdrew the foreclosure petition after deciding that moving forward with the Court hearing, and any appeal that may be required from that hearing, was not in the best interest of the Association.”

“This was the right thing to happen,” Baldwin said. He and his husband started a website to push for HOA reform.

Stoogenke says it can be hard to win a fight with your HOA. After all, you agree to live by their rules when you move into the neighborhood. That said, if you have an issue: