Retirees cop massive fee hike amid neighbourhood fight

Homeowners in a quiet lakeside suburb are bracing for a housing cost jolt that could push some longtime residents right out of their neighbourhood.Families in Magnolia Cove in Charlotte, North Carolina, an 80-home community, are grappling with word that their monthly homeowners association dues are set to rocket from $350 to $1,250 (AUD $500 to $1800), with a $10,000 (AUD $14,300) special assessment tacked on for good measure, the New York Post reports.Retirees in this community are about to cop a massive fee hike many can't afford. Picture: GoFundMeThe jump is only the latest in a string of increases that residents say has left them reeling.Just four years ago, dues in the community sat at a modest $158 (AUD $225) a month, meaning some owners have watched their bills multiply nearly eightfold in that span.Homeowners, several of them retirees on fixed incomes, told WSOC-TV they simply won’t be able to keep up.Many said the dues were originally billed as covering routine lawn maintenance and a community pool, an amenity that residents say was promised but never materialised.Frustration has curdled into open conflict.People living in the community say they fail to see where the money...