North Carolina HB 1356: Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien Act.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2009
H 1
HOUSE BILL 1356

Short Title: Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives McCormick, Gibson (Primary Sponsors); Brubaker, Cole,
Crawford, Daughtry, Goforth, Holliman, Howard, Jones, Killian, Lewis,
Samuelson, Stewart, Tillis, and Wray.
Referred to: Commerce, Small Business, and Entrepreneurship, if favorable, Judiciary II.
April 9, 2009
*H1356-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ENACT THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BROKER LIEN ACT. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
SECTION 1. Article 2 of Chapter 44A of the General Statutes is amended by 4
adding a new Part to read: 5
"Part 4. Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien Act. 6
"§ 44A-24.1. Short title. 7
This Part shall be known and may be cited as the 'Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien 8
Act.' 9
"§ 44A-24.2. Definitions. 10
The following definitions apply in this Part: 11
(1) Commercial real estate. – Any real property or interest therein, whether 12
freehold or nonfreehold, which at the time the property or interest is made 13
the subject of an agreement for brokerage services: 14
a. Is lawfully used primarily for sales, office, research, institutional, 15
warehouse, manufacturing, industrial, or mining purposes or for 16
multifamily residential purposes involving five or more dwelling 17
units; 18
b. May lawfully be used for any of the purposes listed in subdivision (1) 19
of this section by a zoning ordinance adopted pursuant to the 20
provisions of Article 18 of Chapter 153A or Article 19 of Chapter 21
160A of the General Statutes or which is the subject of an official 22
application or petition to amend the applicable zoning ordinance to 23
permit any of the uses listed in subdivision (1) of this section which 24
is under consideration by the government agency with authority to 25
approve the amendment; or 26
c. Is in good faith intended to be immediately used for any of the 27
purposes listed in subdivision (1) of this section by the parties to any 28
contract, lease, option, or offer to make any contract, lease, or option. 29
(2) Broker. – A real estate broker licensed pursuant to Chapter 93A of the 30
General Statutes. 31
(3) Broker services. – Services for which a license issued by the North Carolina 32
Real Estate Commission is required. 33
(4) Commission. – Any compensation which is due a broker for performance of 34
broker services. 35

General Assembly of North Carolina Session 2009
Page 2 House Bill 1356-First Edition
(5) Lien claimant. – A broker claiming a lien pursuant to this Part. 1
(6) Owner. – The owner of record of commercial real estate. 2
"§ 44A-24.3. Commercial real estate lien. 3
(a) A broker shall have a lien upon commercial real estate or any interest in that 4
commercial real estate in the amount that the broker is due under either: 5
(1) A written instrument signed by the owner of an interest in the commercial 6
real estate or signed by the owner's duly authorized agent. 7
(2) A written instrument signed by a prospective buyer or prospective tenants or 8
signed by their duly authorized agent as to the purchase, lease, or other 9
conveyance to the buyer or tenant of an interest in the commercial real 10
estate. 11
(b) The lien under this section shall be available only to the broker named in the 12
instrument signed by the owner, buyer, or tenant or by the agent of the owner, buyer, or tenant. 13
"§ 44A-24.4. Lien notice; content. 14
(a) A lien notice under this Part shall be signed by the lien claimant and shall contain an 15
attestation by the lien claimant that the information contained in the notice is true and accurate 16
to the best of the lien claimant's knowledge and belief. 17
(b) The lien notice shall include all of the following information: 18
(1) The name of the lien claimant. 19
(2) The name of the owner of the commercial real estate. 20
(3) A description of the commercial real estate upon which the lien is being 21
claimed. 22
(4) The amount for which the lien is claimed. 23
(5) The basis for the lien. 24
"§ 44A-24.5. When lien attaches to commercial real estate. 25
A lien authorized by this Part attaches to the commercial real estate, or an interest in the 26
commercial real estate, when the lien claimant files notice of the lien in the office of the 27
register of deeds of the county in which the real property, or any interest in the real property is 28
located, if such lien is filed prior to the actual conveyance or transfer of the commercial real 29
estate subject to the lien, except that: 30
(1) In the case of a lease, the claim for lien shall be filed within 90 days after the 31
tenant takes possession of the leased property, unless written notice of the 32
intention to sign the lease is personally served on the person entitled to claim 33
a lien at least 10 days before the date of the intended signing of the lease, 34
then the claim for lien shall be filed before the date indicated for the signing 35
of the lease. Th