Hotel Safety Issues.

"Hotel Safety Issues" sounds like fire exits and smoke detectors. Maybe bed bug regulations. Something the health department would care about.

The bill strips tenant protections from people living in hotels and motels. Under prior law, it wasn't clear when a long-term hotel guest gained tenancy rights... the kind that require a legal eviction process before you can be removed. SB 53 settles that by saying you don't get any tenancy protections until you've stayed more than 90 consecutive days. Before that, you can be removed without the legal process that protects apartment and house renters.

The hotel industry pushed hard for this. They said it was about removing disorderly guests. But a lot of the people living long-term in hotels aren't disorderly... they're people who can't afford housing deposits, or who lost their homes, or who are in between situations. A Democrat tried to add amendments protecting vulnerable residents and was procedurally blocked. The bill passed the Senate 28-16.

Governor Cooper let it become law without his signature... which is a political move that says "I won't stop this, but I won't put my name on it either." The title says "safety." The bill reduces protections.