Free North Dakota Commercial Lease Agreement Template

A North Dakota commercial lease agreement rents non-residential property — a storefront, an office, a warehouse, a workshop — to a tenant who will run a business from it. Chapter 47-16 of the Century Code covers the leasing of real property, and Chapter 47-32 covers eviction.

Neither chapter is organised around a residential and commercial split. What matters instead is which provisions turn on residential use, and reading past those to the ones that apply generally.

Two provisions decide how a tenancy ends and when an eviction becomes available.

Notice on a Month-to-Month Tenancy

N.D.C.C. § 47-16-15(2) provides that in tenancies from month to month, either party may terminate by giving at least one calendar month’s written notice at any time — unless the parties have otherwise agreed in writing to a longer notice period or a different notice time. Rent is due and payable to and including the date of termination.

That opt-out matters commercially. The one-month default gives way to whatever the lease says, provided the different arrangement is in writing.

Subsection 5 handles conversion. Where a lease converts to a month-to-month tenancy under § 47-16-06 or § 47-16-06.1, either party may terminate on the last day of a month with at least one calendar month’s notice.

When a Landlord Can Bring an Eviction

N.D.C.C. § 47-32-01 lists the grounds. Subsection 4 covers a lessee, in person or by subtenant, who holds over after the termination of the lease or expiration of the term, or who fails to pay rent for three days after the rent is due. Subsection 8 covers a lessee who violates a material term of the written lease agreement.

Three days after the due date. Section 47-32-01(4) treats a failure to pay rent for three days after it falls due as a ground for eviction in its own right, on the same footing as holding over past the end of the term.

That is a short runway by any measure, and it runs from the due date rather than from a demand. A landlord does not have to serve anything first for the ground itself to arise, though a separate notice of intention to evict applies before filing.

The section reaches beyond rent. It also covers entry by force, intimidation, fraud, or stealth, turning out a party in possession by force or threats, holding possession by menaces, continuing in possession after a judicial sale and the expiry of any redemption period, and violating a material term of a written lease.

1. Settle the rent, the escalation basis, the term, and how taxes, insurance, and repairs are divided.
2. Agree any different notice period in writing, since § 47-16-15(2) yields only to a written agreement.
3. Negotiate a grace period for rent if three days from the due date is impractical.
4. Define what counts as a material term, given that breaching one is an eviction ground under § 47-32-01(8).
5. Execute the lease and keep the notice and grace provisions on file.

The Century Code sets notice and grounds; a North Dakota commercial lease agreement supplies the substance:

• Legal names of landlord and tenant, and the entity behind each signature.
• A description of the premises and any shared or common space.
• Rent, the due date, any grace period, and how increases work.
• The term, and whether it converts to month to month at the end.
• Any notice period different from one calendar month, stated in writing.
• Which terms of the lease the parties treat as material.
• Allocation of taxes, insurance, and utilities, plus assignment and subletting consent.