High Point, NC Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Section 9-2-105(a) sets the trigger for a Minimum Housing Code investigation: the inspector shall initiate a preliminary inspection of a dwelling when a petition is filed by a public authority or at least five residents of the city charging that the dwelling is unfit for human habitation, and shall also initiate a preliminary inspection whenever it appears to the inspector that any dwelling is unfit, meaning no petition is required for the inspector to act on its own. If that preliminary look turns up a basis for an unfit finding, § 9-2-105(b) requires the inspector to serve the owner and any other parties in interest with a written complaint stating the charges, along with notice of a hearing set not less than 10 days nor more than 30 days after service; at least one petition signer also gets notice of that hearing.

At the § 9-2-105(c) hearing, the owner or any party in interest can file an answer, appear in person or through counsel, and offer evidence, with the formal rules of evidence relaxed. After the hearing, § 9-2-105(d) requires the inspector to issue written findings and, if the dwelling is unfit, an order to repair within up to 30 days if repair costs 65 percent or less of the dwelling's value, or to demolish if repair would cost more, with a possible 90-day extension available for substantial compliance or a signed repair contract.