| 12 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 13 | 14 | | AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE SEALING OF CERTAIN SUMMARY EJECTMENT 2 |
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| 14 | 15 | | RECORDS AND PROCEEDINGS FROM PUBLIC RECORDS AND TO MAKE DENIAL 3 |
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| 15 | 16 | | OF A RENTAL APPLICATION BASED ON CERTAIN SEALED RECORDS A 4 |
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| 16 | 17 | | DISCRIMINATORY HOUSING PRACTICE UNDER THE FAIR HOUSING ACT. 5 |
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| 17 | 18 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 6 |
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| 18 | 19 | | SECTION 1. Article 3 of Chapter 42 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 7 |
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| 19 | 20 | | a new section to read: 8 |
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| 20 | 21 | | "§ 42-36.4. Automatic sealing of eviction records. 9 |
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| 21 | 22 | | (a) The clerk of superior court shall cause all records of all summary ejectment 10 |
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| 22 | 23 | | proceedings to be sealed and removed from publicly accessible records as follows: 11 |
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| 23 | 24 | | (1) After three years from the date the judgment was entered. 12 |
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| 24 | 25 | | (2) A pending proceeding where no decision has been entered. 13 |
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| 25 | 26 | | (3) A proceeding that has been dismissed or where judgment was entered in favor 14 |
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| 26 | 27 | | of the respondent tenant. 15 |
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| 27 | 28 | | (4) A proceeding that names a respondent that is under 18 years of age. 16 |
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| 28 | 29 | | (b) For the purposes of this section, the term "seal" or "sealed" means the act of keeping 17 |
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| 29 | 30 | | some or all of the court record confidential and unavailable for public inspection. 18 |
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| 30 | 31 | | (c) Nothing in this section is intended to limit or otherwise impair the docketing or 19 |
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| 31 | 32 | | execution of a judgment for monetary damages in connection with a summary ejectment 20 |
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| 32 | 33 | | proceeding filed under G.S. 42-26. 21 |
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| 33 | 34 | | (d) This section shall not apply to summary ejectment proceedings filed under Article 7 22 |
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| 34 | 35 | | of this Chapter." 23 |
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| 35 | 36 | | SECTION 2. G.S. 41A-4 reads as rewritten: 24 |
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| 36 | 37 | | "§ 41A-4. Unlawful discriminatory housing practices. 25 |
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| 37 | 38 | | … 26 |
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| 38 | 39 | | (h) It is an unlawful discriminatory housing practice to deny an applicant on a rental 27 |
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| 39 | 40 | | agreement based upon a proceeding for summary ejectment that has been sealed pursuant to 28 |
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| 40 | 41 | | G.S. 42-36.4." 29 |
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| 41 | 42 | | SECTION 3. Section 1 of this act becomes effective October 1, 2025, and applies to 30 |
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| 42 | 43 | | summary ejectment proceedings initiated on or after that date. The remainder of this act is 31 |
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| 43 | 44 | | effective when it becomes law. 32 |
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