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

6-3(a) sets the entry point for a Minimum Housing Code complaint. A petition can come from a public authority or from at least five residents of the county charging that a specific dwelling is unfit for human habitation; the officer can also act on his own motion without a petition. Either way, the officer must run a preliminary investigation, and if it discloses a basis for the charges, he must issue and serve a complaint on the owner and any parties in interest. That complaint states the charges and gives notice of a hearing, held before the officer or a designated agent at a location within the county, set not less than ten days nor more than thirty days after the complaint is served.

The owner and parties in interest have the right to file a written answer and to appear in person to give testimony, and the hearing is not bound by the formal rules of evidence used in courts of law or equity. 6-3(b) requires written findings of fact and an order: either a repair order, if repair is reasonable relative to the dwelling's value, or a removal/demolition order, if it is not. A repair order can also require the property be vacated during repairs only if continued occupancy would present a significant threat of bodily harm, accounting for the repairs needed, the property's condition, and the presence of minors or occupants with disabilities.

This petition mechanism gives tenants, not just the owner or the county, a documented way to force an inspection and formal habitability finding, distinct from an informal complaint call to the department.