Court Opinion

ID: 9575037
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:10:51.854623+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:47:50.289730
License: Public Domain

Judge WELLS
concurring.
Since this case is to be retried in part', I deem it appropriate to address, in more detail, the issue of unfair trade practices.
I perceive it to be the law in this jurisdiction that violations of the provisions of G.S. § 42-42 may form the basis for determining the question of violation of the provisions of G.S. § 75-1.1. The clarification I deem necessary breaks down- into two aspects of the law of unfair trade practices.
*542It is my opinion that if a trier of fact determines that a landlord has maintained rented residential premises in a condition rendering those premises unfit for habitation, the trial court may then determine that the charging of rent for such premises while unfit for habitation would be an unfair trade practice.
The question of unfitness for habitation being one of fact, the violation of building codes would be only some evidence of such unfitness, but would not be conclusive of such unfitness. Therefore, a finding of building codes violations would not be the appropriate issue of fact to form the basis for the court’s determination of unfair trade practices. Thus, the problem I perceive with issue number three is whether it contains the question of building codes violations at all. The issue should be the clean-cut, straightforward, uncluttered question of whether the premises were maintained in a condition fit for habitation.