Court Opinion

ID: 9576668
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:26:58.052592+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:12:05.344548
License: Public Domain

Justice Frye
concurring.
As this Court and the Court of Appeals recognizes, courts in other states have held that a landlord who leases a furnished residence for a short period impliedly warrants that the furnished premises will be initially suitable for tenant occupancy. This represents a change in the common law. In my opinion, it is a good change. The question is, who should make the change for North Carolina, this Court or the General Assembly. While this Court can certainly change the common law, we have been reluctant to do so when the General Assembly has enacted pervasive legislation essentially preempting the field. Because our General Assembly has legislated so pervasively in the area of landlord-tenant relations, I join the majority in declining to *299make what I consider to be a badly needed change in this area of landlord-tenant liability. This area of the law is ripe for legislative action.