How to Break a Lease in North Dakota Legally (2026)

N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 47-16-15 requires at least one calendar month's written notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy. If the landlord has changed lease terms under Sec. 47-16-07, the tenant may terminate at the end of the month with at least 25 days' written notice. Fixed-term leases expire at the end of the specified term with no separate end-of-term notice required beyond what the lease specifies. Domestic-violence termination under Sec. 47-16-17.1 requires advance written notice but has no fixed advance-notice period.

Yes. When a landlord changes lease terms under N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 47-16-07 (typically a rent increase or other term change in a month-to-month tenancy), Sec. 47-16-15 lets the tenant terminate at the end of the month on at least 25 days' written notice. This asymmetric rule shortens the default one-calendar-month tenant notice when the landlord initiates the change.

Partially. N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 47-16-17.1 allows a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence (as defined in Sec. 14-07.1-01) or who fears imminent domestic violence against the tenant or the tenant's minor children to terminate without penalty after advance written notice plus a court order, protection order under Sec. 14-07.1-02, ex parte temporary protection order, order prohibiting contact, restraining order, or other record filed with a court. The tenant still owes the full month's rent in which the tenancy terminates plus one additional month's rent (paid on or before termination), subject to the landlord's duty to mitigate. The landlord may not disclose the documentation or enter it into a shared database, and a refusal to rent or retaliation in violation of the section carries $1,000 statutory damages.

N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 47-16-07.1 requires the landlord to deliver or mail an itemized statement plus any refund to the tenant's last furnished address within 30 days after termination of the lease and delivery of possession. A landlord who withholds deposit money without reasonable justification is liable for treble damages. The deposit cap is generally one month's rent, with up to two months' rent permitted where the tenant has a felony conviction or prior rental-payment-default or rental-property-damage history. Interest on the deposit is not required if occupancy was less than nine months.

Yes. N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 47-16-13.5 imposes a statutory duty on any party aggrieved under Sec. 47-16-13.1 through Sec. 47-16-13.6 to mitigate damages. Sec. 47-16-13.7 confirms that a lessee evicted according to law remains liable for rent for the remainder of the term but does not relieve the landlord of the duty to mitigate, including by attempting to re-rent. There is no statutory dollar cap on tenant liability; the functional cap is the lesser of actual unmitigated damages or remaining rent.

Not necessarily. N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 47-16-15 requires any residential lease clause demanding tenant notice longer than one month to state the requirement and provide space for the tenant to initial it. If you did not initial that provision at signing, you may terminate on a month's end with one calendar month's notice, the statutory default.

N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 47-32-01(4) makes failure to pay rent for three days after the rent is due a ground for eviction, and Sec. 47-32-02 requires the landlord to give three days' written notice of intention to evict before commencing the eviction action. A tenant who pays the full amount within the three-day window and whose payment is accepted by the landlord forecloses the eviction. Eviction filings under chapter 47-32 belong in District Court, not small claims.