North Carolina Deceased Tenant Coordination Packet and AOC-E-450 Preparation Worksheet

NORTH CAROLINA DECEASED TENANT COORDINATION PACKET AND AOC-E-450 PREPARATION WORKSHEET

Before use: The landlord affidavit under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-25-7 must be the Administrative Office of the Courts form supplied by the clerk (AOC-E-450); this packet is a preparation and coordination aid. Confirm sole occupancy, the paid-through date, county estate records, property value, and any appointed or authorized estate actor. A contact person's name alone does not grant probate authority.

Case record — retain with the file

A. Estate actor's notice and property request

Date: [__/__/____] To landlord: [NAME / MAILING ADDRESS / EMAIL]

Decedent and unit: [NAME / ADDRESS] Date of death: [__/__/____]

I notify you that I act as [PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE / COLLECTOR / RECEIVER / PERSON WHO FILED A SMALL-ESTATE AFFIDAVIT] for this estate. My authority document is [LETTERS / COURT ORDER / FILED AFFIDAVIT / COURT AND FILE NUMBER], enclosed as [COPY]. Please pause any sale or delivery of property and contact me to arrange a documented handoff. If your AOC-E-450 affidavit was already filed, please provide its filing date and property inventory.

I request an appointment on [DATE / TIME] or [ALTERNATIVE] to inspect, inventory and receive the property to which my authority applies. This request does not itself establish ownership, terminate the lease, grant entry, or impose personal liability for the tenant's rent or debts.

Name / capacity / mailing address / phone: [DETAIL]

Signature: ______________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Delivery record: [METHOD / DATE / PROOF]

B. Landlord's good-faith contact letter

Date: [__/__/____] To emergency or death contact: [NAME / MAILING ADDRESS]

Decedent and unit: [NAME / ADDRESS]

Our records identify you as a person to contact in the event of this tenant's death or emergency. Please consider taking steps to arrange administration of the estate or connecting us with a court-appointed representative. If an estate representative, collector, receiver or qualifying small-estate affiant has acted, please ask that person to provide court or filed documents to [LANDLORD NAME / MAILING ADDRESS / PHONE / EMAIL]. We seek a lawful path for the decedent's property; this letter does not ask you to pay rent or assume estate debts, and being a contact does not itself authorize you to take property.

Landlord signature: ______________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Contact attempts and result for AOC-E-450: [PHONE / MAIL / EMAIL / DATE / RESPONSE / FOLLOW-UP]

C. AOC-E-450 affidavit preparation worksheet — landlord track

Do not file this worksheet. Obtain and complete the clerk-supplied AOC-E-450, Rev. 8/21 or current clerk version. Record support for every statutory statement and attachment:

Affiant/reviewer: [NAME / DATE]. If an appointment or qualifying affidavit appears, stop this filing route and verify the appropriate estate actor. The § 28A-25-7(h) nonprofit route for property worth $500 or less has distinct inventory, notice, and 30-day storage conditions; do not infer it from this worksheet.

D. Post-filing property custody and estate handoff

AOC-E-450 filed with clerk: [DATE / COUNTY / FILE NUMBER / FEE RECEIPT]. Required copy or posting completed: [RECIPIENT / LOCATION / DATE / PROOF].

Property removed after compliant filing: [DATE / PERSON / INVENTORY]. Storage: [LANDLORD FACILITY / WAREHOUSE IN COUNTY / ADJOINING-COUNTY WAREHOUSE IF NONE IN COUNTY / ADDRESS / CHARGES]. Dwelling possession and separate lease-status record: [DATE / BASIS / REVIEWER].

If letters of appointment, a court document, or a qualifying filed estate affidavit is presented after the landlord's filing and before sale or nonprofit delivery, § 28A-25-7(g) requires delivery to the proper person. Authority document and date presented: [DETAIL]. Handoff date, inventory and receipt: [DETAIL].

Recipient signature: ____________________ Landlord signature: ____________________ Date: [__/__/____]

E. Landlord disposition and clerk-accounting record

Use only if at least 90 days have elapsed after the AOC-E-450 filing and fresh county checks show no representative, collector, receiver or qualifying estate affidavit. Filing date [DATE]; earliest review date [DATE]; new clerk search [DATE / RESULT].

☐ Qualifying nonprofit delivery under § 28A-25-7(e)(2): [ORGANIZATION / DATE / INVENTORY]. Account to clerk describing the action and date: [FILED DATE / PROOF].

☐ Public or private sale under § 28A-25-7(e)(1), (f): [DATE / TIME / PLACE]. Written notice to clerk and posted at the designated courthouse area and landlord's primary office or business place at least seven days before sale: [DATES / COPIES / PROOF]. Sale proceeds [AMOUNT]; unpaid rent, damages, packing/storage, filing and sale costs applied [ITEMIZED AMOUNTS]; surplus delivered to clerk [AMOUNT / DATE / RECEIPT]; accounting filed [DATE / PROOF].

Reviewer and decision: [NAME / DATE / NEXT STEP]. This record does not authorize a sale or donation while a qualifying estate actor has appeared or a required condition remains unmet.

F. Rent and security-deposit accounting

Tenancy termination date/basis: [DATE / AGREEMENT OR LAW]. Possession delivered date/basis: [DATE / RECORD]. Section 42-52's general 30-day accounting and refund clock uses both events; an interim accounting is due within that period if the claim cannot yet be determined, followed by a final accounting within 60 days. Calculated dates: [30-DAY / 60-DAY IF NEEDED / REVIEWER].

Written itemization or interim/final accounting attached: [DETAIL]. Recipient and authority for payment: [NAME / DOCUMENT / ADDRESS]. Accounting and refund delivered: [METHOD / DATE / PROOF].

Landlord signature: ______________________________ Date: [__/__/____]