Can a domestic violence victim end a lease early in North Dakota?

In North Dakota, a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, or fears imminent domestic violence against the tenant or the tenant’s minor children, may end the lease without penalty by advance written notice stating that the tenant fears imminent domestic violence from a person named in a court order, an order prohibiting contact, a civil protection order or another record filed with a court, that the tenant needs to terminate, and the specific termination date. The notice must be delivered by mail, facsimile communication or in person before the tenancy ends. The tenant owes rent for the full month in which the tenancy terminates plus an amount equal to one month’s rent, subject to the landlord’s duty to mitigate, and that amount must be paid on or before termination for the tenant to be relieved of the rest of the lease; rent and other amounts owed before termination remain owed. The landlord may not disclose information the tenant provides documenting domestic violence, enter it into a shared database or give it to any person, except as evidence in an eviction proceeding or a claim for unpaid rent or damages, or as otherwise required by law. The tenancy continues for any remaining tenants, and the security deposit return is timed from the first day of the month after the tenant vacates if the victim and the victim’s minor children are the only tenants, or from the expiration of the lease if other tenants are bound by it. A person may not refuse to rent to, or otherwise retaliate against, someone solely because a tenant, applicant or household member used this right, and a court may award statutory damages of one thousand dollars plus actual damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, costs and disbursements. This is N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-17.1.

WhatNorth Dakota
Ending the lease earlyAdvance written notice; owe that month plus one more

What the statute says

“A tenant terminating a lease under this section is responsible for the rent payment for the full month in which the tenancy terminates and an additional amount equal to one month’s rent, subject to the landlord’s duty to mitigate.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-17.1

Read the statute in the North Dakota Century Code (North Dakota Legislative Branch): ndlegis.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps every lease’s term, rent and signers in one record and dates every change to it. This page states the state’s rule so a lease’s own early-termination and sublet clauses can be checked against it before the lease is signed.

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