Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42, landlords must keep rental premises fit and habitable, comply with building codes, maintain plumbing, electrical, heating and other facilities, and provide working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Tenants enforce these duties by civil action, but cannot withhold rent until a court approves it.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42 requires the landlord to comply with applicable building and housing codes and to "make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition." The landlord must keep common areas safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating and air-conditioning facilities in good working order, and provide operable smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Imminently dangerous conditions must be repaired within a reasonable time. Under § 42-44 these duties are enforceable by civil action, but § 42-44(c) states a tenant "may not unilaterally withhold rent prior to a judicial determination of a right to do so."
Tenants may sue for rent abatement, repair costs, or damages under § 42-44. A landlord who fails to maintain fit premises may also face local housing-code enforcement; there is no fixed statutory fine in Chapter 42.
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