Raleigh Landlord-Tenant Rules

State preemption: North Carolina bars cities and counties from regulating the amount of rent on private residential property, and from prohibiting landlords from refusing tenants whose rent would be paid partly with federal housing assistance (vouchers). The exceptions: government-owned property, subsidized or CDBG-assisted properties, and owners or operators that receive local funding or incentives. State law also sharply limits local rental registration, permits and periodic rental inspections. Raleigh has no rent control, no source-of-income ordinance and no local landlord-tenant code beyond its housing code; state law (see the North Carolina page) governs.; Local fair housing ordinance: Raleigh has a City Fair Housing Ordinance that bans housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, family status, disability, national origin or sex, the same classes as federal law. The Fair Housing Hearing/Advisory Board works on public awareness of the ordinance. For ordinance questions, contact the staff liaison at ComplianceandPlanningUnit@raleighnc.gov or 919-996-6934. The City's tenant handbook directs discrimination complaints to the NC Human Relations Commission (919-807-4420 or 1-866-324-7474) and the NC Office of Administrative Hearings, Civil Rights Division (984-236-1914).; Rental registration/inspection: No Raleigh rental registration or routine rental inspection program was found. Rentals are inspected under the minimum housing code on complaint. State law (§ 160D-1207) limits rental registration to properties with repeated verified violations or high crime or disorder.; Habitability/code enforcement & complaint line: Raleigh's Code Enforcement Division inspects apartments and houses for minimum housing code violations: 919-996-2444, or use the City's online Report a Code Violation form. For other questions, the Housing and Community Development Department is at 919-996-4330 or housing@raleighnc.gov.