Key Takeaways
- North Carolina landlords must understand and comply with state laws regarding leases, rent payments, disclosures, and eviction procedures to avoid legal disputes.
- Both owners and renters have defined rights and responsibilities, including maintaining safe living conditions, paying rent on time, and following the terms of the lease agreement.
- North Carolina law also regulates key issues such as fair housing protections, security deposits, maintenance standards, and the legal process required to evict a tenant.
As a landlord, you must be knowledgeable of all rental and lease regulations. After all, ignorance of the regulations is never a legal defense for landlords.
As a landlord, you might have questions such as, "Can you break a written lease agreement in North Carolina?", "How does lease duration affect eviction procedures?", or "How much notice must landlords give for an eviction notice?" In unfortunate situations where landlords fail to meet legal obligations, tenants may seek legal advice or take the matter to court, including small claims court.
Both tenants and landlords have certain rights and responsibilities under North Carolina regulations, including lease agreements, payments, and notification requirements. It's therefore important that North Carolina landlords understand and follow these regulations to avoid legal issues in court.
Mark Thomas Properties Property Management can assist landlords in navigating the legal requirements of owning a North Carolina rental property. While the regulation might be straightforward, we will go over the basics for landlords in this article to help landlords avoid court issues over rent, lease agreements, notice requirements, and legal duties.
Required Landlord Disclosures
You must make certain information known to your tenants prior to them signing the North Carolina lease agreement. The disclosures are as follows:
- Disclosure about lead paint. You must disclose all known information on lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards prior to the tenant signing the lease agreement. In addition, you must give your tenant this pamphlet as well.
- Disclosure on utilities. Have you implied or expressly agreed in the lease agreement to pay for utilities such as gas, water, or electricity? If you have, then you’ll be liable for any inconveniences that may arise. For example, a disconnection because of nonpayment of the utility bill.
- Disclosure on structural damage. Does your rental have any structural damage? If so, you must disclose that to your renter. Structural damage may result from smoke, fire, water, or insects.
North Carolina Tenant Rights & Responsibilities
If, as a landlord, you don't respect the renter's rights, your residents may be able to break their leases without penalty. Tenant rights in North Carolina include:
- A house that is compliant with health, safety, and building codes.
- Live in peace and quiet, away from any unreasonable disturbances and annoyances.
- Receive notice before owner entry.
- Be notified when a landlord is seeking to make changes to the lease agreement.
- Remain in their rented unit until the owner has followed the due eviction process to remove them.
- Exercise tenants' rights when a present landlord fails in their duties. For example, residents can withhold payment until the owner takes care of important repairs.
- To have renters' deposits managed within the scope of the law.
North Carolina tenants are responsible for the following under federal law:
- Maintaining their rented home in clean and sanitary conditions.
- Notifying owners of important repairs on time.
- Part of resident duties includes keeping noise levels at reasonable levels, such as avoiding late-night parties.
- Paying rent on time and to not withhold payments without reason.
- Abiding by all lease terms for the rental unit, including when and how to pay monthly rent.
- Providing owners with a notice when looking to be away for an extended period of time.
- Informing the landlord via written notice of their intentions to move out.
- To have their security deposits used to cover any unpaid utility bills if a landlord wishes.
North Carolina Landlord Rights & Responsibilities
Landlord rights in North Carolina include:
- To enter the tenant's rented home to make necessary, agreed or requested repairs on the rental unit.
- Be notified when a renter will be away for long periods of time.
- Be provided with sufficient notice when a tenant is looking to vacate their rented unit.
- To recover any unpaid rent or end the tenancy early for any number of legal reasons.
Meanwhile, landlord duties include:
- Following all terms of the agreement. And when looking to change them, to seek the tenant’s permission.
- Maintaining peace and quiet.
- Serving the tenant sufficient notice when looking to enter their rented house.
- Responding to residents's maintenance requests on time.
- Ensuring the premises adheres to all the state’s safety, building and health codes.
- Following the legal eviction process when seeking to evict a tenant from the rented unit.
- Managing a security deposit and when a renter will make rental payments as per the agreement.
