Weeks before closing on a house inside the Lake Mohawk Reservation, a seller owes the club something most sellers elsewhere never deal with. Under the Lake Mohawk Country Club bylaws, any member planning to transfer a property has to tell the club at least 30 days before the proposed closing date. The member gives the club the buyer's name and address and hands the buyer the club's contact information so the buyer can get "a statement of Club Charges and assessments to be paid at the closing."
The same section adds the sentence that matters most to a buyer. Membership privileges "will not be granted on resale or other transfer of ownership" until every unpaid club charge, assessment and registration fee is settled, "including arrears attributable to prior owners of the property." On Lake Mohawk, a house and its club account move to the new owner together. Any balance the last owner left unpaid stands between you and the beach.
That statement of charges shows how the money flows here. Every sale pays into the club, and each buyer picks up a bill that earlier members voted into place, some of it years before the buyer saw the lake.
Membership comes with the deed
The Club Plan Agreement, amended and recorded in January 1999, binds covered land through covenants that run with the land, and it requires owners to pay club charges, special assessments included. The January 2026 bylaws define Regular Members as owners of dues-paying property within the Reservation who must pay the prescribed charges. Membership ends automatically when someone stops owning property there.
As those documents read, membership for a dues-paying property arrives with the purchase. The buyer's choice is whether the club's price and rules make sense for the way you plan to use the house.
The club takes a cut of the purchase, and it scales
Section 7 of the bylaws lets the Board of Trustees "fix a registration fee for any person who purchases property within the Lake Mohawk Reservation." On the 2026 fee schedule, that fee is $5,500 plus 1% of the home sale price above $500,000, and it applies to all contracts signed on or after April 1, 2023.
The flat part looks like a typical initiation charge. The percentage part works more like a private transfer tax that kicks in at half a million dollars. Here is how it applies at a few sample prices:
| Sale price | Flat fee | 1% above $500,000 | Registration fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $5,500 | $0 | $5,500 |
| $750,000 | $5,500 | $2,500 | $8,000 |
| $900,000 | $5,500 | $4,000 | $9,500 |
| $1,200,000 | $5,500 | $7,000 | $12,500 |
The bylaws also say where the money goes. The net registration fee is among the income streams "solely dedicated to the Reserve Fund," together with previously approved reserve assessments and the net earnings of the food and beverage and pool operations. Every arriving buyer pays into the capital account that keeps up the shared property. Pricier sales put more into it.
The bylaws set out a separate, additional registration fee for a member who buys a second property inside the Reservation. That extra fee doesn't apply when a member sells a principal residence and buys a different home there as the new principal residence. If you already own on the lake and want to move within it, ask the club for its statement before you build a budget around either number.
The annual bill is a stack of past votes
After closing, the registration fee is done and the yearly charges start. The bylaws call Common Area Maintenance charges "dues." Club Charges is the wider term covering dues, fees and assessments billed to each dues-paying property. The club bills on a calendar fiscal year, January through December.
The 2026 schedule breaks the bill into separate lines, and most of the assessments carry the year members voted for them:
- CAM charge, $1,779.75. The schedule shows it as the 2025 CAM of $1,721.23 plus the 2025 CPI charge of $58.52.
- CPI charge, $55.17. That is 3.1% of the 2026 CAM, which the schedule says is meant "to keep up with inflation."
- Annual Capital Reserve Assessment, $100. A fixed, ongoing charge voted in 2018.
- Additional 2026 Capital Reserve Assessment, $861. Also voted in 2018, described as variable and "based on project requirements in 2026."
- Reserve repayment of 2022 borrowing, $150. Voted in 2024.
- Gate assessment, $154.65 for an inside-gate property with a building, or $128.88 for an inside-gate vacant lot. A 20-year assessment voted in 2014.
- Pool tax/capital, $26.29, and pool assessment, $61. Both 10-year assessments voted in 2019, one for taxes on the pool property and one for the loan used to buy it.
- Upper Lake Dam assessment, $45.25. A 10-year assessment voted in 2019 to repay a loan for dam repairs.
This year's CAM base already includes last year's inflation charge, and the new CPI charge is a percentage of that larger base, so the adjustment compounds. Add every line as it appears for an inside-gate home with a building and you get $3,233.11. The schedule ties some charges to property type, though, so the club's statement for a specific address is the only figure to plan on.
