Updated 24 days ago on . Most recent reply
When Court Clerks Help Squatters & Scammers, Property Owners Pay the Price
By Art Norman
I am not a lawyer. I am a former NC State football player, and graduate, and homeowner in Wake County who rents out my property on Airbnb. I followed the law, I went to court, and I won my case. On July 25, a magistrate judge ruled that my tenants owed me nearly $6,000 in back rent and that I was entitled to possession of my property. During the eviction process, I learned that the defendants were sued last year in Raleigh and have multiple aliases. I made this fact known to the courts multiple times.
On August 4, 2025, the final day of the appeal window, the Defendants filed an appeal, a motion to modify rent bond, a bond to stay execution on appeal, and a petition to sue as indigent. They signed a rent bond agreeing to pay $3,208.26 into the Clerk’s office in order to remain in my property during their appeal, as required under N.C.G.S. § 42-34.
Under North Carolina law, if a tenant appeals an eviction, they must pay the undisputed rent into the Clerk of Court’s office while the case is pending. The statute is clear: no rent, no stay. My tenants haven't paid a dime. And yet, when I filed to have them removed, the Clerk’s office rejected my writ of possession, incorrectly claiming the case was on appeal. That clerical error has cost me weeks of rent, hundreds of dollars in travel expenses, and the use of my own home.
On August 5, 2025, I spoke with 4 different people from Small Claims on the phone, trying to get them to rectify their error. I was dismissed and told, “Talk to a lawyer,” multiple times. On August 8, 2025, I filed a Motion to move forward with the writ of possession. Between August 6-14, I attempted to e-file my writ of possession six different times, each time notifying the court of the error. Each was rejected.
On August 8, 2025, I traveled back to North Carolina to speak with the court in person in hopes of getting the error resolved. I spoke to Faith from Legal Aid, and she admitted the court’s error, but was not willing to advocate on my behalf. She sent me to speak with Small Claims. I was immediately met with hostility from Deputy Clerk Beth Marr and left feeling disrespected and unimportant. Beth made it clear that she was not willing to investigate my case and told me to “file whatever you need to file or just wait for court.”
On August 13, 2025, the District Court confirmed in open court and her written order that the Defendants had not paid and that the matter should not have even reached a hearing. She mentioned on record that the defendants were in my home “illegally.” However, hearing officer, Tonya Lewis, still heard the case and reduced the signed & UNDISPUTED rent by $90.31—which also lowered the originally awarded rent by $565.68.
Tonya Lewis’s verbal order at the end of the hearing stated that the defendants had until the end of the day (8/13/2025) to pay the new reduced rent payment x 3 to cover rent for June, July & August. However, the written order included a 48-hour grace period. The eviction process was further delayed, and the law was once again not upheld by the system.
This isn’t about landlords versus tenants. It’s about whether the courts apply the law fairly and consistently. When clerks don’t follow the law, they create loopholes that allow people to game the system, stay in homes rent-free, and punish those of us who do everything right.
Clerks of Court are elected officials. We depend on them to handle cases accurately, because mistakes like this have real consequences for real people. If elected officials can’t perform their duties correctly, they must be held accountable—at the ballot box, in the press, and by the communities they serve.
No citizen should have to beg the courts to follow their own statutes. And no one should lose access to their property because of preventable clerical errors. The law is clear. It’s time our courts follow it.
Most Popular Reply
You should absolutely be taking this to any media outlet that will hear it, but I fear many would view it as "greedy landlord doesn't get his way" which is unfortunate. There is rarely any sort of repercussion here on the gov't employees whose guaranteed salaries are paid by our taxes. I hate hearing that you had to go through this and I'm certain you aren't the only one.
- Pat Lulewicz