GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION

CHAPTER 261
HOUSE BILL 507

AN ACT AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF DURHAM TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY COUNCIL TO REQUIRE OWNERS OF RENTAL PROPERTY WITHIN THE CITY TO AUTHORIZE AN AGENT TO ACCEPT SERVICE OF PROCESS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  The Charter of the City of Durham, the same being Chapter 671, 1975 Session Laws, as amended, is amended by adding the following new section:
"Sec. 102.5.  Owner of rental property shall authorize agent to accept service of process. – The City Council may, by ordinance, require that each owner of rental property within the city authorize a person residing in the city to serve as his or her agent for the purpose of accepting service of process in an action involving a violation of an ordinance adopted under Parts 5 or 6 of Article 19 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes.  The owner shall provide, on a form supplied by the Housing Services Department, the authorized agent's name, address, and phone number.  The owner shall notify the Housing Services Department of any changes in the information provided not less than 10 days after such changes have occurred.  Nothing in this section shall require an owner to designate an agent to accept service of process where the owner of the rental property resides within the city."
Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of July, 1993.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives