Landlord is evicting me

tc02150312

New Member
Jurisdiction
North Carolina
I am currently renting a home in Lillington NC. I have lived in this property for 14 months. My landlord and I made an agreement to skip January's rent only if I pay an additional 50 dollars for 11 months to take care of the money owed. Well situation came up and for 3 months I was unable to pay that extra 50 dollars. Well it is now April so I knew I was unable to pay the extra 50 dollars so I asked my Landlord when I paid my Aprils rent if I could just make an additional rent payment to take care of that Januarys payment on the 19th of April. I paid my Aprils rent on the 5th. That is the last day I can pay without having late fees. Well he agreed. He said ok to me pay 550.00 on the 19th. Well I got an eviction notice from him with a court date of April 23rd. So he applied my Aprils payment that I paid on the 5th to my past due Januarys payment. so with that being said he is making it look like I was late for April's rent. This is after we agreed that I would make that payment on the 19th. I need to know is that possible. Also there are issues in the home that I have told him about and he has neglected to take care of these issues. Please help me I have no where to go and this court date is April 23rd
 
Make sure you appear in court or the landlord will easily get what he wants.
If this was the first you heard of the eviction attempt then the landlord may have skipped a step or two. Familiarize yourself with the legal process for eviction in your state and determine if anything was skipped. If so, you may be able to set the landlord back to square one and delay.
If the landlord accepts your money on the 19th then it may be a moot issue anyway since your rent will be caught up. Still, appear in court regardless of what the landlord tells you about it.
You may be able to avoid eviction but the message is clear. The landlord is telling you to pay up or get out.
 
he applied my Aprils payment that I paid on the 5th to my past due Januarys payment.

Yes, that's exactly what he did.

This is after we agreed that I would make that payment on the 19th.

Did you get that in writing? Will he deny the agreement in court?

there are issues in the home that I have told him about and he has neglected to take care of these issues

You had contemporaneous remedies when those issues arose. You don't get to use them as a defense for a non-pay eviction.

If this was the first you heard of the eviction attempt then the landlord may have skipped a step or two.

I think so.

Under Article 1 - General Provisions:

42-3. Term forfeited for nonpayment of rent.
In all verbal or written leases of real property of any kind in which is fixed a definite time for the payment of the rent reserved therein, there shall be implied a forfeiture of the term upon failure to pay the rent within 10 days after a demand is made by the lessor or his agent on said lessee for all past-due rent, and the lessor may forthwith enter and dispossess the tenant without having declared such forfeiture or reserved the right of reentry in the lease.

However, while 10 day "pay or quit" notice is required for all tenancies, immediate dispossession is not allowed for residential tenancies per Article 2A - 42-25.6 and Article 3 which requires court eviction:

General Statute Sections - North Carolina General Assembly

Please help me I have no where to go and this court date is April 23rd

Note the following section:

42-33. Rent and costs tendered by tenant.
If, in any action brought to recover the possession of demised premises upon a forfeiture for the nonpayment of rent, the tenant, before judgment given in such action, pays or tenders the rent due and the costs of the action, all further proceedings in such action shall cease. If the plaintiff further prosecutes his action, and the defendant pays into court for the use of the plaintiff a sum equal to that which shall be found to be due, and the costs, to the time of such payment, or to the time of a tender and refusal, if one has occurred, the defendant shall recover from the plaintiff all subsequent costs; the plaintiff shall be allowed to receive the sum paid into court for his use, and the proceedings shall be stayed.

In other words, pay in full including the LL's court costs by the date of the court appearance, take proof of payment with you and have the eviction dismissed. If the LL won't accept then bring all the money to court and the judge should compel him to accept it.
 
If you prevail THIS time, being late in the future doesn't bode well for you.

Pay the rent on time, risk being evicted.

Following the contract (as in the lease) doesn't allow for what has been happening.

Just follow the rules, your life will be simple.

If you break the rules, you complicate your life.
 
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