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

Lee County Code § 6-141 opens the enforcement chain for substandard housing to more than just the inspector's own initiative: a petition can come from a public authority, from at least five residents of the county, or from an occupant charging that a dwelling violates the Minimum Housing Code. Once triggered, the inspector must investigate and prepare an itemized list of violations. Section 6-141(b) gives the inspector authority to enter, examine and survey dwellings, dwelling units, rooming units and their premises at all reasonable hours, and requires the owner or occupant to grant access; if access is refused, the inspector must obtain an administrative warrant rather than force entry.

After the investigation, subsection (c) requires the inspector to serve the owner and other parties of interest with a written complaint and an itemized list of violations, along with notice of a hearing before the hearing officer set not less than ten nor more than 30 days after service. The owner or any party in interest may file an answer, appear personally or through counsel, and present testimony, with the ordinary rules of evidence in courts of law not controlling at that hearing. Service can be personal, by certified and regular mail under the fallback procedure in subsection (f), or by newspaper publication when the owner's whereabouts cannot be found with reasonable diligence, with a copy posted on the premises in that case.