GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1989 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 712

SENATE BILL 260

 

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE RENTAL OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

"§ 14-395.1.  Sexual harassment.

(a)       Offense.  Any lessor of residential real property or the agent of any lessor of residential real property who shall harass on the basis of sex any lessee or prospective lessee of the property shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment not to exceed six months, a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00), or both.

(b)       Definitions.  For purposes of this section:

(1)       'Harass on the basis of sex' means unsolicited overt requests or demands for sexual acts when (i) submission to such conduct is made a term of the execution or continuation of the lease agreement, or (ii) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used to determine whether rights under the lease are accorded;

(2)       'Lessee' means a person who enters into a residential rental agreement with the lessor and all other persons residing in the lessee's rental unit; and

(3)       'Prospective lessee' means a person seeking to enter into a residential rental agreement with a lessor."

Sec. 2.  This act shall become effective October 1, 1989, and shall apply to acts committed on or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 2nd day of August, 1989.