North Dakota security deposit law

You may not demand or receive security, however it is labeled, of more than one month's rent. A pet security deposit is capped by its own rule: the greater of $2,500 or two months' rent.

N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(1) N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(2)

• You may take up to two months' rent from a tenant convicted of a felony offense, as an incentive to rent to that tenant, or from a tenant against whom a judgment was entered for violating a previous rental agreement. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(1)
• No pet security deposit may be charged for a service animal or a companion animal that a tenant with a disability needs as a reasonable accommodation. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(2) See Fair housing and assistance animals on the North Dakota page
• A party who was induced to enter a lease by fraudulent misrepresentations may end it and recover any security deposit with its accrued interest. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.4

Within 30 days after the lease ends and the tenant delivers possession, deliver or mail to the last address the tenant furnished an itemized list of anything you kept, with the amount due and a written notice stating any amount the tenant still owes or the refund due.

N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1

• You may apply the deposit and its interest to damage caused by the tenant's pet or by the negligence of the tenant or a guest, to unpaid rent, and to cleaning or repairs that were the tenant's responsibility and are needed to return the home to its move-in condition, reasonable wear and tear excepted. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1
• Withholding deposit money without reasonable justification makes you liable for treble damages. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(4)
• If you transfer the property, the deposit and accrued interest pass to the new owner, and you stay liable until they do. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1
• Deposit money the tenant does not claim within one year after the lease ends falls under the state's unclaimed property reporting rules, which this page did not read. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(3)
• When a tenant ends a lease for domestic violence and only the tenant and the tenant's minor children are on the lease, the return deadline runs from the first day of the month after the tenant vacates; if other tenants remain bound by the lease, it runs from the lease's expiration. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-17.1 See Ending a lease for domestic violence on the North Dakota page

Keep the deposit in a federally insured, interest-bearing savings or checking account for the tenant's benefit. The deposit and its interest go back to the tenant, except that you need not pay interest if the tenant's occupancy lasted less than nine months.

N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1(1)

• The accrued interest follows the deposit: it may be applied to lawful deductions and passes to a new owner on a transfer. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1 See Returning the deposit on the North Dakota page

When you enter into a rental agreement, give the tenant a statement describing the condition of the facilities in and about the premises, agreed to and signed by you and the tenant. This applies to every rental agreement, whether or not you take a deposit.

N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.2

• The signed statement serves as prima facie proof of the condition of the premises when the tenant moved in, which matters later when you make deductions from the deposit. N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.2 See Returning the deposit on the North Dakota page