North Dakota · Breaking a Lease

Breaking a Lease Early in North Dakota: What Are My Options?

This is not legal advice. We explain what the law says. We cannot tell you what to do in your situation. For that, talk to a lawyer. Find free legal and rent help in North Dakota.

Get legal help early.

Breaking a lease early is legally complicated. If you are in danger, leave and get safe first. Otherwise, talk to legal aid as soon as you can, before you move out or stop paying rent.

This page covers when North Dakota law lets you leave a lease early. It covers what you may owe, how to give notice, and your deposit after you move out.

If you leave without a legal reason

  1. If you break your lease and it ends, your landlord can ask for the rent you owe. Your landlord can also ask for the real losses from your breaking the lease. Your landlord must try to keep those losses down.

    Source:
    1. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-13.4, North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.

When you can leave early

  1. If your landlord does not make repairs after you ask, you may end your lease. Give your landlord notice of the repairs the landlord ought to make. The law gives your landlord a reasonable time after your notice to make them. If the landlord does not, you may move out and owe no more rent. If a court later disagrees, you can still owe the rent. Get legal help first.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-13, opening, North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.
    Think before you call an inspector.

    You or a neighbor can ask the city to send a code inspector. Be careful: if the home is in very bad shape, the inspector can condemn it (say no one may live there). Then everyone must move out, you too, sometimes on short notice. Think about where you would go before you call.

    Tip.

    Read your lease before you decide. Check whether it lets you end it early and what penalty you must pay.

    Tip.

    Write down each problem, every time you contacted your landlord, and the day you moved out.

How to leave

  1. To end a month-to-month rental (one that renews each month), send your landlord written notice at least 1 calendar month before it ends. This holds unless you and your landlord agreed in writing to a longer or different notice time. Rent is due through the date the rental ends. If a court later disagrees, you can still owe the rent. Get legal help first.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-15(2), first part, North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.
    Tip.

    Keep a copy of every letter you give your landlord, and keep your mail receipt. Save the texts and emails you send your landlord, and any replies.

  2. A home lease may ask for more than 1 month of notice to end it. That lease must state the notice and give you space to initial. If you did not initial it when you signed, you can end the lease on the last day of a month. Send at least 1 calendar month's notice. If a court later disagrees, you can still owe the rent. Get legal help first.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-15(4), North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.

After you move out

  1. Your landlord may use your deposit for unpaid rent. It may also cover damage caused by your pet, or by your or your guest's negligence (carelessness). If the landlord keeps any of it, the landlord must list each charge. The law gives your landlord 30 days to mail or deliver you that list, with any money due to you. The 30 days start after the lease ends and you hand over the home.

    Source:
    1. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(3), North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.
    Tip.

    Before you leave, clean the home and take photos of how you left it.

  2. A landlord who keeps security deposit money without a reasonable reason must pay 3 times that amount. Example: if your landlord wrongly keeps $500, the landlord can owe $1,500. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(4), North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.
    Tip.

    This is only an example to show how the rule works. If it goes to court, a court decides the real amount.

  3. If your landlord says you owe more, a debt collector may call or write to you. The collector must tell you how much, who it is for and how to say it is wrong. You have 30 days after you get that notice to write back. Then the collector must stop trying to get that money until it answers you.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. What information does a debt collector have to give me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    3. What should I do when a debt collector contacts me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.

  4. Your landlord can take money from your pay or benefits only after winning in court. The court must issue a judgment (the court's final decision) that you owe the debt. If you are sued, do not ignore it. You can lose the case if you do not go to court.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    Tip.

    If you get court papers, do not ignore them. Go to court, or you can lose the case.

    From Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Special protections

  1. You may be able to end your lease early if you are a victim of domestic violence. The same is true if you fear it is about to happen to you or your minor children if you stay in the home. If a court later disagrees, you can still owe the rent. Get legal help first.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-17.1(1), North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.

  2. To end your lease for domestic violence, send written notice before the lease ends, by mail, fax or in person. It must say you fear domestic violence is about to happen. The person must be named in a court order, no-contact order, civil protection order or other court record. Give the date the lease ends. If a court later disagrees, you can still owe the rent. Get legal help first.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-17.1(2), North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.

  3. If you end your lease for domestic violence, you owe rent for the full month the lease ends. You owe 1 more month's rent, subject to your landlord's duty to limit the loss. You owe no other rent or charges for the rest of the lease. You still owe rent and other amounts already owed before the lease ended. If a court later disagrees, you can still owe the rent. Get legal help first.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-17.1(5), first part, North Dakota Legislative Branch. Law.

Published by Nazanin, October 28, 2026. Sources checked October 26, 2026. Is something on this page wrong or out of date? Tell us.