(A) If the owner of a dwelling found to be deteriorated fails to comply with an order issued by the Housing Administrator to repair, alter or improve, or to vacate and close the dwelling, unless an appeal is taken from such an order as provided in §§ 151.16 and 151.27, the Housing Administrator may:
(1) Secure the issuance of a warrant charging the owner with a violation of the standards set forth within this code;
(2) Cause the dwelling to be repaired, altered or improved, or pending the repairs, alterations or improvements, may order the dwelling to be vacated and closed; and
(3) Cause to be posted on the main entrance of any dwelling so closed, a placard with the following words:
"THIS BUILDING IS UNFIT FOR HUMAN HABITATION; THE USE OR OCCUPATION OF THIS DWELLING FOR HUMAN HABITATION IS PROHIBITED AND UNLAWFUL."
Occupation of a building so posted shall constitute as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(1) Secure the issuance of a warrant charging the owner with a violation of the standards set forth within this code;
(2) Order the dwelling to be vacated and closed and removed and demolished; and
(3) Cause to be posted on the main entrance of any dwelling so closed a placard with the following words:
"THIS BUILDING IS UNFIT FOR HUMAN HABITATION; THE USE OR OCCUPATION OF THIS DWELLING FOR HUMAN HABITATION IS PROHIBITED AND UNLAWFUL."
Occupation of a building so posted shall constitute as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(C) The duties and powers of the Housing Administrator set forth in divisions (A) and (B) above, and in §§ 151.24 and 151.25 below shall not be exercised until the Town Council shall have by ordinance ordered the Housing Administrator to proceed and effectuate the purpose of this code with respect to the particular property or properties which the Housing Administrator shall have found to be unfit for human habitation and which property or properties shall be described in the ordinance. This chapter shall be recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county and shall be indexed in the name of the property owner in the grantor index. No such ordinance as described in this division (C) shall be adopted until the owner has first been given a reasonable opportunity to bring the dwelling unit into conformity with this code. As provided by G.S. § 160A-443(7), if any occupant fails to comply with an order to vacate a dwelling, the public officer may file a civil action in the name of the town to remove the occupant. The action to vacate the dwelling shall be in the nature of summary ejectment and shall be commenced by filing a complaint naming as parties-defendant any person occupying the dwelling. The Clerk of Superior Court shall issue a summons requiring the defendant to appear before a magistrate at a certain time, date and place not to exceed ten days from the issuance of the summons to answer the complaint. The summons and complaint shall be served as provided in G.S. § 42-29. The summons shall be returned according to its tenor, and if on its return it appears to have been duly served, and if at the hearing the public officer produces a certified copy of an ordinance adopted by the governing body pursuant to this division (C), authorizing the officer to proceed to vacate the occupied dwelling, the magistrate shall enter judgment ordering that the premises be vacated and that all persons be removed. The judgment ordering that the dwelling be vacated shall be enforced in the same manner as the judgment for summary ejectment entered under G.S. § 42-30.
(D) An appeal from any judgment entered hereunder by the magistrate may be taken as provided in G.S. § 7A-228, and the execution of the judgment may be stayed as provided in G.S. § 7A-227. An action to remove an occupant of a dwelling who is a tenant of the owner may not be in the nature of a summary ejectment proceeding pursuant to this division unless the occupant was served with notice at least 30 days before the filing of the summary ejectment proceeding that the governing body has ordered the Housing Administrator to proceed to exercise his or her duties under this section and § 151.24 below to vacate and close or remove and demolish the dwelling.
(Ord. passed - -2007)