Quick Reference: North Dakota Repair Duties and Remedies at a Glance

A tenant in a Fargo duplex emails on 3 March that the furnace is failing. The message is logged as a routine ticket. A technician attends on 19 March, finds the unit beyond economic repair, and the replacement is scheduled for early April.

On 1 April the rent arrives short by $4,800. The tenant replaced the furnace on 24 March and deducted the invoice.

In most states there would be a statutory cap to argue about. North Dakota's statute does not prescribe a dollar ceiling. But that does not make every tenant-paid repair automatically deductible: the tenant still has to establish the statutory conditions for using Section 47-16-13. Whether the $4,800 deduction is legally available would depend on facts including the tenant's notice, whether the furnace was a landlord responsibility, what the landlord did after receiving notice, and whether the statutory conditions for the remedy were satisfied.

That is what makes North Dakota repair management a documentation discipline rather than a budgeting exercise. And it is routinely misreported. Several current guides cite Section 47-16-13 as the habitability duty and Section 47-16-13.1 as the repair-and-deduct remedy. It is the other way round. Section 47-16-13.1 binds the landlord. Section 47-16-13 gives the tenant a remedy.

What Section 47-16-13.1 Actually Requires

Section 47-16-13.1(1) sets out what a landlord of a residential dwelling unit shall do. There are six duties, and one of them carries carve-outs that decide real disputes.

(a) Code compliance. Comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety.

(b) Fit and habitable. Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition. No exception attaches, and this is the broadest of the six.

(c) Common areas. Keep all common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition.

(d) Systems and appliances. Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord.

(e) Waste. Provide and maintain appropriate receptacles and conveniences for the removal of ashes, garbage, rubbish and other waste, and arrange for their removal.

(f) Water and heat. Supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times and reasonable heat.

That last duty has three carve-outs worth knowing before responding to a winter complaint in North Dakota, which is not a trivial scenario:

• Where the building is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose;

• Where heat or hot water is generated by an installation within the tenant's exclusive control supplied by a direct public utility connection; or

• Where the water or heat is unavailable due to supply failure by a public utility.

Two structural rules then govern how the duties interact.

• Non-code duties get a reasonable time. Under subsection 2, noncompliance with duties (b) through (f) allows a reasonable time to remedy. For the landlord repair duties in Section 47-16-13.1 and the repair remedy in Section 47-16-13, the relevant timing standard is generally "reasonable time." Other provisions in the chapter carry their own timing rules, including the thirty-day security deposit deadline, the twenty-eight-day abandoned property period and the one calendar month termination notice, but none of them supplies a fixed cure period for repairs.

• And the code standard controls where it is greater. Under subsection 3, where an applicable building or housing code imposes a greater requirement than another duty in subsection 1, that code requirement becomes the controlling landlord duty. Local code obligations therefore raise the standard rather than sitting alongside it.

Because "reasonable time" is fact-specific, the date a complaint arrived and the actions taken afterward can become important evidence of whether the landlord responded appropriately. Holding that on the unit record rather than in a shared inbox is the practical starting point, which is what the discipline set out in our guide on how to manage maintenance requests is built around.

The Tenant Duties in Section 47-16-13.2

Section 47-16-13.2 sets out the tenant's maintenance and conduct obligations, and it is frequently misdescribed. One 2026 guide states that Section 47-16-13.2 lets tenants in certain jurisdictions petition the court to place rent in escrow.

Section 47-16-13.2 does not create a rent-escrow procedure. It sets out a list of the tenant's obligations, covering matters including compliance with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, cleanliness, waste disposal, plumbing fixtures, reasonable use of systems and appliances, avoiding damage, and conduct affecting other occupants. Read the full list before relying on any single duty in a dispute.

That matters operationally for two reasons. Chapter 47-16 does not establish a general rent-escrow procedure for repair disputes. And the tenant's own duties are what a landlord points to when the alleged dilapidation was caused or worsened by the tenant's use of the unit.

Step 1: The Notice That Starts Everything

Section 47-16-13 turns on notice from the tenant followed by the lessor's failure to act within a reasonable time.

