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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina House Bill 267 requires automatic and petitioned expungement of certain eviction records
Last action · March 5, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Bryan Cohn and 31 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina House Bill 267 establishes procedures for the automatic and petitioned of court records in (eviction) proceedings under specific dismissal or favorable judgment conditions. The measure requires the Administrative Office of the Courts to create necessary petition forms by September 30, 2025, with the main expungement provisions taking effect on October 1, 2025.
Tenants involved in dismissed or favorable eviction proceedings can have their court records removed from public files, affecting future rental applications and housing access after specified waiting periods or conditions are met.
- Summary ejectment is the legal process used in North Carolina courts by landlords to evict tenants and recover possession of leased premises. context
- The General Assembly of North Carolina considers public policy measures affecting court administration, housing, and civil procedure during its legislative sessions. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
defendants in summary ejectment proceedings
Defendants are eligible to have their summary ejectment court records automatically or upon petition expunged under specified conditions.
Administrative Office of the Courts
The Administrative Office of the Courts must develop and make available the petition forms required by the new section no later than September 30, 2025.
Key Facts
- The clerk of superior court must automatically enter an order to expunge court records in summary ejectment proceedings 30 days after resolution if the case is voluntarily dismissed prior to a magistrate's or district court's entry of an order for possession.
- For cases where judgment is entered in favor of the defendant on the merits, the defendant may file a petition for expungement without a hearing.
- For summary ejectment proceedings commenced prior to October 1, 2025, defendants may petition for expungement if the action was voluntarily dismissed or if judgment was entered in favor of the defendant and all appeals have resolved.
- For cases where judgment is entered for the plaintiff, defendants may petition for expungement after a three-year waiting period if the court finds the petitioner has stabilized housing.
Show all 6 facts
- The Administrative Office of the Courts must develop and make available petition forms no later than September 30, 2025.
- Section 1 of the act becomes effective October 1, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which eviction records qualify for automatic expungement?
What is required to expunge an eviction record from before October 1, 2025?
When can a tenant petition for expungement if judgment was entered for the plaintiff?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Mar 5, 2025HouseRef To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Mar 5, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Mar 3, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 27 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Establishment of Eviction Record Expungement
North Carolina introduces a formal statutory mechanism allowing certain eviction records to be expunged either automatically or through petition depending on the case resolution.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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