Paying late costs extra. The schedule lists a $30 monthly late fee starting March 1, a 4% annual fee on balances carried on a payment plan, a $7.50 monthly payment plan service fee, a 3% surcharge on credit card payments, and a $200 fee for two consecutive missed plan payments. When an account goes to an attorney, the bylaws add 25% of the unpaid amount for attorney's fees. Unpaid charges like these become the prior-owner arrears that Section 10 requires be paid before a new owner gets privileges. The same schedule also lists a $50 status report fee.
What the stack pays for
Members in good standing and their immediate families can use Lake Mohawk and Upper Lake, the Boardwalk and Lower Boardwalk, Lower Boardwalk docking privileges, the beaches, the Clubhouse, parks and club roads.
The boat rules come with their own conditions. The club's 2026 marine rules, revised March 23, 2026, require LMCC registration and current annual tags for powered and non-powered vessels alike, and the tags can't be transferred. Boats can be no longer than 22 feet, no wider than 8 feet 6 inches, and no heavier than 3,600 pounds wet or 5,500 pounds total. Personal watercraft and wake-enhancing equipment are banned. If you're bringing a boat from another lake, measure it before you make an offer.
Some of the lake's upkeep gets outside money as well. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection lists a $160,920 grant to the Lake Mohawk Preservation Foundation for a two-year project with LMCC testing ways to control harmful algal blooms, including GreenClean and PhosLock, along with water-quality monitoring. The Foundation's March 2025 update reported that the LMCC Board of Trustees had approved its Gatehouse restoration application, with construction drawings, permits and demolition listed as next steps.
Selling and renting run on club rules too
The same agreement that sets the charges also governs how a house can be marketed and used. The Club Plan Agreement says no "For Sale" or "For Rent" sign or other advertisement soliciting a buyer or tenant may be placed on the premises, and it names the club as agent with authority to remove signs that break the rule. The bylaws are dated 2026 and say they control wherever they conflict with the agreement. For a seller, that means a listing has to find its buyers through photography, online presentation and outreach, with no yard sign doing the work.
Rentals face two sets of rules, and the club's is stricter. Sparta Township's short-term rental ordinance, adopted April 9, 2024, makes it unlawful to take payment for renting a dwelling unit for less than 28 days. LMCC's Short-Term Residential Rental Policy, last revised December 12, 2024, prohibits paid rentals of 90 days or less anywhere in the Reservation and also bans advertising them. Under the policy, a first violation gets a written notice and 15 days to fix it. A second brings a $1,500 fine. A third brings a $3,000 fine, possible suspension of membership privileges, or a Board hearing.
Tenants who want club privileges have to register as Tenant Guests using the club's long-term rental application, updated December 9, 2025. The 2026 long-term tenant registration fee is $945.05. For an investor, the club's 90-day policy and that registration fee are both part of how a Lake Mohawk rental pencils out.
One district carries an extra layer of review
Owners of historic homes should check where a property sits. The bylaws set up an Architectural Review Committee to protect the Historic White Deer Plaza and Boardwalk District, made up of two Trustees and three other members. It reviews improvement forms against the 1988 National Register nomination and a Directory of Building Materials and Manufacturers for the district. Inside the designated area, no structural exterior change, paint color change or new structure can go ahead without the Club Manager's written consent, and owners can appeal to the Board of Trustees. Throughout the Reservation, construction, docks, fences, driveways and grading must follow the recorded restrictions as well as state and municipal building rules.
Quick answers
Is membership optional for a house inside the Reservation? The Club Plan Agreement describes covenants that run with the land and require owners of covered property to pay club charges, and the bylaws define Regular Members as owners of dues-paying property. Whether a specific address is covered is a question for the club and the title documents.
Who does the bylaws' registration fee apply to? In Section 7's words, "any person who purchases property within the Lake Mohawk Reservation."
Can I join without a house? The club says it has seven non-buildable Club lots that carry full member privileges, including beach and boardwalk access but no guaranteed boat slip. Registration fees, dues and assessments apply to those lots too.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. The club's own documents and a qualified attorney or accountant are the right sources for your specific property.
If you own inside the Reservation and are thinking about selling, your buyer will add the registration fee and the annual bill to what they're paying, and your list price should account for that. At Bonnie & Greg, Greg builds those club costs into the pricing analysis and Bonnie plans marketing that works without a yard sign. Get your instant home valuation, and then let's go through your club statement together.
