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North Carolina residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what North Carolina allows.

What North Carolina law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleNorth CarolinaWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a deposit2 months' rent on a term, 1.5 months' rent month to monthTwo weeks' rent is the ceiling on a week-to-week tenancy.N.C.G.S. 42-51(b)
Earliest a late fee may be charged5 days after rent is dueN.C.G.S. 42-46(a)
Most a late fee may beThe greater of $15 and 5% of the rentThe fee may be charged only once for each late payment, counting the day after rent was due as the first day.N.C.G.S. 42-46(a)
Notice before the landlord may enterNone required by statuteNorth Carolina's Residential Rental Agreements Act sets no notice period before a landlord enters, so the figure this lease sets is the one that governs.N.C.G.S. 42-38 to 42-46
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy7 daysSeven days is unusually short. Nothing stops a lease from agreeing on longer notice, and 30 days is what most tenants expect.N.C.G.S. 42-14

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this North Carolina lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what North Carolina requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in North Carolina?

North Carolina caps every deposit taken together at 2 months' rent on a term, 1.5 months' rent month to month (N.C.G.S. 42-51(b)). That is the total of the security deposit, any pet deposit, and any last month's rent held as a deposit, not each of them separately. The builder holds your figure to that ceiling and tells you when it has. Two weeks' rent is the ceiling on a week-to-week tenancy.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in North Carolina?

Yes, but not without limit. North Carolina allows no late fee until 5 days after rent is due, and caps it at the greater of $15 and 5% of the rent (N.C.G.S. 42-46(a)). A fee charged earlier or larger than that is not enforceable, and the rest of the lease still stands. The fee may be charged only once for each late payment, counting the day after rent was due as the first day.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in North Carolina?

North Carolina sets no statutory notice period (N.C.G.S. 42-38 to 42-46), so whatever the lease says is what governs. The builder writes 24 hours in by default, which is what most states require and what a court reading an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment is likely to call reasonable. Emergencies need no notice anywhere.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in North Carolina?

7 days of written notice from either side (N.C.G.S. 42-14). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. Seven days is unusually short. Nothing stops a lease from agreeing on longer notice, and 30 days is what most tenants expect.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in North Carolina read it before you rely on it.