How the North Dakota eviction process works
Chapter 47-32 of the Century Code calls the case an eviction, sometimes a forcible detainer, and it is heard in the district court for the county where the building is located. The state courts describe it as an accelerated civil action to decide who has the right to possession, and a tenant cannot be evicted without a district court order.
Our North Dakota landlord-tenant law guide covers deposits, entry and the one-month notice for month-to-month tenancies. This page follows the eviction case itself.
Who can file: LLC-owned buildings need a lawyer
If your building is owned by an LLC, corporation or partnership, a non-lawyer cannot file or sign the eviction papers. The North Dakota Legal Self Help Center warns that documents signed by a non-lawyer agent of an entity are void, citing Wetzel v. Schlenvogt, 2005 ND 190, and State ex rel. Department of Labor v. Riemers, 2008 ND 191. Its self-help forms are for owners who are natural persons.
Most apartment buildings sit in an entity, so line up counsel before the notice goes out. A property manager can serve notices and testify, but should not sign the complaint.
Grounds for eviction and the 3-day notice
NDCC 47-32-01 lists eight grounds. The ones apartment owners use are nonpayment, holdover after the lease ends, violating a material term of a written lease, and conduct that unreasonably disturbs other tenants’ peaceful enjoyment.
Nonpayment has a built-in wait. The ground exists when the tenant fails to pay rent for three days after it is due, so rent due on the 1st supports a notice on the 4th, not the 2nd.
For nonpayment, holdover and material lease violations, NDCC 47-32-02 requires three days’ written notice of intention to evict before you file. The disturbance ground is not on that list. When nonpayment is the only ground, the court’s form gives the tenant three days to pay the full amount or move out; for other grounds, the notice tells the tenant to leave within three days.
Serving the notice and counting the days
Serve the notice the way a summons is served: by the sheriff or by an adult who is not a party, following Rule 4 of the North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure. If the tenant cannot be found, the sheriff or a process server can post the notice conspicuously on the premises, and the court’s instructions call for at least one attempt between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. first.
Rule 6 sets the count. Start the day after service, count three calendar days including weekends and holidays, and if the third day falls on a weekend or state holiday, roll to the next business day. File only after that.
Filing, service and the hearing
File the summons, complaint, a copy of the written lease, the notice and proof of its service with the clerk of district court. The clerk sets the hearing. Under NDCC 47-32-02, the appearance date must be at least 3 and not more than 15 days after the summons is issued.
Personal service on the tenant within the county must be made at least three days before the hearing, and any other service at least seven days before. If the tenant cannot be found after an evening attempt, you can file an affidavit, mail a copy to the last-known address and have the summons posted on the door of the unit.
An eviction cannot be joined with other claims except for accrued rent and damages caused by the tenant’s possession, and the tenant can raise a counterclaim only as a setoff against those amounts (NDCC 47-32-04). The court’s instructions add that future rent cannot be sought in the eviction itself; NDCC 47-16-13.7 leaves the tenant liable for rent through the lease term, subject to your duty to mitigate, in a separate claim.
Judicial referees and review
Under Rule 13 of the North Dakota Supreme Court Administrative Rules, a judicial referee can hear and decide eviction cases. Either side can ask for a district judge instead by filing a written request within seven days after service of the notice of hearing.
A referee’s findings and order have the effect of a judge’s order unless superseded. A party seeking review must file a written request stating its reasons within seven days after notice of the right to review, and responses are due 14 days after notice of the request.
Judgment, the hardship stay and the sheriff
If you win, NDCC 47-32-04 requires a judgment for immediate restitution of the premises. The tenant can ask for a stay by showing that immediate restitution would cause substantial hardship to the tenant or family. The court can stay the special execution for a reasonable period of no more than five days, and no stay is available when the judgment rests even partly on a disturbance of the peace.
The judgment sets the move-out date, and the writ of eviction directs the county sheriff to remove anyone still in possession after that time. Money awarded with an eviction judgment entered on or after August 1, 2023 can be collected for 20 years, according to the court’s instructions.
