City of Durham v. Herndon

ARNOLD, Judge.

The first question presented on this appeal is whether a city can collect delinquent special assessments by attaching its check for payment of a condemnation judgment.

The general rule in North Carolina is that a lien for unpaid special assessments does not make the owner of the burdened real property personally liable for the assessment. Instead, the land itself is subject to the lien, and any action to collect the assessment may be enforced only by foreclosure against the land. J. Webster, Real Estate Law in North Carolina § 455 (Hetrick rev. 1981) and cases cited therein.

An…