The remedy arises where, within a reasonable time after notice from the lessee of dilapidations which the lessor ought to repair, the lessor neglects to do so. Three elements sit in that clause.

There must be notice from the lessee. Without it, the section does not engage. Section 47-16-13 does not prescribe a form for that notice, so in practice communications such as emails or text messages may constitute notice, depending on the facts.

The dilapidation must be one the lessor "ought to repair." That points back to the Section 47-16-13.1 duties. A condition outside those duties, or one falling inside a carve-out, is not something the lessor ought to repair.

And a reasonable time must have passed with neglect. Both limbs are needed. Time alone is not neglect if the landlord was acting; neglect alone does not mature until a reasonable time has run.

For a manager, the consequence is that the intake date and the response record are the two facts that decide whether a later deduction was lawful. In the Fargo scenario, whether the time between the tenant's notice and the landlord's response was reasonable would depend on the circumstances, including the nature and urgency of the repair and what the landlord did in the interim.

Because the trigger is the tenant's communication rather than a formal notice, the risk is that a qualifying notice arrives looking like an ordinary message. Routing tenant communications and the maintenance history onto one record, as a Tenant 360 View approach does, is what makes the date provable months later.

Step 2: The Three Tenant Options Under Section 47-16-13

Once the trigger is met, Section 47-16-13 gives the lessee three options:

1. Repair the premises and deduct the expense of such repair from the rent;

2. Recover it in any other lawful manner from the lessor; or

3. Vacate the premises, in which case the lessee shall be discharged from further payment of rent or performance of other conditions.

Four observations follow, and each has practical consequences for property managers.

• There is no dollar ceiling. The statutory text prescribes no cap, in contrast to states that limit repair-and-deduct to a fixed sum or to one month's rent. A furnace, a water heater, a sewer line or a roof repair all fall inside the same remedy.

• There is no prescribed notice period. The statute says "a reasonable time." It does not say fourteen days, and no other provision supplies a repair cure schedule.

• The statute does not prescribe a separate landlord-approval step. Section 47-16-13 does not specify that the tenant must obtain the landlord's prior approval of the contractor, the scope or the price. But the tenant still has to satisfy the statute's underlying conditions: notice, a repair the lessor ought to make, and neglect after a reasonable time. The deduction is also for "the expense of such repair," which ties the amount to the repair the section covers.

• And option three is a full discharge. A tenant who vacates under the section is discharged from further payment of rent or performance of other conditions. That is not a mitigation calculation. It is a discharge, and it means a mishandled repair complaint can end a tenancy and its rent stream in one step.

The practical consequence for the ledger is the same one that arises wherever deductions are uncapped. A lawful Section 47-16-13 deduction arrives looking exactly like a partial rent payment. Unless the tenant's invoice is recorded against the rental period it offsets, a collections process can start against a tenant who acted within the statute.

Step 3: Section 47-16-13 and Section 47-16-17 Are Not the Same Remedy

North Dakota gives tenants more than one statutory route when a landlord fails to address a repair obligation, and they operate differently.

• Section 47-16-13 addresses what happens after notice of dilapidations that the lessor ought to repair: the tenant may repair and deduct, recover the expense through another lawful route, or vacate and be discharged from further rent and other conditions.

• Section 47-16-17 separately permits a lessee to terminate the lease before the agreed end date where the lessor fails, within a reasonable time after request by the tenant, to fulfil obligations regarding placing and securing the tenant in quiet possession of the premises, or putting the premises in good condition or repairing them. It is the tenant-side counterpart to Section 47-16-16, which sets out when a lessor may terminate.

For a manager, the operational point is that a repair complaint can mature into a lease termination by two different statutory routes, each with its own trigger. A request under Section 47-16-17 and a notice under Section 47-16-13 may look identical when they arrive in an inbox.

Step 4: Why the Condition Statement Matters in a Repair Dispute

Section 47-16-07.2 is short, mandatory and, in a repair dispute, disproportionately valuable.

The statute requires the statement. It says the landlord shall provide the tenant with a statement describing the condition of the facilities in and about the premises to be rented at the time of entering a rental agreement, that the landlord and tenant shall agree to and sign it, and that it shall constitute prima facie proof of the condition of the facilities and the premises at the beginning of the rental agreement.

