North Dakota Eviction Notice
North Dakota eviction notice: the 3-day Notice of Intention to Evict under NDCC 47-32-01, counted by calendar day. Free template. Attorney review available.
Introduction
North Dakota counts its eviction notice deadline differently than most states: every calendar day counts toward the 3 days, including Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays, except that if the final day itself lands on one of those, the deadline pushes to the next day that doesn't. What follows on this page is the actual notice document a landlord fills out and serves, not a broader walkthrough of how North Dakota eviction law works: an eviction notice is a written notice a landlord serves to begin ending a tenancy for cause, before filing an eviction action in district court (North Dakota's statute calls the court action an "eviction," not an "unlawful detainer"). The notice structure is two-track. Nonpayment of rent gets a 3-day notice that works as a pay-or-vacate demand: pay the full amount within the deadline and, if the landlord accepts it, the eviction stops. Every other ground, holding over after the lease ends, a material lease violation, disturbing other tenants, or wrongfully remaining after a property sale, gets the same 3-day notice, but that notice is vacate-only, with no formal right to fix the problem and keep the tenancy. North Dakota Century Code Chapter 47-32 governs the notice. There's no mandatory government form: the state courts' own self-help templates "aren't official court forms and courts aren't required to accept them." Serve the wrong day count or skip the notice, and the case can be dismissed before it starts.
Key Things to Know
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An eviction notice is a written notice a landlord must serve on a tenant to begin ending a tenancy for cause, before filing an eviction action in district court.
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North Dakota's day count is unusual: count every calendar day, including Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays, and don't count the day of service. If the last day of the 3-day period is a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, the period runs through the end of the next day that isn't. (North Dakota Courts Legal Self Help Center, eviction guide for tenants)
- 3
Nonpayment of rent gets a 3-day notice. If the tenant pays the full amount within the deadline and the landlord accepts the payment, the landlord cannot continue the eviction for that nonpayment. (North Dakota Century Code Section 47-32-01, subsection 4; Section 47-32-02)
- 4
Every other ground, holdover after the lease term, a material lease violation, unreasonably disturbing other tenants, or wrongfully remaining after a property sale or partition, gets the same 3-day notice, but that notice is vacate-only. Neither the statute nor the state's own notice form offers a formal right to fix the problem and keep the tenancy for these grounds. (North Dakota Century Code Section 47-32-01, subsections 5 through 8; Section 47-32-02)
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The governing law is North Dakota Century Code Chapter 47-32, titled "Eviction," together with Section 47-16-15 for ending a month-to-month tenancy without cause.
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The notice may be served the same way a summons is served (personal service), or, if the party can't be found, posted conspicuously on the premises by the sheriff of the county or a process server. (North Dakota Century Code Section 47-32-02)
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There's no state-mandated form for the notice itself. The North Dakota Courts Legal Self Help Center publishes two non-mandatory templates, one for nonpayment and one for other grounds, but its own site says these "aren't official court forms and courts aren't required to accept them." The statute requires only that the notice be in writing. (North Dakota Century Code Section 47-32-02)
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Eviction Notice in North Dakota, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Eviction Notice guide walks through them.
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North Dakota Requirements for Eviction Notice
3-day written notice of intention to evict. The tenant may pay the full amount due within the 3 days, and if the landlord accepts the payment, the landlord cannot continue the eviction for that nonpayment.
The notice may be served the same way a summons is served and returned (personal service), or, if the party cannot be found, by the sheriff of the county or a process server posting the notice conspicuously upon the premises.
No government-mandated notice form exists. The North Dakota Courts' own templates state they "aren't official court forms and courts aren't required to accept them." The statute requires only that the notice be in writing and given at least 3 days before filing.
Titled "Eviction," this chapter is the statutory basis for every notice type and ground on this page and the court process that follows if the tenant does not comply.
3-day notice for holdover, wrongfully remaining after a property sale or partition, disturbing other tenants, or a material lease violation. Neither the statute nor the state's own notice form offers a formal right to fix the problem and keep the tenancy for these grounds; the notice requires the tenant to vacate.
Count every calendar day, including Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays, and don't count the day of service. If the last day of the period is a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, the period runs through the end of the next day that isn't.
Distinct from the 3-day for-cause notices above: ending a month-to-month tenancy without cause requires at least one calendar month's written notice, and ending a lease with an unspecified term requires notice at least as long as the term of the hiring itself, capped at one calendar month.
Frequently Asked Questions
North Dakota requires 3 days' written notice for nonpayment of rent, holding over after the lease term, a material lease violation, disturbing other tenants, or wrongfully remaining after a property sale or partition. All of these grounds use the same 3-day period. Count every calendar day, including weekends and state holidays, but if the last day of the period lands on one of those, the deadline pushes to the next day that doesn't.
No, not for the grounds most landlords rely on. North Dakota Century Code Section 47-32-02 requires 3 days' written notice of intention to evict before filing for nonpayment of rent, holdover, a material lease violation, or wrongfully remaining after a property sale or partition. Skipping the notice, or serving the wrong day count, can get the eviction case dismissed.
Section 47-32-02 requires the notice to be in writing and to give the tenant 3 days before an eviction action can be filed; it doesn't itemize further required content the way some states' statutes do. In practice, the North Dakota Courts Legal Self Help Center's own templates identify the ground for eviction (for example, the unpaid rent amount, or the specific lease violation), the landlord and tenant names, and the rental address, so there's no dispute about who was notified, of what, and when the deadline runs.
There's no mandatory court form. The North Dakota Courts Legal Self Help Center publishes two non-mandatory templates, one for nonpayment ("Notice of Intention to Evict: Demand for Rent or Possession of the Premises") and one for other grounds ("Notice of Intention to Evict"), but the court's own site states these "aren't official court forms and courts aren't required to accept them." A landlord can write their own notice as long as it's in writing and gives the correct 3-day period and ground.
It depends on the ground. For nonpayment of rent, paying the full amount within the 3-day deadline stops the eviction if the landlord accepts the payment, functioning as a pay-or-vacate option. For every other ground, holdover, a material lease violation, disturbing other tenants, or wrongfully remaining after a property sale, the notice is vacate-only: neither the statute nor the state's own notice form offers a formal right to fix the problem and keep the tenancy.
Start counting the day after the notice is served, not the day it's served. Count every calendar day, including Saturdays, Sundays, and North Dakota state holidays. If the last day of the 3-day period would land on a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, the deadline instead runs through the end of the next day that isn't one of those. This is different from states that skip weekends and holidays throughout the whole count.
If the deadline passes without payment (for nonpayment) or the tenant hasn't vacated, the notice has done its job under the statute. The landlord's next step is to file an eviction action, with a summons and complaint, in the district court for the county where the property is located.
Date the notice on the day it's prepared, but track the actual date of service separately, since the 3-day count starts from service, not the date printed on the notice. North Dakota Century Code Section 47-32-02 allows the notice to be served the same way a summons is served (personal service), or, if the party can't be found, posted conspicuously on the premises by the sheriff of the county or a process server. Record who served the notice, the date, and the method used, since the eviction case depends on the correct notice and service having been used.