Affirmative Defenses Need Not Be Pled in Small Claims

In Setliff v. Subway Real Estate Corp., the NC Supreme Court per curiam affirmed a COA opinion holding that affirmative defenses do not need to be pled to be preserved and presented at appeals in the form of District Court de novo trials. The underlying COA case indicated, among other things, that Rule 8(c), which requires that affirmative defenses be pled, applies only to cases arising in district or superior court, and that the small claims statute which makes a defendant's failure to answer a general denial covers even affirmative defenses.