{"id":375437,"date":"2016-03-31T21:36:12","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T02:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/north-carolina-law\/north-carolina-homestead-laws.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T19:51:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T00:51:09","slug":"north-carolina-homestead-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/north-carolina-law\/north-carolina-homestead-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina Homestead Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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North Carolina Homestead Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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People going through tough financial times often fear they will lose their homes. Fortunately, North Carolina has what are known as \u201chomestead protections\u201d to help prevent people from becoming homeless in the event of a financial loss or change in economic stature. More specifically, these laws can allow individuals to register a limited portion of their property as a "homestead" and generally off-limits to creditors. Here is a summary of homestead laws in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Homestead Laws<\/h2>\n

Homestead laws allow homeowners to declare a limited portion of their property as a "homestead<\/a>," thus sparing it from creditors in the event of a bankruptcy or other financial hardship. These laws originally were intended to protect families from losing their farms. North Carolina differs from most state homestead laws<\/a> by not specifying an acreage limit, but only allowing up to $1,000 worth of property to be declared a homestead.<\/p>\n

North Carolina Homestead Statutes<\/h2>\n

Learn more about North Carolina homestead laws in the table below.<\/p>\n\n

Code Section<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

Const. Art. X, \u00a72<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>

Max. Property Value That May Be Designated ‘Homestead’<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

$1,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>

Maximum Acreage (Urban)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

–<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>

Maximum Acreage (Rural)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

–<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n

Despite North Carolina\u2019s homestead protections, there remain four kinds of creditors who could still force the sale of a homestead to collect debts owed to them:<\/p>\n