- To not retaliate against a tenant exercising their rights.
- To avoid housing discrimination at any point.
Overview of the Landlord-Tenant Laws in North Carolina
1. North Carolina Housing Laws
Every renter in North Carolina is protected by the Fair Housing Act, passed by Congress in 1968. This policy makes discrimination in housing-related matters illegal. Refusing a person with a disability or falsely stating that a unit is unavailable when it is actually available are both violations of North Carolina housing rules.
At the federal level, there are seven protected classes in the Fair Housing Act: sex, religion, race, color, disability, national origin, and familial status. North Carolina also provides additional protections, such as sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, genetic information, sickle cell or hemoglobin C trait, military status, and AIDS/HIV status.
2. North Carolina Security Deposit Law
North Carolina General Statutes §§ 42-50 through 42-56 govern North Carolina security deposit law. Under these state laws, renters in North Carolina are protected by the North Carolina Tenant Security Deposit Act.
The Act places regulations on landlords that dictate the amount they are allowed to collect for a tenant’s security deposit—including limits such as two weeks' rent for certain tenancy arrangements—the reasons for security deposit deductions, storage requirements, and when a resident's security deposit must be returned.
3. North Carolina Landlord-Tenant Right of Entry
So, do landlords have to provide their North Carolina renters with a proper notice of entry? No. There are no specific rules regarding a right of entry and how much notice you need to provide before entering the rented unit.
That said, it’s still advisable to provide tenants with a 24-hour notice prior to entering their units.
You may want to enter your renter’s rented unit for a variety of reasons. For instance, to make repairs, inspect the unit, issue a notice to evict them, or show the unit to prospective tenants, buyers, or lenders.
Additionally, the time of entry must be reasonable. For example, between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM during weekdays, and between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM during weekends. Failure to follow these practices could lead to disputes that may end up in court, especially when rent-related issues are involved.
4. North Carolina Lease Termination and Eviction
You may provide an eviction notice for various reasons, including if they withhold rent payments, conduct lease violations, engage in illegal activities, or even refuse to leave after their rental agreement is up. Evicting a tenant is different from North Carolina lease termination, however, so it pays to know the difference.
The first step to pursue legal eviction must begin with serving the renter the proper legal notice. The notice must be written and must state the reason and the notice period. Note that it cannot be an act of retaliation.
Next, North Carolina landlords can initiate court proceedings if the tenant fails to comply with the notice. If the claims amount to $10,000 or less, landlords can file the eviction lawsuit in court. But if filing for more, then a landlord would need to do so at a district court and cover any court costs.
If the judgment falls in the landlord's favor, then they must request a Writ of Restitution. This is a legal document that will instruct the sheriff to carry it out on your behalf. And this is only necessary if the resident is still adamant about remaining on the rented premises even after the ruling.
5. North Carolina Landlord-Tenant Laws on Repairs
Renters in North Carolina are entitled to a rental that meets the basic health, structural, and safety standards. This means that pest control and other repairs and maintenance are required for you to cover. Additionally, carpet replacement might also be considered a repair you must cover.
If your rental doesn’t meet these requirements, the statewide North Carolina landlord-tenant regulation gives your tenants certain rights. For example, withholding rent, calling relevant authorities or a small claims court, repairing by themselves and then deducting the costs from the rent, and even moving out are all well within a tenant’s rights as per their North Carolina lease or rental agreement and North Carolina state policies.
Bottom Line
This article provided a basic overview of Landlord-Tenant law NC. If you have further questions regarding finer aspects of these regulations, such as NC rental agreement laws, North Carolina pet deposit rules, squatters' rights, written rental agreements, or specific questions regarding North Carolina lease termination, Mark Thomas Properties Property Management can help you comply with all relevant regulations!
We have been reliably and professionally managing rental properties in North Carolina since 1985 and are familiar with NC tenant laws. Contact us today to find out how we can help you!
Disclaimer: This is article is not a substitute for legal advice. Please reach out to an experienced attorney or property management company if you have any questions about North Carolina laws and rental regulations.
