Title 47, Property

Leasing is a contract by which one gives to another the temporary possession and use of real property for reward and the latter agrees to return such possession to the former at a future time.

No lease or grant of agricultural land reserving any rent or service of any kind for a longer period than ten years shall be valid. No lease or grant of any city lot reserving any rent or service of any kind for a longer period than ninety-nine years shall be valid.

A political subdivision may not enact, maintain, or enforce an ordinance or resolution that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential or commercial property. This section does not impair the right of a political subdivision to…

1. When a lease of a farm contains a provision reserving title in the lessor to any part of the crops in excess of the rental share of the lessor until the stated conditions of the lease have been complied with by the lessee, such lease must be filed in the office of the recorder…

In the absence of any agreement to the contrary between the lessor and the lessee, the products received from real property during the term of a lease belong to the lessee.

A lease of real property, other than lodgings, in places where there is no usage on the subject, is presumed to be for one year from its commencement, unless otherwise expressed in the lease.

If a lessee of real property remains in possession of the real property after the expiration of the lease and the lessor accepts rent from the lessee, the parties are presumed to have renewed the lease on the same terms and for the same time, not exceeding one year. Except in the…

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 47-16-06, in any lease of a specified term of two months or more of real property used for residential purposes, the lessor may not enforce an automatic renewal clause of a lease unless the lessor has notified the lessee in writing, deliv…

In all leases of land or tenements, or of any interest therein, from month to month, the landlord may change the terms of the lease to take effect at the expiration of the month upon giving notice in writing at least thirty days before the expiration of the month. The notice, whe…

1. The lessor of real property or a dwelling who requires money as a security deposit, however denominated, shall deposit the money in a federally insured interest-bearing savings or checking account for the benefit of the tenant. The security deposit and any interest accruing on…

A landlord shall provide the tenant with a statement describing the condition of the facilities in and about the premises to be rented at the time of entering a rental agreement. The statement shall be agreed to and signed by the landlord and tenant. The statement shall constitut…

A landlord may enter the dwelling unit: 1. At any time in case of emergency or if the landlord reasonably believes the tenant has abandoned the premises, or the landlord reasonably believes the tenant is in substantial violation of the provisions of the lease or rental agreement.…

A lease or rental agreement for real property or a dwelling unit which is entered into upon partial or total reliance of fraudulent misrepresentations may be terminated by the party fraudulently induced into the lease or rental agreement and that party shall receive any security …

A landlord may require reliable supporting documentation be provided by a tenant of a rental dwelling that is subject to a no pets policy, if the tenant asserts a disability requiring a service animal or assistance animal be allowed as an accommodation on the rented premises unde…

1. An individual is guilty of an infraction if the individual, in an attempt to obtain a reasonable housing accommodation under section 47-16-07.5, knowingly makes a false claim of having a disability that requires the use of a service animal or assistance animal or knowingly pro…

An agreement to lease real property binds the lessor to secure to the lessee the quiet possession of such property during the term of the lease against all persons lawfully claiming the same.

The lessee of real property must use ordinary care to preserve such property in safety and to keep it in good condition.

The lessee of real property must repair all deteriorations or injuries thereto occasioned by the lessee's ordinary negligence.

When real property is leased for a particular purpose, the lessee must not use it for any other purpose. If the lessee violates the lease in this respect, the lessor may hold the lessee responsible for the safety of the property during such use in all events or may treat the cont…

If within a reasonable time after notice from the lessee of dilapidations which the lessor ought to repair the lessor neglects to do so, the lessee may: 1. Repair the premises and deduct the expense of such repair from the rent; 2. Recover it in any other lawful manner from the l…

1. A landlord of a residential dwelling unit shall: a. Comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety. b. Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition. c. …

A tenant of a residential dwelling unit shall: 1. Comply with all obligations primarily imposed upon tenants by applicable provisions of building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety. 2. Keep that part of the premises that the tenant occupies and uses as clean…

1. If a court of competent jurisdiction, as a matter of law, finds: a. A residential dwelling unit rental agreement or any provision thereof was unconscionable when made, the court may refuse to enforce the agreement, enforce the remainder of the agreement without the unconsciona…

If the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord has a claim for possession and for rent and a separate claim for actual damages for breach of the rental agreement.

Any party aggrieved under sections 47-16-13.1 through 47-16-13.6 may recover appropriate damages. However, the aggrieved party has a duty to mitigate damages.

Any right or action provided by sections 47-16-13.1 through 47-16-13.6 is enforceable by action and the court may award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party.

