2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 157-29. Rentals; tenant selections; and summary ejectments.

§ 157‑29.  Rentals; tenant selections; and summary ejectments.

(a)       It is hereby declared to be the policy of this State that each housing authority shall manage and operate its housing projects in an efficient manner so as to enable it to fix the cost of dwelling accommodations for persons of low income at the lowest possible rates consistent with its providing decent, safe, and sanitary dwelling accommodations. No housing authority may construct or operate its housing projects so as to provide revenues for other activities of the city.

(b)       In the operation or management of housing projects, portions of projects, or other housing assistance programs for persons of low income, an authority shall at all times observe the following duties with respect to rentals and tenant selection:

(1)       It may rent or lease dwelling accommodations set aside for persons of low income only to persons who lack the amount of income that is necessary (as determined by the housing authority undertaking the project) to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings, without overcrowding; and

(2)       It may rent or lease dwelling accommodations to persons of low income only at rentals within the financial reach of such persons.

(3)       In the administration of its waiting lists, it shall adopt a preference for households with incomes of less than thirty percent (30%) of the area median income.

(4)       An authority shall take applications on a continuous basis from persons meeting the preference listed in this section and shall not close the application process to these persons. Any additional local preferences shall not take priority over the preference in this section.

(c)       An authority may terminate or refuse to renew a rental agreement for a serious or repeated violation of a material term of the rental agreement such as (i) failure to make payments due under the rental agreement, if such payments were properly and promptly calculated according to applicable HUD regulation, whether or not such failure was the fault of the tenant, (ii) failure to fulfill the tenant obligations set forth in 24 C.F.R. Section 966.4(f) or other applicable provisions of federal law as they may be amended from time to time, or (iii) other good cause. Except in the case of failure to make payments due under a rental agreement, fault on the part of a tenant may be considered in determining whether good cause exists to terminate a rental agreement.

(d)       The receipt or acceptance of rent by an authority, with or without knowledge of a prior default or failure by the tenant under a rental agreement, shall not constitute a waiver of that default or failure unless (i) the authority expressly agrees to such waiver in writing, or (ii) within 120 days after obtaining knowledge of the default or failure, the authority fails either to notify the tenant that a violation of the rental agreement has occurred or to exercise one of the authority's remedies for such violation.

(e)       In any summary ejectment action wherein a housing authority alleges that a tenant's lease has been terminated because the tenant, a household member, or a guest has engaged in a criminal activity that threatens the health and safety of others or the peaceful enjoyment of the premises by others, or has engaged in activity involving illegal drugs, as defined in 24 C.F.R. § 966.4, the housing authority may bring an action under Article 7 of Chapter 42 of the General Statutes. (1939, c. 150; 1985, c. 741, s. 2; 1987, c. 464, s. 5; 1989, c. 272; 1995, c. 520, s. 1; 1997‑473, s. 1; 2005‑423, s. 8.)