Charlotte, NC – With insurance, taxes and maintenance paid for, you would think Ballantyne area renters would be ahead of the game, but that wasn’t the case in 2009.
Ballantyne is home to some the most exclusive apartment homes in South Charlotte including Camden at Ballantyne which is owned and operated by Camden property trust.
Camden at Ballantyne filed 50 evictions in 2009 averaging close to 1 eviction per week. Camden Property Trust operates 183 properties with 63,286 individual units across the United States.
One of Ballantyne’s largest apartment communities Atkins Circle managed by Village Green Companies had a total of 55 evictions filed in 2009 winning the title for the most evictions served in Ballantyne FOR 2009.
RUNNERS UP INCLUDE:
- CHESWYCK AT BALLANTYNE FILED 27 EVICTIONS IN 2009.
- CRESTMONT AT BALLANTYNE FILED 21 EVICTIONS IN 2009.
- PLANTATION PARK 11 IN 2009.
- POST AT BALLANTYNE 11 IN 2009.
*Ballantyne Properties with fewer than 10 evictions were not included.
Source: Filings with the clerck of court listed under the civil inquiry section of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Dept.
Often evictions are filed due to inability to pay the landlord, but evictions are filed for other reasons such as criminal activity. Filing an eviction is not as easy as you would think. In North Carolina a Landlord cannot change locks or otherwise impede the tenant’s ability to enter the property even if the tenant fails to pay rent.
In order for a Landlord to evict the tenant the landlord must obtain an order through a process called “SUMMARY EJECTMENT” (N.C. GEN. STAT. §§ 42-26 TO 36.2)
LEGAL GROUNDS FOR EVICTION IN MOST STATES INCLUDE:
Non-payment of rent: The landlord must inform the tenant in writing that full rent is due by a specific deadline or the lease will be terminated. If the landlord refuses to take full payment and the tenant can prove it, the eviction may be challenged in court. After the deadline, the landlord doesn’t have to accept payment.
Other tenant violations: The landlord must inform the tenant in writing of the lease “violation”. The tenant must have ample time to correct the problem. If the tenant does nothing to correct it, the landlord may evict.
Lease has expired: If the landlord doesn’t extend an expired lease and the tenant refuses to leave, the landlord may evict. The tenant must be given written notice. Give the tenant a 60 or 90 day renewal (or non-renewal) notice.
No lease: When a tenant rents month to month without a lease, a landlord needs only to give written notice (usually 30-45 days) to terminate the lease. If the tenant does not leave at the end of that time, the landlord can evict.
Tenants should: Present documents, use originals or high quality copies. Get a receipt for all cash transactions. Canceled checks and money orders are good proof of payments.
If the court orders you evicted, you might postpone eviction if you have a good reason. The judge may consider hardships, such as young children or a sick or elderly family member, in setting the eviction date.
You may file a request for an “extension of time” if hardships keep you from making the deadline. Typically moving a child out of school, loss of job etc may qualify to avoid evictions.
Withhold rent: The law in most states requires the tenant to inform the landlord in writing that they intend to withhold rent if a specific problem isn’t solved by a certain date. Tenants must give the landlord reasonable time to comply with their requests. The tenant must also make sure the landlord or his contractor has access to fix the problem.
So why the sudden boom in evictions? One reason apartment complexes need to maintain maximum occupancy to remain profitable often lowering credit standards to fill empty units. Another reason is apartment complexes are seeing an influx of former home owners who have lost their homes due to foreclosure and seek temporary housing only to find that their circumstances are worse than they had previously thought.
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