THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994 TAG: 9406230340
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
DATELINE: 940625 LENGTH: Medium
They see a lease as legal mumbo jumbo, a document of rules and regulations designed to grant landlords unreasonable rights and tenants no rights at all.
{REST} But for tenants who look on their rented house as home, who are responsible renters wanting to fair treatment, a lease can be just as beneficial to them as to the landlord. And the lease, just as much as the house itself, should be looked at carefully before making a commitment to rent.
Under North Carolina law, anyone acting as an agent for another party in negotiating or performing a rental contract must be a licensed real estate agent. Individuals who handle their own contracts do not have to be licensed.
Still, many agents are woefully uninformed about rental law. They do not know that eviction can be accomplished in North Carolina only by court order.
Many padlock doors or impound personal property when rent goes unpaid. Both actions are strictly forbidden under state law.
Some rental agents withhold security deposits to cover carpet cleaning and re-painting after a long-term tenancy, even though the law specifically forbids withholding money to cover normal wear-and-tear.
The North Carolina Bar Association publishes a free pamphlet called ``This is the Law: Landlords and Tenants.'' It should be required reading. For a copy, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Pamphlet Program, N.C. Bar Association, P.O. Box 12806, Raleigh, N.C. 27605.
The one item this pamphlet doesn't tell readers is what happens when an occupied rental property is sold. This is a commonly misunderstood point of North Carolina contract law.
On average, residential property on the Outer Banks changes hands more frequently than property nationwide. The incidence of out-of-town owners who leave their rentals in the hands of agents is higher. It is not uncommon for tenants to rent a beach house and find they have a new landlord before the lease has expired.
Under North Carolina law, a valid lease conveys with a property when it is sold. The new owner is bound by the terms of an existing lease, said Miriam Baer, a lawyer with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. New ownership does not mean an automatic right to renegotiate a lease.
In other words, unless a valid lease provides an unconditional out for a landlord, new owners of a rental property can't raise the rent or terminate tenancy until its renewal date.
Here's what happened to one reader four weeks after signing a year's lease and moving into a duplex on the Outer Banks: He was notified that the property was sold and that he had 30 days to move.
The reader assumed the new landlord had the legal right to evict him but thought the situation was unfair.
``The owner must have known he was going to sell the property when he rented it to me,'' the reader said. ``Isn't there some law against this?''
In fact, the reader's lease did not provide the landlord with any unconditional right of termination. Because the tenant had met his obligations, the lease was valid and enforceable. The new owner's request for the tenant to leave the property was illegal. The tenant could have challenged the action in court.
Unfortunately for tenants, the North Carolina Association of Realtors provides a standard residential rental contract that some individual landlords and almost all rental agents use.
This contract includes a one-sided termination clause, giving the landlord the right to terminate the tenancy ``without cause'' by giving written notice to the renter a certain number of days before the desired termination date. Under the same contract, tenants may not terminate the tenancy during the initial term.
If you, as a tenant, are presented with such a lease, you should think about the implications of these terms. If you can't get the unconditional termination clause removed, argue for the longest notification period possible.
In theory, real estate contracts are negotiable. In practice, the chances of getting rental agents to change a standard lease are slim. Tenants with good rental records might have more success negotiating with individual property owners.
If you have further questions about North Carolina law on tenant-landlord rights and obligations, consult a county magistrate who handles small claims court cases. You may also call the North Carolina Real Estate Commission's legal department at (919) 733-9580, or the consumer protection division with the state Attorney General's Office at (919) 733-7741.
by CNB