LANDLORDS AND TENANTSTHISLAWis theTHIS is the LAWPublished as a Public Service by the CommunicationsCommittee of the North Carolina Bar AssociationLandlordsandTenantsThe North Carolina Bar Association does notintend to signify approval or endorsement oftheir work or views of agencies and firmsdistributing this pamphlet. For other pamphletscheck your local public library or, for anadditional free pamphlet, send aself-addressed stamped envelope to:NC Bar AssociationAttn: Pamphlet ProgramPO Box 3688, Cary, NC 27519Visit our Web site at: www.ncbar.org©1983 N.C. Bar AssociationRevised 2007This pamphlet was prepared as a publicservice by the Communications Committeeand is not intended to be a comprehensivestatement of the law. North Carolina lawschange frequently and could affect the infor-mation in this pamphlet. If you have specificquestions with regard to any matters con-tained in this pamphlet, you are encouragedto consult an attorney. If you need an attor-ney, please contact the North CarolinaLawyer Referral Service, a nonprofit publicservice project of the North Carolina BarAssociation, via phone (1-800-662-7660;local 677-8574) or online (www.ncfind-alawyer.org).and notify the tenant of this fact.Tenants may sue landlords for accountings, the returnof security deposits or for actual damages if the landlordfails to comply with his duties concerning such deposits.If a landlord is found by a court to have willfully failedto comply with the law concerning security deposits, thecourt has authority to require the landlord to pay the ten-ant a reasonable attorney's fee.Late FeesA landlord may impose, if the rental agreementallows, a late charge on any rental payment which is lateby five days or more. The late charge can either be five(5%) percent of the rental payment or fifteen ($15.00),whichever is greater. Alate fee may be imposed only onetime for each late rental payment and may not be deduct-ed from a subsequent rental payment so as to cause thesubsequent rental payment to be in default.Who Owns WhatTenants should be aware that unless they have anagreement with their landlord saying otherwise, anyimprovement the tenant makes to the rental propertymay become a part of the real estate, thus belonging tothe landlord at the end of the rental term. Tenants shouldbe aware of this before they install or affix anything tothe real estate such as carpeting, bathroom fixtures, lightfixtures, shutters, shrubs, etc.EvictionIn North Carolina a landlord may evict tenants by aspecial court procedure called summary ejectment if thelease is breached or terminated. A landlord in NorthCarolina may not use self help such as cutting off utili-ties or locking tenants out of their homes in lieu of sum-mary ejectment. The Clerk of Superior Court in yourcounty has the forms and information you need to bringa summary ejectment action in magistrate's court.In addition, accelerated evictions may occur for ten-ants and all members of the tenant's household if crimi-nal activity (such as drug trafficking) has occurred.If a court enters a judgment for possession in favor ofthe Landlord, the Landlord is entitled to possession ofthe premises after the appeal period has expired and aWrit of Possession has been executed and delivered bythe Sheriff upon the tenants.LandlordsandTenantsLandlords and tenants are free to bargainabout many terms of rental agreements, andthose who rent houses, apartments or mobilehomes should feel free to seek changes in termsor conditions which they feel are not in their bestinterest before signing any rental agreement.Once the bargaining is over and both landlordand tenant have agreed to a set of conditions orterms, both parties are required to carry outthese terms and conditions.However, the landlord and the tenant haveduties and rights established by law, and whilethe law provides great leeway for landlords andtenants to bargain about terms, the law does notpermit either to surrender certain rights or fail tocarry out certain duties established by law.(Note: This pamphlet refers to residentialleases. The law is different for commercial leas-es. See an attorney for more information.)ordinary wear and tear or damage caused by nature orpeople you do not permit to come into your home.(4) To comply with any and all obligations imposedupon tenants by current applicable building and housingcodes.(5) To replace the batteries as needed in a battery-operated smoke detector and to notify the landlord if thesmoke detector needs to be repaired or replaced. To notrender the smoke detector inoperable and to not know-ingly permit anyone else to do so.(6) Vacate the premises at the end of the term, leav-ing them in good, clean condition. If you holdover at theend of the term and the landlord continues to acceptrental payments from you, unless your rental agreementotherwise provides, the law may deem you to haveentered a new term of lease according to the same termsas your rental agreement. For example, if you have alease agreement for a one-year term and holdover at theend of the term you may be bound to an additional one-year term.To protect yourself you should make a thoroughinspection of premises you intend to rent and set out inwriting any damages or defects in the premises existingwhen you take occupancy, so that you will not be heldresponsible for them at the end of the term.If something goes wrong with your home which isthe landlord's duty to fix, you should let him know inwriting what needs to be repaired and you must give hima reasonable amount of time to get the repairs done.What amount of time is reasonable depends on thenature of the problem. Leaks, a broken furnace in win-ter, and bad wiring, etc., should be corrected promptly. Itmay be reasonable, however, for a landlord to take a fewweeks to repair other problems.If the problem is a real emergency, your notice to thelandlord does not have to be written, but it is alwayswise to give a dated written notice and keep a copy foryourself.REMEMBER: The landlord's obligation to performhis duties is dependent on your performance of yourduties as a tenant.Your Rights As A LandlordIf you are a landlord, you can rent your property forwhatever amount you choose, although you may notraise rent during the term of a lease and you must giveproper notice to your tenant of any change if there is aYour Rights As A TenantAs long as you fulfill your legal duties and therequirements of your rental agreement, you have theright to exclusive possession of
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