A lessee evicted according to law is liable for rent during the remainder of the term of the lease. However, this section does not relieve the landlord of the duty to mitigate damages.

The leasing of real property terminates: 1. At the end of the term agreed upon; 2. By the mutual consent of the parties; 3. By the lessee's acquiring title to the property leased superior to that of the lessor; or 4. By the destruction of the property leased.

1. A lease of real property for a term not specified by the parties is deemed to be renewed as stated in section 47-16-06 at the end of the term implied by law, unless one of the parties gives notice to the other of an intention to terminate the lease, at least as long before the…

The lessor of real property may terminate the lease and reclaim such property before the end of the term agreed upon when the lessee: 1. Uses or permits a use of the property leased in a manner contrary to the agreement of the parties; or 2. Does not make such repairs as the less…

The lessee of real property may terminate the lease before the end of the term agreed upon: 1. When the lessor does not fulfill the lessor's obligations, if any, within a reasonable time after request, as to placing and securing the lessee in the quiet possession of the property …

1. A tenant to a residential lease who is a victim of domestic violence as defined in section 14-07.1-01 or fears imminent domestic violence against the tenant or the tenant's minor children if the tenant or the tenant's minor children remain in the leased premises may terminate …

Only a lease of real property which is terminable at the pleasure of one of the parties to the contract is terminated by the notice to one party of the death or incapacity of the other party to contract. Upon the death of a lessee of real property for residential purposes, howeve…

The renting of lodgings for an unspecified term is presumed to have been made for such length of time as the parties adopt for the estimation of the rent. Thus renting at a weekly rate of rent is presumed to be for one week. In the absence of any agreement respecting the length o…

When there is no contract or usage to the contrary, the rent of agricultural and wild land shall be payable yearly at the end of each year. Rents of lodgings shall be payable monthly at the end of each month. Other rents shall be payable quarterly at the end of each quarter from …

A landlord may not charge a tenant a fee to accept cash, a check, or a money order for the payment of rent or any other payment required by the landlord under a lease for real property.

When the leasing of real property is terminated before the time originally agreed upon, the lessee must pay the due proportion of the lease for such use as the lessee actually has made of the property unless such use is merely nominal and of no benefit to the lessee.

Rent due upon a lease for life may be recovered in the same manner as upon a lease for years.

Rent dependent on the life of a person may be recovered after as well as before that person's death.

Every tenant who receives notice of any proceeding to recover the real property occupied by the tenant, or the possession thereof, must: 1. Inform the tenant's landlord immediately of the notice; and 2. Deliver the notice to the landlord. The tenant shall be responsible to the la…

One who rents part of a room for a dwelling is entitled to the whole of the room, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary. If a landlord rents a room as a dwelling for more than one family, the person to whom the landlord first rents any part of it is entitled to the posses…

A tenant for years or at will, unless the tenant is a wrongdoer by holding over, may: 1. Occupy the buildings. 2. Take the annual products of the soil. 3. Work mines and quarries open at the commencement of the tenant's tenancy. 4. Cultivate and harvest the crops growing at the e…

A person to whom any real property is transferred or devised upon which rent has been reserved, or to whom any such rent is transferred, is entitled to the same remedies for recovery of rent, for nonperformance of any of the terms of the lease or for any waste or cause of forfeit…

Whatever remedies the lessee of any real property may have against the lessee's immediate lessor for the breach of any agreement in the lease, the lessee may have against the assigns of the lessor. The assigns of the lessee may have remedies against the lessor and the lessor's as…

Whatever remedies the lessor of any real property has against the lessor's immediate lessee for the breach of an agreement in the lease or for recovery of the possession, the lessor also has against the assignees of the lessee for any claim for relief accruing while they are such…

Property with a total estimated value of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars which is left on the premises of a leased dwelling may be retained by the lessor and disposed of without legal process twenty-eight or more days after the lessor received actual notice that t…

When any oil, gas, or other mineral lease given on real property situated in any county of North Dakota and recorded therein terminates or is forfeited it is the duty of the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns, within fifteen days after the date of the termination or forfe…

Should the owner of such lease neglect or refuse to execute a release, then the owner of the leased premises may sue in any court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such release, and may also recover in such action of the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns, the sum of on…

Any oil and gas or mining lease that has been or may hereafter be recorded in the office of the recorder of any county may be discharged and canceled of record by the recording of a certificate of cancellation signed by the lessee or the lessee's assigns of record, or the lessee'…

The certificate of cancellation mentioned in section 47-16-38 shall be recorded at length and shall be noted on the margin of the record of the lease.