Legal Question in Real Estate Law in North Carolina

You would have to file a complaint for money owed. The landlord has 30 days (if he knows your forwarding address, 6 months if he doesn't) to either return your security deposit or provide you with an itemized written list of damages. Was this done here? If it was, how was your secuirty deposit applied? If it wasn't then you can sue for the deposit. The statute is below.

You file a complaint for money owed in the county in which the rental unit is located. You will need to figure out who owns the property if it is a corporation or an individual person or an individual doing business under a fictitious name and serve the complaint on the registered agent of the corporation or the individual, as the case may be.

� 42‑55. Remedies.

If the landlord or the landlord's successor in interest fails to account for and refund the balance of the tenant's security deposit as required by this Article, the tenant may institute a civil action to require the accounting of and the recovery of the balance of the deposit. The willful failure of a landlord to comply with the deposit, bond, or notice requirements of this Article shall void the landlord's right to retain any portion of the tenant's security deposit as otherwise permitted under G.S. 42‑51. In addition to other remedies at law and equity, the tenant may recover damages resulting from noncompliance by the landlord; and upon a finding by the court that the party against whom judgment is rendered was in willful noncompliance with this Article, such willful noncompliance is against the public policy of this State and the court may award attorney's fees to be taxed as part of the costs of court.