New Hanover County, NC Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 23-82 (Ord. of 6-15-2020)
- Trigger
- Condemned/unsafe, no power, water or waste disposal
- Posting required
- Posted and noticed for abatement demolition
- Penalty
- Class 3 misdemeanor, fine up to $500
- Additional consequence
- Removal from the premises
Summary
Sec. 23-82 bars occupying a structure the sheriff, health department or building safety inspector has condemned or found unsafe when it lacks functioning electricity, water or waste disposal and has been posted for abatement or demolition. Violators face a Class 3 misdemeanor, a fine up to $500, and removal from the premises.
No person shall occupy a structure condemned or otherwise determined by the sheriff, health department or building safety inspector to be unsafe for such occupancy, pursuant to this chapter or state law, where the structure has no currently functional electricity, water and/or waste disposal and has been posted and noticed for abatement demolition. Any such person shall be guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 and/or removal from the premises.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 15 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 23-82, adopted by ordinance on June 15, 2020, closes the gap left by Article III's general nuisance-abatement process for buildings that have already been condemned. It applies once a structure has been determined unsafe for occupancy by the sheriff, health department or building safety inspector, pursuant to Chapter 23 or state law, and the structure both lacks currently functional electricity, water or waste disposal and has been posted and noticed for abatement demolition. At that point, occupying it at all, not just failing to fix it, is itself the violation.
This sits alongside the broader nuisance-abatement track in Sec. 23-71 through Sec. 23-81: county officers can give a property owner written notice to abate a dangerous or unsafe condition under Sec. 23-74, specify the required fix and deadline under Sec. 23-75, and, if the owner does nothing, abate the condition themselves under Sec. 23-77 and place a lien for the cost under Sec. 23-78, collected with interest like an ad valorem tax. An owner or occupant can request an administrative hearing before the county manager under Sec.
23-79 to contest either an abatement order or a citation before the deadline runs. Sec. 23-81 separately makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor, fined up to $500, to obstruct a county official, employee, agent or contractor who is abating a nuisance under this article. Sec. 23-82 applies only within unincorporated New Hanover County; Wilmington and the county's beach towns enforce their own minimum-housing and unsafe-building codes.
Violations & Fines
Occupying a posted unsafe structure under Sec. 23-82 is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $500, and the violator can also be physically removed from the premises. That penalty is separate from, and can stack with, the civil abatement costs and lien the county can recover under Sec. 23-77 and Sec. 23-78 for the underlying unsafe condition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone legally live in a condemned house in New Hanover County?
What happens if I keep living in my house after it's posted unsafe?
Who decides a structure is unsafe to occupy in the county?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Hanover County
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