HOA Dues Surge From $158 to $2,500 a Month, Worrying North Carolina Homeowners

What many households are feeling in the form of higher prices for everyday necessities is hitting one North Carolina community especially hard. In Magnolia Cove, a subdivision in Sherrills Ford, homeowners say their monthly association fees have climbed dramatically.

Channel 9 reporter Dave Faherty has been tracking the situation and says the homeowners association has approved steep increases in the monthly dues. Residents say they were paying $158 a month when they first moved in, but the amount has risen several times over the past few months and is now in the thousands.

Homeowners were also warned that the dues could eventually reach as high as $7,500 a month. Many now fear the increases could force them out of their homes.

The HOA First Floated $90,000 in Annual Charges

Faherty obtained a copy of an email sent to residents outlining the projected budget. The message said the association wanted to make the 2027 figures clear ahead of a meeting and stated that, starting January 1, 2027, each lot would be charged $7,500 per month. That would total $90,000 per lot for the year and account for the $2,070,000 in base assessments shown in the budget packet.

The email said the higher charges were intended to cover legal and collection expenses tied to homeowners who have not paid their dues.

According to Faherty, this was not the first proposed increase. Dues had already risen at the start of 2026, moving from $158 to $350, and then climbing again to $1,250 before residents received the latest notice.

The Final Decision Set the Fee at $2,500

After the meeting, Faherty posted an update saying the HOA ultimately settled on a monthly fee of $2,500, a figure homeowners say they still cannot afford.

One anonymous homeowner told Realtor.com, “My concern is that, come January, I may have to walk out of this house and never look back. I’ll have to find a new place to live, which will cost money. The equity that I would have in this home would be gone, and I would like to have been able to leave that to my son and his family someday.”

Realtor.com reported that at least one resident was already facing foreclosure, though it could not confirm whether the high dues were involved. For now, some homeowners are left trying to determine whether they can still afford to remain in the community.