GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1997 SESSION

S.L. 1997-378
HOUSE BILL 668

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE CUMBERLAND COUNTY TO REQUIRE OWNERS OF RENTAL PROPERTY IN THE COUNTY TO AUTHORIZE AN AGENT TO ACCEPT SERVICE OF PROCESS IN HOUSING CODE CASES AND CASES INITIATED BY THE LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  The Board of County Commissioners of Cumberland County may, by ordinance, require that each nonresident owner of rental property within the county authorize a person residing in the county to serve as the owner's agent for the purpose of accepting service of process in an action involving a violation of an ordinance adopted pursuant to Part 4 of Article 18 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes, or Chapter 130A of the General Statutes, or a violation of local board of health rules adopted pursuant to Chapter 130A of the General Statutes.  The owner shall provide the county inspections department with the authorized agent's name, address, and phone number on a form supplied by the department. The owner shall notify the inspections department of any changes in the information within 10 days after the changes occur.  Nothing in this section shall require an owner to designate an agent to accept service of process if the owner of the rental property resides within Cumberland County.
Section 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 7th day of August, 1997.
s/	Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

s/	Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives