Burke County, NC Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Section 10-36(a) of the housing code gives Burke County residents, not just property owners, a formal way to trigger an inspection and enforcement case against a dangerous or substandard rental. A petition can come from a public authority, from at least five residents of the county, or at the request of a state-licensed real estate agent; the building code administrator can also open a case on the administrator's own initiative if the dwelling appears unfit for human habitation. Once a petition or the administrator's own preliminary investigation discloses a basis to proceed, the administrator serves a complaint on the owner and any other party with a recorded interest in the property, sets a hearing date, and posts a sign on the property itself stating that it is under investigation by the county building inspection department; that sign must go up not less than ten days nor more than 30 days after the complaint is served.

The owner and any party in interest can file an answer and appear at the hearing with testimony, and the rules of evidence that apply in court do not control what the administrator can consider. The county also protects whoever filed the complaint: § 10-36(a) requires that notice of the hearing go to at least one of the people who signed the petition, and it opens the hearing itself to any interested member of the public who wants to attend and give relevant evidence. If the administrator later finds the dwelling unfit, the case moves into the order-and-appeal process in §§ 10-36(b) and 10-37, which can end in a repair order, a demolition order, or, for a tenant who won't leave a dwelling the county has ordered vacated, a summary-ejectment action.