What a Lease Cannot Say
N.D.C.C. § 47-16-13.3 — a court may refuse to enforce a rental agreement or clause that was unconscionable when made
If a court finds a residential rental agreement or any clause unconscionable when made, it may refuse to enforce it, enforce the rest without it, or limit it. The same goes for a settlement waiving a tenant's maintenance rights, and both sides get a chance to present evidence.
- In a single-family home, landlord and tenant may agree in writing, in good faith, that the tenant handles trash, heat and water, and specified repairs.
- In other buildings, a tenant may take on specified repairs only in a separate signed writing, for adequate consideration, that does not cure the landlord's own code failures.
- The landlord may not make that separate agreement a condition of the lease.
- No lease can push the deposit past the statutory limits.
Sources for this section (3)
- N.D.C.C. § 47-16-13.3 — Unconscionability
- N.D.C.C. § 47-16-13.1 — Landlord obligations - Maintenance of premises
- N.D.C.C. § 47-16-07.1 — Real property and dwelling security deposits - Limitations and requirements
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed North Dakota attorney.