Frequently Asked Questions

Landlords cannot force tenants out of their homes without going to court, for instance, by changing the locks, turning off utilities or removing the doors. Landlords may send tenants “eviction notices” warning tenants that they plan to file for eviction unless the tenant moves out first. In general, landlords are not required to send an eviction notice before filing an eviction. An eviction notice allows the tenant to choose to voluntarily move out to avoid the court process.

The landlord must file a “Complaint in Summary Ejectment” with the clerk of court. In court, the landlord must prove that grounds for eviction exist. Landlords can evict tenants under the following circumstances:

1. The tenant did not pay rent, the landlord made a demand for rent and waited 10 days, but the tenant still has not paid the rent.
2. The lease has ended, but the tenant has not moved out.
3. The tenant has violated a condition of the lease allowing for eviction. This may include failure to pay rent if the lease includes appropriate language.
4. Criminal activity has occurred for which the tenant can be held responsible.

Leases can be written or oral. However, a person allowed to live in someone else’s home without any agreement to pay rent or become a tenant is a guest. The eviction process is intended for tenants, and also gives tenants certain rights, including written notice of the claims against them and the opportunity for a hearing in which they can present a defense. Guests do not have these rights, and guests who refuse to leave the property may be removed either by the police or through a trespass warrant issued by a magistrate.

Yes. Failing to pay rent is grounds for eviction even if it is not your fault that you were unable to pay.

Evictions are not criminal and will not show up in a criminal record. However, evictions are public record, which may appear in credit reports or affect the tenant’s ability to qualify for another lease.

Tenants who live in public housing or receive subsidized housing vouchers have more rights than tenants renting from private landlords without assistance. You should seek legal assistance if you are in public housing or have a housing voucher and are being evicted, because an eviction could affect your right to receive further housing assistance.

When a landlord rents a lot to a mobile home owner and wants to end the lease, the landlord must give 60 days’ notice. However, if the tenant fails to pay rent or breaches the lease, the landlord can evict the tenant on the same timeline as any other tenant. Tenants who own their mobile homes are responsible for the cost of moving the mobile home. Local zoning regulations may also affect owners’ ability to move an old mobile home.

Eviction cases are typically handled in small claims court, where they are decided by amagistrate. If either the landlord or the tenant appeals, the case will go to District Court, wherethere will be a new hearing before a judge.

Small claims court can be held in a courtroom or in the magistrate’s office. The magistrate will typically have many cases scheduled for the same date and time. The magistrate will first call the names of everyone with a case scheduled to find out who is in court, and will then hear the cases one at a time.

Because the landlord filed the case, the magistrate will hear from the landlord first. The tenant has the right to ask questions of the landlord and any witnesses once they have finished testifying. The magistrate will then allow the tenant to testify, call witnesses and present any

other evidence, such as pictures or documents. Both landlords and tenants may hire attorneys to represent them in small claims court if they wish, but they are not required to do so.

After hearing the case, the magistrate will make a decision. The magistrate will usually announce the decision in court, but will sign a written order later. You may receive a copy in the mail, or you can get a copy of the written order from the clerk of court.

Because eviction cases are civil, not criminal, no one is arrested for failure to appear in court. If a landlord fails to appear in small claims court, the case will be dismissed. If a tenant fails to appear, the magistrate will hear the case based only on the landlord’s version of the facts. The magistrate can order an eviction in the tenant’s absence, and can order the tenant to pay money in the tenant’s absence only if the tenant was not served by posting the notice on the property.

Magistrates may grant continuances for good cause, but may not give a continuance of more than five days unless the parties agree. You should be prepared to present your case on the first court date.

Both parties have 10 days after the magistrate’s decision to appeal the case to District Court. The landlord cannot remove the tenant from the home until the appeal period has ended, whether or not the tenant appeals the case. Once the 10 days have passed, the landlord can return to court and ask the clerk for an order called a “Writ of Possession,” which allows the sheriffs to padlock the home. The sheriff’s office must then remove the tenant within 5 days. Local sheriffs’ departments will often notify tenants in advance of the date they intend to padlock the home.

No. However, the sheriffs will remove the tenants from the home and the landlord will padlock the doors or change the locks. This means that there could be a delay of hours or days before you are able to go back inside to get anything that you have left in the home.

Depending on the value of your belongings left in the home, you have 5 to 7 days after the home is padlocked to arrange with the landlord a time to remove your belongings. Landlords are only required to allow tenants one visit to the home to collect all of the property. If you leave property worth a total of $500 or less in the home, you have 5 days to retrieve it; if it is worth more than $500, you have 7 days. If you have not yet arranged to move your things in this time period, the landlord can dispose of them.

Either a landlord or a tenant can appeal an eviction decision from small claims court to District Court by filing a Notice of Appeal with the clerk of court. Many tenants also file a Petition to Appeal as an Indigent and a Bond to Stay Execution (see the next two questions).

eCourts Guide & File is available to help users prepare court documents online to file for Appeal to District Court and for Petition to Proceed as an Indigent.

In general, in order to appeal, a tenant must timely pay to the clerk of court the appeal costs. Tenants who are unable to pay can ask to be found “indigent,” which means they are not required to advance the court costs. Anyone receiving public assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF or welfare) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is considered unable to pay. You can find the indigency form here. This should be filed with the Notice of Appeal.

eCourts Guide & File is available to help users prepare court documents online to file for Appeal to District Court and for Petition to Proceed as an Indigent.

A tenant, including an indigent tenant, must take certain actions if they wish to stay in theproperty pending an appeal. A tenant, who appeals a magistrate’s judgment, may stay enforcement of the judgment pending the appeal by (i) paying undisputed rent in arrears as determined by the magistrate, unless indigent, and (ii) signing and filing an undertaking “Bond to Stay Execution” with the Notice of Appeal agreeing to pay the tenant’s share of contract rent as it becomes due. In actions based upon alleged nonpayment of rent where the magistrate’s judgment is entered more than five business days before the next rent due date, a tenant is also required to pay prorated rent under the terms of the undertaking. A tenant who fails to pay rent during this time can be evicted before a judge hears the appeal.

Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide nonprofit organization that represents some tenants in their housing cases. You can apply for Legal Aid representation by calling 1-866-219-5262 or applying online.

eCourts Guide & File is available to help users prepare court documents online to file for Summary Ejectment: Complaint in Summary Ejectment, Tenant’s Answer and Counterclaims, Appeal to District Court.

It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.

Both victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex.

Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.

More information can be found here.