Our team has the right expertise to help tenants stand up for their rights in landlord disputes.
If you rent your home from someone else, chances are that you may one day find yourself in dispute with the owner of the property. While it can be stressful to stand up to your landlord because of the power they wield over your housing situation, we at Tarantino Law, PLLC, want you to know that your rights as a tenant are protected under North Carolina law. Our state regulations uphold tenants’ rights to fair housing and to security deposit protections, as well as offering protection from landlord retaliation. State law also protects the right to housing for victims of domestic violence. In this article, we’ll go over more about each of these protections to help you understand your rights as a tenant.
- Fair Housing – Both the Federal Fair Housing Act and the State Fair Housing Act of North Carolina are designed to prevent housing discrimination. Under these laws, landlords cannot refuse to rent to you, change the terms of your rental agreement, or lie to you about the availability of a property because you belong to a certain group or class. Specifically, these regulations state that you cannot be refused housing due to your race, national origin, skin color, disability, familial status, religion, or sex.
- Security Deposit – Another tenants’ rights regulation governs the amount of money landlords can collect as a security deposit, as well as how much they can deduct from that amount and under what circumstances. The specifics are too complicated to cover here, but you can always turn to our team to get information on your situation.
- Landlord Retaliation – This set of regulations prevents landlords from lashing out at their tenants for behavior they don’t like. Your landlord may not be happy that you complained about needing repairs, reported their negligence to a government agency, or joined a tenants’ union, but they are not allowed to punish you for doing so. If your landlord increased your rent, refused to provide repair or maintenance services, or subjected you to harassment, we urge you to give our team a call to learn more about your options.
- Domestic Violence – If you have been a victim of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault, landlords are not allowed to refuse to rent to you on those grounds. In addition, if you need to escape an abuser, you have the right to terminate your lease early without penalty. We encourage you to reach out to our team in Mooresville, North Carolina to get the expert assistance and compassionate service you need to get out of your situation.