That third element is why it matters here rather than only in a deposit dispute. Where a tenant claims a dilapidation the lessor ought to have repaired, the signed condition statement is statutory prima facie proof of what the premises were like when the tenancy began. If the statement is missing, the landlord does not have the statutory prima facie evidence that Section 47-16-07.2 gives the signed statement.

Note the statutory trigger is entering the rental agreement, not move-in day. Most managers complete it during the move-in walkthrough, which is sensible operationally, but the obligation attaches at signing. Producing that dated, signed record as part of the tenancy file rather than as a loose form is what move-in and move-out management exists to capture.

Step 5: Duty-Shifting, and the Limit in Subsection 6

North Dakota permits some repair duties to be shifted to the tenant, on conditions, and then limits what one form of shifting achieves.

Single-family residences, subsection 4. The landlord and tenant may agree in writing that the tenant perform the duties in paragraphs (e) and (f), the waste and the water and heat duties, and also specified repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations and remodeling, but only if the transaction is entered into in good faith.

Any other dwelling unit, subsection 5. The parties may agree that the tenant perform specified repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations or remodeling only if three conditions are met:

• The agreement is entered into in good faith and is set forth in a separate writing signed by the parties and supported by adequate consideration;

• The work is not necessary to cure noncompliance with paragraph (e); and

• The agreement does not diminish or affect the obligation of the landlord to other tenants in the premises.

And subsection 6 places a specific limit on subsection 4 agreements. The landlord may not treat performance of the separate agreement described in subsection 4 as a condition to any obligation or performance of any rental agreement.

Read the scope carefully. Subsection 6 is directed at the subsection 4 arrangement. The statute should not be summarised as giving a landlord an unrestricted right to make compliance with a repair-allocation agreement a condition of the tenancy, and because subsections 4 and 5 operate differently, the exact agreement and property type matter. Take North Dakota advice before relying on any duty-shifting arrangement as a route to default.

Because these arrangements have to exist as separate signed writings supported by consideration, and have to be produced years later, they belong on the tenancy record alongside the lease through contracts and renewals rather than in a property file.

One provision that sits behind all of it. Section 47-16-13.3 lets a court refuse to enforce a rental agreement, a provision of one, or a settlement that was unconscionable when made. A duty-shifting arrangement that fails the good-faith test in subsections 4 and 5 may also face scrutiny here.

Step 6: Entry, and the Substantial-Violation Route

Having a duty to repair is not a right to enter, and North Dakota's entry rule is unusual because it sets no hours-based notice period at all.

Under Section 47-16-07.3, a landlord may enter at any time in case of emergency, if the landlord reasonably believes the tenant has abandoned the premises, or if the landlord reasonably believes the tenant is in substantial violation of the provisions of the lease or rental agreement.

Otherwise, entry is permitted only during reasonable hours and in a reasonable manner for inspecting the premises, making necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supplying necessary or agreed services, or exhibiting the unit to actual or potential purchasers, insurers, mortgagees, real estate agents, tenants, workmen or contractors. Unless it is impractical to do so, the landlord shall first notify and receive the consent of the tenant, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, and the consent shall identify a time certain.

Two mechanics make it workable in a repair context. Consent is presumed from failure to object after notice of intent to enter at a time certain has been given. And notice may be given by personal service, by posting in a conspicuous place in or about the dwelling unit for a reasonable period, or by any other method resulting in actual notice.

So the operational requirement is a notice naming a specific time, delivered by a method that reaches the tenant, with the absence of objection recorded. That is a very different workflow from a fixed 24-hour rule, and it is why the entry notice needs to go out the moment a repair complaint is logged rather than when the contractor becomes available. Scheduling and dispatch records that carry the notice, its method and its stated time are part of the repair file, not separate from it, which is the case for handling them through service request and task management.

Step 7: What the Chapter Does Not Give You

Three absences shape North Dakota repair management as much as the duties do.

