Who is an owner “of record” to be served with complaints and orders under NC minimum housing codes?

<p>John Spartan serves as the senior housing code official for the town of San Angeles, NC, where he recently presided over his 100th minimum housing hearing. He has overseen the repair or removal of many unfit homes over the years, and he is careful to ensure that his town’s minimum housing code keeps up with changes to the authorizing statutes: Minimum Housing Standards, Part 6 of Article 19 of G.S. Chapter 160A. For example, he adjusted his inspection procedures to comply with the 2011 residential inspections law, and he ensured that town council adopted modifications to its minimum housing code to comply with changes to the minimum housing statutes back in 2009. And he carefully follows the procedural flowchart that he found in a School of Government publication on minimum housing codes. But he’s never been completely comfortable with one part of the minimum housing process: identification of a property’s “owner” and “parties in interest” who are to be notified of any complaints or orders. Properly identifying the “owner” of an unfit dwelling can be tricky on occasion, and it has been the subject of litigation in North Carolina courts over the years. Lenina Huxley, the town attorney, wants to update him on a North Carolina Court of Appeals case, Patterson v. City of Gastonia, that was decided in May 2012. She wants to discuss how the town should identify an owner “of record” following some ambiguous remarks in the case law. Ambiguity is never fun in his line of work, so [...]</p>