Act Now to Protect NC Families Who Rely on Rental Income

A technical correction that would restore to homeowners much needed legal protection from rental bans and restrictions is included in the House version of the budget.

Please contact your state lawmaker and ask for their support on this important correction which is a necessity for homeowners who rely on rental income to afford their mortgages and other expenses.

State law previously provided essential stability for home buyers by preventing local governments from regulating major sources of rental income out of existence. It also prevented local governments from enacting overly burdensome regulations on rental housing, including charging owners a fee to rent their own property.

In 2019, the General Assembly reorganized North Carolina’s land use statutes with the explicit intent and promise not to make substantive changes in the law. Instead, an important substantive change was made. Due to the change, homeowners who financially planned on rental income are no longer protected from significant losses due to local ordinances.

The key points are as follows:

• Zoning Authority has never allowed and should not allow local governments to dictate how property owners may rent their properties.
• This is a significant policy change. It should not have been made without consideration and debate.
• It is a matter of fairness to hold the legislation to its promise of no substantial changes. Citizens must be able to depend on the assurances given by lawmakers when passing new legislation. This change represents a broken promise.
• This change will have a devastating impact on the financial lives of many North Carolinians.

This correction faces opposition from local interests seeking to exploit this unexpected opportunity to overturn a court decision made prior to the change when the property rights protection was in place. So it’s important to act fast in order to protect these fundamental property owners’ rights.

Please act now and affirm the General Assembly’s original intent to safeguard homeowners and property rights by supporting the change in Section 5.15(a) of the House version of the budget by returning GS 160D-1207(c) to the NCGA’s previous policy.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Porter Graham, OBAR Governmental Affairs Director pgraham@ncrealtors.org.

 

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