NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1975 SESSION

CHAPTER 361
SENATE BILL 449

AN ACT TO SPECIFY THE PERIOD IN WHICH CLAIMS AGAINST CITIES MUST BE PRESENTED AND ACTIONS BASED THEREON COMMENCED.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. Chapter 1 is amended by adding a new G.S. 1-55.1, to read as follows:
"§ 1-55.1.  Claims against cities arising in contract or tort. — In order to preserve a claim against a city arising in contract or in tort, notice must be given and the cause of action commenced in accordance with this section. A person with a claim against a city arising in tort or contract must give written notice of the claim to the council or its designee within six months, and commence his action within two years, after the claim is due or the cause of action arises. If the complainant suffers from one of the disabilities specified in G.S. 1-17, he or she may give the notice required by this section within the time specified, after the disability is removed. A city may at any time request the appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent a person having a potential claim against the city and known to be suffering from a disability specified in G.S. 1-17.
No action based on a claim arising in contract or in tort may be commenced except after 30 days following the day on which the notice required by this section is given. Unless notice of the claim is given and the action commenced in accordance with this section, any action based on the claim is barred."
Sec. 2.  All parts of local acts, including city charters, that require notice to a city or town of any claim against it arising in contract or in tort and that prohibit suit against the city or town if notice is not given or that limit the period during which an action may be brought on such a claim after notice has been given are repealed.
Sec. 3.  This act is effective October 1, 1975, but does not apply to claims becoming due or causes of action arising before that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 22nd day of May, 1975.