• No general anti-retaliation provision in Chapter 47-16. North Dakota's Chapter 47-16 does not contain a general statutory provision specifically prohibiting landlord retaliation for repair complaints. In Nelson v. Johnson, 778 N.W.2d 773 (N.D. 2010), the Supreme Court of North Dakota addressed a retaliatory eviction claim raised within an eviction action and observed that the eviction action was not the appropriate venue for it. The decision should not be presented as establishing the elements of a standalone retaliation claim. Managers should obtain North Dakota legal advice before treating the absence of a Chapter 47-16 retaliation provision as a complete answer to a retaliation allegation.

• No general rent-escrow procedure. Chapter 47-16 does not provide a general procedure for a tenant to place rent into court pending repairs. The tenant's routes are Sections 47-16-13 and 47-16-17.

• And no prescribed repair cure schedule. Repair timing runs through "a reasonable time," which means the standard is set retrospectively by a court on the facts of your response.

Step 8: Fees, Mitigation and Post-Eviction Liability

Three provisions govern what happens when a repair dispute becomes litigation.

• Fees run to the prevailing party. Section 47-16-13.6 provides that any right or action provided by Sections 47-16-13.1 through 47-16-13.6 is enforceable by action and the court may award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party. Note two limits. It is discretionary, and it is keyed to actions under 13.1 through 13.6, which is a defined range.

• Both sides must mitigate. Section 47-16-13.5 imposes a duty to mitigate damages on any aggrieved party. A tenant who lets a small problem become a large one has a mitigation issue of their own.

• And eviction does not end rent liability. Section 47-16-13.7 provides that a lessee evicted according to law remains liable for rent during the remainder of the term, subject to the landlord's duty to mitigate. That is a materially different outcome from the discharge a tenant obtains by vacating under Section 47-16-13, which is worth understanding before choosing to pursue possession over resolving a repair complaint.

Common North Dakota Repair Mistakes Property Managers Make

1. Citing the wrong section
Section 47-16-13.1 contains the landlord's duties. Section 47-16-13 contains the tenant's repair-and-deduct remedy. Several published guides reverse them.

2. Assuming repair-and-deduct is capped
Section 47-16-13 prescribes no dollar ceiling. But no cap does not mean every tenant invoice is automatically deductible; the statutory conditions still have to be met.

3. Waiting for a formal notice
The trigger is "notice from the lessee." Section 47-16-13 prescribes no form for it.

4. Treating a "reasonable time" as a fixed number
There is no statutory repair cure period in the chapter. Reasonableness is judged on your actual response, after the fact.

5. Overlooking Section 47-16-17
It is a separate termination route, triggered by a request rather than a notice of dilapidations.

6. Skipping the Section 47-16-07.2 condition statement
It is stated as "shall," and it is statutory prima facie proof of the condition at the start of the tenancy.

7. Completing the condition statement only at move-in
The statutory trigger is entering the rental agreement.

8. Misreading the water and heat carve-outs
They turn on whether the building is legally required to be equipped, whether the installation is in the tenant's exclusive control on a direct public utility connection, or whether a public utility supply failure caused the outage.

9. Forgetting that a greater code requirement controls
Under subsection 3, where the code duty is greater, it becomes the controlling duty.

10. Shifting duties without adequate consideration
For units other than single-family residences, the separate writing must be signed and supported by adequate consideration.

11. Shifting the waste duty to cure a code problem
Subsection 5(b) bars an agreement covering work necessary to cure noncompliance with paragraph (e).

12. Assuming a duty-shifting agreement creates a default route
Subsection 6 specifically bars treating performance of a subsection 4 agreement as a condition to any obligation under any rental agreement.

13. Entering without notice of a time certain
Outside emergency, suspected abandonment or reasonable belief of a substantial lease violation, Section 47-16-07.3 requires notice and consent identifying a time certain.

14. Treating a lawful deduction as an arrear
A Section 47-16-13 deduction looks like a short payment. Record it against the invoice and the rental period it offsets.

15. Assuming no anti-retaliation statute means no exposure
Nelson v. Johnson addressed venue rather than eliminating the claim, and Chapter 47-16's silence is not a substitute for advice.

