North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H913 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
2	2		SESSION 2025
3		-	H 1
4		-	HOUSE BILL 913
	3	+	H D
	4	+	HOUSE BILL DRH40489-ST-12
	5	+
5	6
6	7
7	8		Short Title: Liability/Unfair/Deceptive Develop. Actions. (Public)
8	9		Sponsors: Representative Brody.
9		-	For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
10		-	Referred to: Housing and Development, if favorable, State and Local Government, if
11		-	favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
12		-	April 14, 2025
13		-	H913 -v-1
	10	+	Referred to:
	11	+
	12	+	DRH40489 -ST-12
14	13		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
15	14		AN ACT TO HOLD LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT 2
16	15		DECISIONS. 3
17	16		The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
18	17		SECTION 1. Article 14 of Chapter 160D of the General Statutes is amended by 5
19	18		adding a new section to read: 6
20	19		"§ 160D-1425. Damages, attorneys' fees, and costs. 7
21	20		(a) The court may allow the party seeking recourse to recover its reasonable attorneys' 8
22	21		fees attributed to an action brought pursuant to this Article. 9
23	22		(b) The court shall allow the party seeking recourse to recover its reasonable attorneys' 10
24	23		fees attributed to the action in any action brought pursuant to this Article in which any of the 11
25	24		following occurs: 12
26	25		(1) A party successfully shows the local government intentionally acted in 13
27	26		violation of this Chapter. 14
28	27		(2) A party successfully shows the local government intentionally delayed action 15
29	28		on a development approval to cause the plaintiff to seek action under this 16
30	29		Article. 17
31	30		(3) A party successfully shows the local government acted in a flagrantly unfair 18
32	31		or deceptive manner with respect to the development approval with intent to 19
33	32		cause a party to initiate an action under this Article. 20
34	33		(c) If the court finds in accordance with subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of this section, 21
35	34		the court shall award punitive damages in addition to any reasonable attorneys' fees attributed to 22
36	35		the action in an amount as determined by the court, up to 10 times the damages. For purposes of 23
37	36		this subsection, damages shall mean loss of revenue, increases in costs due to the delays caused 24
38	37		by the local government's actions, and any other damages proven by the plaintiff. 25
39	38		(d) The court shall not award attorneys' fees against the local government under this 26
40	39		section if the court finds that the local government acted in reasonable reliance on any of the 27
41	40		following: 28
42	41		(1) A judgment or an order of a court applicable to a local government in the same 29
43	42		or similar circumstances. 30
44	43		(2) The published opinion of an appellate court, an order of the North Carolina 31
45	44		Business Court, or a final order of the Trial Division of the General Court of 32
46	45		Justice. 33
47		-	(3) A written opinion, decision, or letter of the Attorney General." 34 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48		-	Page 2 House Bill 913-First Edition
49		-	SECTION 2. This act becomes effective October 1, 2025, and applies to causes of 1
50		-	action arising on or after that date. 2
	46	+	(3) A written opinion, decision, or letter of the Attorney General." 34
	47	+	SECTION 2. This act becomes effective October 1, 2025, and applies to causes of 35
	48	+	action arising on or after that date. 36
	49	+	H.B. 913
	50	+	Apr 10, 2025
	51	+	HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK