North Carolina Landlord-Tenant Laws

Security Deposits

Caps vary by tenancy length, the money must be held in a trust account or bonded, and the return window is 30 days — extendable to 60 when damages are still being determined.

The Tenant Security Deposit Act sets the ceiling by tenancy type: two weeks' rent for a week-to-week tenancy, one and a half months' rent for month-to-month, and two months' rent for anything longer. A pet deposit may be charged in addition to these limits — North Carolina is explicit that a reasonable, non-refundable pet fee sits outside the deposit cap.

Deposits must be held in a trust account at a federally insured institution in North Carolina, or the landlord must post a bond. The tenant must be told the name and address of the bank (or the bonding company) within 30 days of the tenancy beginning. Commingling deposits with operating funds is a violation in itself, independent of whether the tenant is ultimately repaid.

Returning it

You have 30 days after the tenancy ends to itemize deductions and return the balance. If the extent of damage cannot be determined within that window, you may send an interim accounting at 30 days and a final one within 60 days. Permitted deductions are specific: unpaid rent, damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, unpaid bills that become a lien, the cost of re-renting after a tenant's breach, court costs, and removal and storage of the tenant's property after a lawful eviction.

A landlord who fails to account and refund forfeits the right to retain any part of the deposit, and the tenant can recover the deposit plus, in many cases, attorney fees. Any balance remaining after lawful deductions must go back to the tenant — you cannot keep the remainder as a fee.

Rent & Late Fees

The late fee is set by formula — the greater of $15 or 5% of the rent — and only after a five-day grace period. No rent control.

North Carolina is prescriptive here. For a tenancy where rent is due monthly, the late fee may not exceed the greater of $15 or 5% of the monthly rent, and it may not be charged until the rent is five days late. For week-to-week tenancies the ceiling is the greater of $4 or 5%. The fee must be stated in the written lease, only one late fee may be charged per late payment, and it cannot be deducted from a subsequent rent payment to manufacture a new default.

The statute also governs the other charges landlords like to add. Complaint-filing fees, court-appearance fees, and second-trial fees are permitted only in the specific amounts and circumstances §42-46 sets out, and only if the lease provides for them. Charging an eviction-related fee outside that framework is unlawful and can void your claim to it.

There is no rent control in North Carolina and municipalities are preempted from adopting it, so rent levels and increases are contractual. A month-to-month increase rides the seven-day termination notice described below.

Lease Requirements & Disclosures

Short disclosure list — the deposit bank notice and federal lead paint are the main ones, plus a duty to disclose flooding history.

Leases longer than one year must be written. North Carolina's mandated disclosures are limited, and the most commonly missed is the deposit-institution notice, which is easy to fold into the lease itself.

• Name and address of the bank holding the deposit (or the bond), within 30 days of the tenancy starting.
• Lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 housing (federal).
• Flooding: a landlord must disclose whether the unit has been damaged by flooding within the past five years where known.
• Working smoke alarms and, where fuel-burning appliances or attached garages are present, carbon monoxide alarms are required — with a duty to replace batteries at the start of each tenancy.
• Local rental registration exists in some municipalities; check the city, not just the county.

Landlord Entry & Notice

No entry statute — the lease is the sole authority, so the clause has to do real work.

North Carolina has no statute governing landlord entry to an occupied unit. Everything depends on the lease: state the permitted purposes, the notice period, and the emergency exception, then follow it. Absent a clause, entering without consent risks a trespass or quiet-enjoyment claim, and gives a tenant a sympathetic counterclaim in any later eviction.

Evictions

A 10-day demand for unpaid rent, then summary ejectment in small claims court before a magistrate — fast, but strict about the demand.

For unpaid rent, the landlord must make a demand for the rent and allow ten days to pay before filing for summary ejectment — the lease can shorten this only if it expressly says so. Where the lease contains a forfeiture clause for other breaches, the landlord must still declare the forfeiture before filing.

Summary ejectment is heard by a magistrate in small claims court, usually within a couple of weeks. Either side may appeal to District Court for a fresh trial, and a tenant who appeals must generally pay rent into the court as it comes due to stay in possession. After judgment, the sheriff executes the writ — the landlord never does. Self-help removal, lock changes, and utility interruptions are unlawful and expose the landlord to damages.

Habitability & Repairs

Statutory repair duties that cannot be waived — and a rule that rent obligations and repair obligations are mutually dependent.

Section 42-42 requires the landlord to comply with building and housing codes, make repairs to keep the premises fit and habitable, keep common areas safe, maintain the facilities and appliances supplied, and provide operable smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. These duties cannot be waived or shifted to the tenant by lease.

North Carolina treats the duty to pay rent and the duty to repair as mutually dependent, so a tenant facing an eviction for nonpayment may raise the landlord's failure to repair as a defense and seek rent abatement for the period the defect persisted. There is no statutory repair-and-deduct, and self-help rent withholding is risky — the safer tenant path (and the one courts expect) is to pay, document, and claim abatement. Retaliatory eviction within 12 months of a good-faith complaint is prohibited.

Termination & Renewal

Seven days ends a month-to-month — one of the shortest notice periods in the country.

North Carolina's periodic-tenancy notice periods are unusually short: two days for week-to-week, seven days for month-to-month, and one month for year-to-year tenancies. A rent increase on a month-to-month tenancy therefore needs only seven days' notice as a statutory matter — though giving a full 30 days is the professional norm and reduces turnover friction.

Fixed-term leases expire on their stated date. If the lease requires advance notice of non-renewal from either side, that clause is enforceable as written, so read your own template before assuming the statutory minimums apply.

Fair Housing

The State Fair Housing Act tracks federal classes; source of income is not protected statewide and localities are limited in adding it.

The North Carolina State Fair Housing Act covers race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicapping condition, and familial status — closely mirroring federal law. Source of income is not a protected class statewide, and North Carolina restricts local governments from imposing many additional landlord obligations, so the local patchwork is thinner than in Illinois or Ohio.

That does not make voucher and screening policy risk-free: federal disparate-impact principles still apply to blanket criminal-history or income policies, and HUD guidance expects individualized assessment. Publish written criteria, apply them uniformly, document decisions, and handle assistance animals as accommodations rather than pets.