Breaking a lease in North Dakota

A tenant may end a lease early for domestic violence, and a surviving tenant or the estate may end it after a tenant's death. A tenant evicted according to law stays liable for rent for the rest of the term, subject to your duty to mitigate damages.

N.D.C.C. § 47-16-17.1 N.D.C.C. § 47-16-18 N.D.C.C. § 47-16-13.7

• On a tenant's death, any surviving tenant or the deceased tenant's estate may end the lease on the last day of the month after the month of death, unless the term ends sooner. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-18
• The domestic violence termination right has its own notice, rent and confidentiality rules. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-17.1 See Ending a lease for domestic violence on the North Dakota page
• A party induced to enter the lease by fraudulent misrepresentations may end it. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.4
• Destruction of the leased property ends the lease. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-14(4)

Either party may end a month-to-month tenancy with at least one calendar month's written notice, given at any time, and rent is owed through the termination date. If a lease has converted to a month-to-month tenancy, it ends on the last day of a month.

N.D.C.C. § 47-16-15(2) N.D.C.C. § 47-16-15

• If the tenant stays after the lease expires and you accept rent, the lease is presumed renewed as a month-to-month tenancy, unless it has an automatic renewal clause. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-06 See Automatic renewal clauses on the North Dakota page
• A lease term requiring the tenant to give notice of more than one month from the end of a month binds the tenant only if the tenant initialed it. Without the initials, the tenant may end the lease on the last day of a month with one calendar month's notice. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-15(4)