Standard Residential Lease

Complete the condition statement together. Describe the facilities and existing damage when entering the agreement, have both parties sign the statement and retain a copy. Add dated photos and promised repairs. Include applicable federal lead information for most housing built before 1978, and give each signer the completed agreement and attachments.

Identify every deposit and payment. Review the usual one-month security limit and any permitted exceptions before collecting funds. Pet deposits have separate limits, and assistance-animal protections require separate consideration. Keep deposits in the required insured interest-bearing account and retain interest records, including the rules for shorter occupancies.

Keep records for the final accounting. Retain payment history, move-out condition evidence, permitted costs and a forwarding address. The thirty-day accounting process follows lease termination and delivery of possession. Keep the itemized deductions, remaining balance and delivery record, and distinguish ordinary wear from chargeable damage. The Attorney General's tenant-rights guide provides a practical overview.

Explain access and everyday terms. State the rent, due date, lawful fees, payment choices, utilities and repair contacts clearly. Routine entry involves notice, consent and a particular time, subject to applicable exceptions; a calendar-month termination period is not an entry rule. Keep entry arrangements and repair responses documented.

Review expiry and renewal separately. Monthly tenancies generally use at least one calendar month's written termination notice. If the lease has automatic renewal, review the separate reminder requirements before relying on that clause. Fixed-term endings, breaches and protected early-ending situations need their own review; retain the notices and delivery evidence.

Keep the recurring dates and ending record together. Identify the first monthly period, rent due date and terms continuing from an earlier agreement. Review the calendar-month ending guidance above, any automatic-renewal provision and applicable protections before choosing a final date. Use the actual calendar instead of assuming each month is a fixed number of days. Retain the written notice and delivery record, then separately arrange keys, condition review, utility accounts and a forwarding address.

Give the proposed rent its own written notice. For an ordinary month-to-month tenancy, North Dakota’s Attorney General describes at least 30 days’ advance written notice of a rent increase. Identify the new amount and first affected payment, review the agreement and housing-program restrictions, and consider prohibited retaliation or discrimination. A resident considering departure in response to an increase should review the related ending option separately from an ordinary move-out notice. Retain the proposal, response and any agreed amendment; see the North Dakota rent-change guide.

Define the private room and shared facilities. Identify the room, supplied furnishings, storage and parking, and list the common areas available to the resident. Confirm the signing parties and any permission required under an existing lease. State the rent contribution, deposit, utility allocation and payment dates, including how shared bills will be documented. Keep any separate roommate arrangement consistent with the landlord's lease, and identify the private room and relevant shared areas in the signed condition statement and supporting photos.

Agree on household routines and access requests. Discuss cleaning, guests, quiet hours, pets, shared supplies and repair contacts. Explain how maintenance or inspection access to the private room will be requested and arranged with the required notice, consent and applicable exceptions, keeping emergencies separate. Retain agreed rules and written changes when residents join or leave. If a payment or departure dispute arises, preserve communications and review the appropriate notice, possession, belongings and deposit process before acting.