Conclusion

North Dakota's repair framework is short, and its risk is concentrated in one provision with no ceiling.

The duties are in Section 47-16-13.1: six obligations, a "reasonable time" to remedy anything other than a code violation, and a greater code requirement controlling where one applies. The water and heat duty carries three carve-outs that can be important in winter repair disputes.

The remedy is in Section 47-16-13: notice from the lessee, neglect within a reasonable time, then repair and deduct, recover in any other lawful manner, or vacate and be discharged. No dollar cap and no prescribed notice period, though the statutory conditions still have to be satisfied. Section 47-16-17 sits alongside it as a separate termination route.

An important evidentiary record is in Section 47-16-07.2: a signed condition statement that the statute makes prima facie proof of the condition at the beginning of the rental agreement.

The challenge is not the law. It is execution.

In practice, a repair dispute can turn on whether the landlord can document when the complaint arrived, what response followed, what condition existed at the start of the tenancy, and how the parties allocated particular maintenance responsibilities.

For teams managing North Dakota portfolios in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks or the Bakken markets, the repair record is built from the beginning of the tenancy and updated each time a complaint, inspection, repair, or related communication occurs. Dated intake and response history through maintenance planning and scheduling is what makes a "reasonable time" defensible after the fact rather than reconstructed under pressure.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. North Dakota's residential rental rules are spread across Chapter 47-16 of the North Dakota Century Code, with eviction governed separately by Chapter 47-32. Chapter 47-16 contains no general statutory anti-retaliation provision, and Nelson v. Johnson, 778 N.W.2d 773 (N.D. 2010), addressed the venue for a retaliatory eviction claim rather than establishing its elements. "Reasonable time" is the timing standard the chapter supplies for repair obligations; other provisions in the chapter carry their own periods. House Bill 1496 of the 2025 session, which proposed changes to Section 47-16-13.1, failed in the Senate and did not amend the statute. Local ordinances may impose additional requirements. Verify the current statutory text with the North Dakota Legislative Branch, whose full Chapter 47-16 text is the primary source, and consult a licensed North Dakota attorney for guidance specific to your portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What repairs is a North Dakota landlord required to make?
Section 47-16-13.1 requires code compliance materially affecting health and safety, all repairs necessary to keep the premises fit and habitable, clean and safe common areas, working electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other supplied facilities including elevators, waste removal, and running water, hot water and reasonable heat subject to three carve-outs.

Q2. Is North Dakota's repair-and-deduct remedy capped?
Section 47-16-13 prescribes no dollar ceiling and no fixed notice period. That does not make every tenant-paid repair automatically deductible; the statutory conditions still have to be satisfied.

Q3. How long does a North Dakota landlord have to make a repair?
A reasonable time. The chapter supplies no fixed cure period for repair obligations, and reasonableness is assessed on the facts of the landlord's actual response.

Q4. What must a tenant do before repairing and deducting?
Give the landlord notice of the dilapidation. Section 47-16-13 requires notice from the lessee and neglect by the lessor within a reasonable time, but prescribes no particular form of notice.

Q5. Can a North Dakota tenant terminate over unmade repairs?
Two routes exist. A tenant may vacate under Section 47-16-13 and be discharged from further rent, and Section 47-16-17 separately allows termination where the lessor fails within a reasonable time after request to fulfil obligations regarding quiet possession or putting the premises in good condition.

Q6. Can a lease make the tenant responsible for repairs?
Within limits. Subsection 4 of Section 47-16-13.1 permits it for single-family residences where the transaction is entered into in good faith, subsection 5 requires a separate signed writing supported by adequate consideration for other units, and subsection 6 restricts treating performance of a subsection 4 agreement as a condition of the rental agreement.

Q7. Does North Dakota prohibit retaliation for repair complaints?
Chapter 47-16 has no general statutory anti-retaliation provision. Nelson v. Johnson addressed the venue for a retaliatory eviction claim raised in an eviction action rather than setting out the elements of such a claim.

Q8. Who pays attorney's fees in a North Dakota repair dispute?
Under Section 47-16-13.6, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party on actions provided by Sections 47-16-13.1 through 47-16-13.6. The award is discretionary.