To file a complaint in summary ejectment in NC, a landlord gives the tenant the required pre-filing notice, fills out Form AOC-CVM-201 marking the correct legal ground, and takes it to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the rental property sits along with a $96 filing fee and $30 per defendant for sheriff’s service. The case runs through small claims and can reach a hearing in as few as seven business days after filing. Getting the form and the notice right is what separates a landlord who recovers possession from one who pays twice and starts over.
Give the Required Notice First
Filing before the notice period runs is the most common reason these cases get dismissed. The notice you owe depends on why you are evicting.
For nonpayment of rent, you must demand the past-due rent and then wait a full ten days. If the tenant pays everything owed within that window, there is no basis to proceed. The demand does not have to be in writing for a verbal lease, but a written demand creates a paper trail that holds up in court.1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42 – Landlord and Tenant Only after those ten days pass without payment is the lease treated as forfeited.
For a holdover tenant, the notice depends on the tenancy. A month-to-month tenant needs at least seven days’ notice before the end of the current month.2North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42, Section 42-14 A year-to-year tenancy requires a full month’s notice. If the tenant has a written lease with a fixed end date, no separate notice to vacate is required, since the lease itself puts them on notice.
For a lease breach, the notice obligation usually comes from the lease. Most well-drafted leases require written notice of the breach and a cure period before the landlord can declare the lease forfeited. If the lease is silent, send written notice anyway to establish a record.
Pick the Right Legal Ground
Form AOC-CVM-201 asks you to check the ground for eviction. North Carolina recognizes four, and your facts have to match the box you check.
- Nonpayment of rent: you demanded past-due rent and the tenant failed to pay within ten days of that demand.3North Carolina Judicial Branch. Landlord/Tenant Issues
- Holdover after the lease expires: the tenant’s term ended and they stayed without your permission.4North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42, Article 3, Section 42-26 – Tenant Holding Over May Be Dispossessed in Certain Cases
- Breach of a lease condition: the tenant did or failed to do something that, under the lease, ends their right to stay. Common examples include unauthorized occupants, prohibited pets, or property damage.4North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42, Article 3, Section 42-26 – Tenant Holding Over May Be Dispossessed in Certain Cases
- Criminal activity: covers situations where criminal activity occurred in or around the unit, the unit was used to further criminal activity, or the tenant allowed a previously barred person back onto the property. This ground operates under Article 7 of Chapter 42.1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42 – Landlord and Tenant
Pick one that your evidence actually supports. If you check nonpayment but your real complaint is that the tenant has an unauthorized roommate, the magistrate has no reason to rule for you on the box you marked.
Fill Out Form AOC-CVM-201
The complaint form is available at any Clerk of Superior Court’s office and through the North Carolina Judicial Branch website.5North Carolina Judicial Branch. Complaint In Summary Ejectment It looks simple. The details matter more than most landlords expect.
Start with the county where the rental property is located. You are the Plaintiff. Every adult occupant you want removed is a Defendant, listed by full legal name as it appears on the lease. Leaving a name off means the court has no authority over that person, and they can legally refuse to leave even after a judgment against the others.
Check the box matching your legal ground. For nonpayment, fill in the exact dollar amount of past-due rent and any late fees the lease allows, including the total owed through the filing date.6North Carolina Judicial Branch. Complaint in Summary Ejectment If you want a money judgment alongside possession, you have to ask for it on the form. Landlords who skip that section recover the property and walk away with no order for the unpaid rent.
Include the date of the last rental payment and the date the lease ended or was terminated. These dates give the magistrate the timeline. Sign the form, or have your attorney sign it, to certify that the statements are true. An unsigned form will be rejected at the clerk’s window.
File With the Clerk and Arrange Service
Bring the signed complaint to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the property sits. The small claims filing fee is $96, set statewide. Add $30 per defendant for the sheriff to serve the summons and complaint.7Dare County, NC. Small Claims Court Bring enough copies for the court file and each defendant.
Once the clerk accepts the filing, the court sets a hearing within seven days, not counting weekends and holidays. The sheriff then serves the defendants using the procedure in the statute: the officer first mails a copy, then attempts personal delivery at the tenant’s home within five days of issuance and at least two days before the hearing.1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42 – Landlord and Tenant If the officer cannot reach anyone, the law allows posting the summons and complaint on a visible part of the premises.
Track service through the clerk’s office. If the sheriff cannot serve the tenant and does not post the papers in time, the hearing may have to be rescheduled. The case cannot proceed without proof that the tenant received proper notice of the lawsuit.
What Happens After You File
At the hearing, a magistrate listens to both sides. You carry the burden of proving the ground you checked. If the tenant does not show up and service was proper, the magistrate typically enters a default judgment for the landlord.
A judgment awarding possession does not take effect immediately. North Carolina gives the losing party ten days to appeal to district court for an entirely new trial before a judge or jury. The appeal must be filed with the Clerk of Superior Court within those ten days, and the appealing party must also pay court costs within the same period or the appeal is automatically dismissed. A tenant who cannot afford the costs can file a poverty affidavit within ten days to request indigent status.8North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 7A, Section 7A-228 – New Trial Before Magistrate
If no one appeals within ten days, you can ask the clerk to issue a writ of possession. The sheriff then has five days to carry out the writ by physically removing the tenant and their belongings. A landlord who waits more than 30 days to request the writ must sign an affidavit swearing they have not accepted rent or entered into a new lease since the judgment. Accepting even a partial rent payment after winning can undermine the entire case.
Defenses to Expect
Tenants have the right to appear and raise defenses. Three come up often enough to think about before you file.
Improper Notice
The most effective tenant defense is often the simplest: you did not follow the notice rules. If a nonpayment complaint was filed before the ten-day demand period expired, or a month-to-month tenant did not get the required seven days’ notice, the magistrate will dismiss the case regardless of how much rent is owed. You can refile after giving proper notice, but you lose time and pay a second filing fee.
Retaliatory Eviction
North Carolina law protects tenants who complain about unsafe conditions, report code violations to a government agency, or attempt to exercise their legal rights. If you file for ejectment within twelve months of any of these protected actions, the tenant can raise retaliation as a defense. The burden then shifts to you to prove the eviction was motivated by a legitimate ground.9North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42, Section 42-37.1 – Defense of Retaliatory Eviction
Uninhabitable Conditions
North Carolina landlords are legally required to keep rental properties fit and habitable, including compliance with building and housing codes, necessary repairs, safe common areas, and working electrical, plumbing, and heating systems.10North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42, Section 42-42 – Landlord to Provide Fit Premises A tenant facing eviction for nonpayment may argue the landlord failed to maintain the property after receiving written notice of the problem. The defense does not always succeed, but it introduces a factual dispute that complicates the case.
What You Cannot Do Instead
A residential tenant in North Carolina can only be removed through the court process above. Changing the locks, shutting off utilities, or removing the tenant’s belongings without a court order violates state public policy. A landlord who takes matters into their own hands risks legal liability and may actually delay the eviction by giving the tenant grounds for a counterclaim. You also cannot seize a tenant’s personal property to satisfy unpaid rent; the old common-law practice of distress and distraint is specifically prohibited for residential rentals, and any lease clause claiming to authorize it is void.11North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42, Section 42-25.7
Watch the lease itself for the same problem. North Carolina treats it as a violation of public policy for a landlord to charge administrative fees for filing a summary ejectment complaint beyond those specifically authorized by statute, and the restriction applies to out-of-pocket expenses and litigation costs as well. Lease language imposing unauthorized fees is void and unenforceable.12North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 42, Section 42-46