GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2005
SESSION LAW 2005-292
HOUSE BILL 1240
AN ACT to amend the vacation rental home act concerning vacation rental agreements.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 42A-17(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, G.S. 42A-36,
if, at the time the tenant is to begin occupancy of the property, the
landlord or real estate broker cannot provide the property in a fit and
habitable condition or substitute a reasonably comparable property in such
condition, the landlord and real estate broker shall refund to the tenant all
payments made by the tenant."
SECTION 2. G.S. 42A-19(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) The grantee of
residential property voluntarily transferred by a landlord who has entered into
a vacation rental agreement for the use of the property shall take his or
her title to the property subject to the vacation rental agreement
if the vacation rental is to end not later than 180 days after the grantee's
interest in the property is recorded in the office of the register of deeds. If
the vacation rental is to end more than 180 days after the recording of the
grantee's interest, the tenant shall have no right to enforce the terms of the
agreement unless the grantee has agreed in writing to honor such those
terms, but the tenant shall be entitled to a refund of payments made by him
or her, as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
Prior to entering into any contract of sale, the landlord
shall disclose to the grantee the time periods that the property is subject to
a vacation rental agreement. Not later than 10 days after entering into the
contract of sale transfer of the property, the landlord shall
disclose to the grantee each tenant's name and address and shall provide the
grantee with a copy of each vacation rental agreement. In lieu of providing
the grantee a copy of each vacation rental agreement, where the landlord or the
landlord's agent utilizes a standard form vacation rental agreement, the
landlord may provide the grantee with a copy of the part of each vacation
rental agreement that contains information unique to the tenancy, the amount to
be paid by the tenant, and the parties' signatures, along with one copy of the
rest of the standard form vacation rental agreement. However, the landlord
shall not be required to provide the grantee with copies of the vacation rental
agreements if in anticipation of acquiring the property the grantee has engaged
the landlord's rental agent to continue to manage the property after the
transfer and the landlord authorizes the rental agent to provide the
information to the grantee and the grantee approves. Not later than 10 20
days after transfer of the property, the grantee or the grantee's agent
shall:
(1) Notify each tenant in writing of the property transfer, the grantee's name and address, and the date the grantee's interest was recorded.
(2) Advise each tenant whether he or she has the right to occupy the property subject to the terms of the vacation rental agreement and the provisions of this section.
(3) Advise each tenant of whether he or she has the right to receive a refund of any payments made by him or her.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the grantee engages as the grantee's broker and rental agent for the property the broker who procured the tenant's vacation rental agreement for the landlord, the grantee shall have no obligation under subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection with regard to those tenants whose vacation rental agreements must be honored under this section or with regard to those tenants whose vacation rental agreements the grantee has agreed in writing to honor."
SECTION 3. G.S. 42A-36 reads as rewritten:
"§ 42A-36. Mandatory evacuations.
If State or local authorities, acting pursuant to Article 36A
of Chapter 14 or Article 1 of Chapter 166A of the General Statutes, order a
mandatory evacuation of an area that includes the residential property subject
to a vacation rental, the tenant in possession of the property under
the vacation rental agreement, whether in possession of the property or not, shall
comply with the evacuation order. Upon compliance, the tenant shall be entitled
to a refund from the landlord of the prorated rent for each night that the
tenant is unable to occupy the property because of the mandatory evacuation
order. The tenant shall not be entitled to a refund if: (i) prior to the tenant
taking possession of the property, the tenant refused insurance offered by the
landlord or real estate broker that would have compensated him or herthe
tenant for losses or damages resulting from loss of use of the property due
to a mandatory evacuation order; or (ii) the tenant purchased insurance offered
by the landlord or real estate broker. The insurance offered shall be provided
by an insurance company duly authorized by the North Carolina Department of
Insurance, and the cost of the insurance shall not exceed eight percent (8%) of
the total rent charged for the vacation rental to the tenant."
SECTION 4. This act becomes effective October 1, 2005, and applies to vacation rental agreements entered into on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 11th day of August, 2005.
s/ Beverly E. Perdue
President of the Senate
s/ James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Michael F. Easley
Governor
Approved 2:55 p.m. this 22nd day of August, 2005