AN ACT to appropriate funds to the department of health and human services to establish and administer a Landlord‑Tenant Assistance pilot program.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2023‑2024 fiscal year to establish and administer a three‑year landlord‑tenant assistance pilot program. Five percent (5%) of the funds shall be allocated for administrative duties. The Department shall establish the pilot program to provide funds to landlords to cover two years of renters' insurance and the security deposit for each rental unit. The landlord agrees to waive a credit check of tenants in return. The maximum amount of assistance allowed for each rental unit is five thousand dollars ($5,000). If the tenant is evicted within the first year of the program in accordance with the procedures under Chapter 42 of the General Statutes, the remaining funds for renters' insurance are returned to the Department. The applications for each landlord are capped at ten percent (10%) of the total units owned or available for rent each year. Only tenants whose household income is below eighty percent (80%) of the area median income are eligible for the assistance funds.

SECTION 1.(b)  The Department shall submit a progress report on the status and operation of the pilot program authorized by subsection (a) of this section to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services by December 31 of each year that the pilot program is in effect, with a final report by December 31, 2026.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2023.