Landlords in North Carolina and throughout the nation have the right to evict a tenant for a variety of reasons. However, tenants who are facing eviction have defenses against an attempt to remove them from a home or apartment. For instance, a tenant may assert that he or she wasn’t given sufficient notice prior to being evicted or that an eviction notice wasn’t delivered properly.
In such a scenario, the landlord may be required to allow a tenant to stay in a rental home or apartment until the eviction process has been followed correctly. Landlords who accept a portion of a rent payment may lose the right to evict an individual for the remainder of that rent period, even if a tenant violated the lease for reasons other than failure to pay a landlord the full monthly rental rate.
Landlords are not allowed to evict tenants in retaliation for reporting code violations or other problems to state or local authorities. Furthermore, tenants cannot be evicted simply because they asked their landlords to make repairs or upgrades to a property.
Typically, both landlords and tenants have rights under a standard lease agreement. If a tenant’s rights have been violated, it may be worthwhile to seek the help of legal counsel to resolve the matter. An attorney may be able to help an individual avoid an eviction or recover financial damages from a landlord. This might occur either through a negotiated settlement or by pursuing a formal trial.
