Contract With Restrictive Covenants In Mecklenburg
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Courts have held that restrictive covenants are presumptively unenforceable on the basis that they are considered a restraint of trade contrary to public policy.
There may be terms in your contract that says you can't work for a competitor or have contact with customers for a period of time after you leave the company. These are called 'restrictive covenants'. Your company could take you to court if you breach the restrictive covenants in your contract.
North Carolina's “blue-pencil” rule This rule allows the court to strike out a distinctly separable part of the covenant in order to render the non-compete agreement reasonable. The court, though, may not otherwise revise or rewrite the covenant.
In North Carolina, non-compete agreements are enforceable, but only under strict conditions. A valid non-compete must meet certain criteria, including being in writing, having a reasonable time and territory restriction, and being part of your employment contract.
Is a 12-month restrictive covenant enforceable? Each case turns on its own facts, but a court is generally reluctant to enforce restrictive covenants longer than 12 months. Market practice dictates a period of between 3 and 6 months is appropriate for more junior employees.
In North Carolina, there's a noteworthy aspect of restrictive covenants to consider; most covenants automatically expire after 30 years unless they are specifically for residential purposes only. This statutory limitation is a safeguard against outdated or unreasonable restrictions binding properties in perpetuity.
In general terms, it provides that, when a person, alone or together with prior owners, owns real property for 30 years, certain interests such as restrictive covenants that were created more than 30 years earlier are extinguished.
If it looks like a restrictive covenant is enforceable and is going to be breached by development, seek to obtain a restrictive covenant title indemnity insurance policy to cover any loss from a claim from a beneficiary. You should insure the full gross development value of the property affected.
Potential Options to Deal with a Restrictive Covenant Check if the beneficiary exists. You must undertake checks to check who benefits from the covenant. Negotiate. Indemnity insurance, shielding against covenant enforcement risks. Legal route.
If a deed restriction is not enforceable, you can choose to ignore it and take on the risk of a neighbor filing suit, or you can seek out a judge's ruling to have the covenant removed from the deed. Obtaining that ruling is easier when no one is actively enforcing the covenant.