Belongings left behind after the special execution is served carry a lien for your reasonable storage and moving costs, and property worth $2,500 or less can be disposed of 28 days after the tenant has clearly vacated (NDCC 47-16-30.1).
Self-help, retaliation and federal rules
Chapter 47-32 is the route the Century Code gives a landlord to recover possession, and removing someone by force or threats is itself one of the listed grounds for an eviction action against the person who did it (47-32-01(2)). Chapters 47-16 and 47-32 contain no general anti-retaliation section for residential tenants; the retaliation rule in 47-16-17.1 protects tenants who end a lease as victims of domestic violence. Federal fair housing law still applies.
If your building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-insured loan, or takes part in a covered federal housing program, the CARES Act notice rule may apply. Section 4024(c), codified at 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars a landlord of a covered property from requiring a tenant to leave until 30 days after a notice to vacate. The 120-day moratorium expired in 2020, but the 30-day text is still in the statute and courts have disagreed on whether it still applies. Serving 30 days at a covered building sidesteps the question. A default judgment also requires the military-status affidavit under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3931).
North Dakota eviction timeline at a glance
The table shows the shortest path for a nonpayment case with personal service in the county, counting the rent due date as day 0.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Nonpayment ground matures | Rent unpaid for 3 days after due | NDCC 47-32-01(4) |
| Serve 3-day notice of intention to evict | Day 4 at the earliest | NDCC 47-32-02 |
| Notice period ends | 3 days, rolled past weekends and holidays | N.D.R.Civ.P. 6 |
| File summons and complaint | Day 8 | NDCC 47-32-02 |
| Hearing | 3 to 15 days after the summons is issued (day 11 at the earliest) | NDCC 47-32-02 |
| Service before hearing | 3 days if personal in the county; 7 days otherwise | NDCC 47-32-02 |
| Request a judge instead of a referee | Within 7 days after notice of hearing | Admin. Rule 13 |
| Judgment | Immediate restitution | NDCC 47-32-04 |
| Hardship stay | No more than 5 days; none for disturbance cases | NDCC 47-32-04 |
Worked example: an 8-unit Fargo building
Assume a unit renting for $1,000 a month in an 8-unit Fargo building owned by an LLC, a tenant who stops paying, and $800 in attorney and service costs, since the LLC must use a lawyer. These figures are assumptions for illustration. A day of lost rent is about $32.88.
On the shortest path, the notice goes out on day 4, the case is filed on day 8 and the hearing is held on day 11. If the sheriff removes the tenant that day, lost rent is $362 and the total is $1,162. A five-day hardship stay moves possession to day 16: $526 in lost rent and $1,326 in total.
If the tenant is served outside the county or by posting, the seven-day service rule pushes the hearing to about day 15, for $493 in lost rent and $1,293 in total.
| Scenario | Days to possession | Lost rent | Total with $800 costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shortest path, personal service in county | 11 | $362 | $1,162 |
| Service by posting or outside the county | 15 | $493 | $1,293 |
| Shortest path plus 5-day hardship stay | 16 | $526 | $1,326 |
Alternatives to a full eviction
With a case that can reach judgment in under two weeks, a payment plan is low risk: if the tenant misses a payment, a new 3-day notice restarts the process. A cash-for-keys agreement still makes sense when you need a clean, quick turnover, or when a contested lease-violation case would turn on witnesses and evidence.
Selling a North Dakota building with a pending eviction
You can sell an occupied building with an eviction on file. The buyer takes title subject to the leases and can continue the case through its own attorney or serve a new notice after closing. Because leases follow the property, give the buyer the notice, complaint, proof of service and the ledger.
Tenant estoppel certificates confirm rent, deposits and balances for each unit, which matters most for units with an open case.
Selling your North Dakota apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units across North Dakota, including occupied buildings with problem tenants or a pending eviction. You can sell before the case is finished.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
