If a lease contract requires goods identified when the lease contract is made, and the goods suffer casualty without fault of the lessee, the lessor, or the supplier before delivery, or the goods suffer casualty before risk of loss passes to the lessee pursuant to the lease agreement or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 25-2A-219, then:

(a)        if the loss is total, the lease contract is avoided; and

(b)        if the loss is partial or the goods have so deteriorated as to no longer conform to the lease contract, the lessee may nevertheless demand inspection and at his option either treat the lease contract as avoided or, except in a finance lease that is not a consumer lease, accept the goods with due allowance from the rent payable for the balance of the lease term for the deterioration or the deficiency in quantity but without further right against the lessor. (1993, c. 463, s. 1.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 25-2A-221

  • Consumer lease: means a lease that a lessor regularly engaged in the business of leasing or selling makes to a lessee who is an individual and who takes under the lease primarily for a personal, family, or household purpose, if the total payments to be made under the lease contract, excluding payments for options to renew or buy, do not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). See North Carolina General Statutes 25-2A-103
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Fault: means wrongful act, omission, breach, or default. See North Carolina General Statutes 25-2A-103
  • Finance lease: means a lease with respect to which: (i) the lessor does not select, manufacture, or supply the goods; (ii) the lessor acquires the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods in connection with the lease; and (iii) one of the following occurs: