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Rent-to-Own Rights

Rent-to-Own Laws in North Dakota: Your Rights

North Dakota's consumer rental-purchase law bars a store from entering your premises or breaching the peace to repossess, caps the late fee at the greater of $3 or 5%, gives reinstatement rights that grow once you've paid two-thirds, and enforces violations civilly. Missing payments is a civil matter, not a crime.

What North Dakota's rental-purchase law generally provides

Can you be charged with a crime?
Not for the debt. Whether keeping the item is theft is fact-dependent; there is no specific statute.
Can they enter your home?
No home entry without your permission
Getting it back (reinstatement)
Yes
Paid enough to own it?
You acquire ownership by completing the disclosed total of payments your agreement must state.
Fee caps
A late fee can't exceed the greater of $3 or 5% of the delinquent lease payment (N.D. Cent. Code §47-15.1-05).
Owe a balance after repossession?
Not allowed

These describe what the statute says. Your own contract and the facts of your situation can affect how they apply.

Verified against North Dakota Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement law (N.D. Cent. Code ch. 47-15.1) on .

North Dakota’s consumer rental-purchase law sets clear limits on repossession and keeps the cost of falling behind low.

Can the store come into my home?

No. A consumer rental purchase agreement in North Dakota can’t authorize the lessor to enter your premises or commit a breach of the peace in repossession (N.D. Cent. Code §47-15.1-04). The same section bars confessions of judgment, negotiable instruments, security interests in your other goods, wage assignments, and waivers of your claims or defenses. A store that can’t repossess peacefully has to use the courts.

Can I be arrested for not paying?

No. Falling behind is a civil matter. A lessor that violates the law is liable to the consumer civilly: actual damages or 25% of the total payments to own the item (at least $100, up to $1,000), plus costs and attorney’s fees (§47-15.1-08).

Can I be charged with theft for keeping the item?

This is a separate question, and North Dakota has no specific failure-to-return crime for rented goods. The state’s theft chapter has no provision about leased or rented property, so only the general theft law could apply (N.D. Cent. Code §12.1-23-02), which requires proof that you knowingly took or kept the item with intent to deprive the owner. Simply being behind, or failing to return it, is not by itself that proof.

So the risk here is narrow and fact-specific. If you decide to walk away, returning the item is the clean way to end the matter.

Reinstatement, and a boost at two-thirds paid

If you fall behind, you can reinstate without losing rights you’d earned by catching up within 5 days of the renewal date (monthly) or 2 days (more frequent). If you’d paid two-thirds or more toward ownership and returned the item, you have at least 45 days after the return to reinstate (§47-15.1-05). You’d pay the past-due charges, the reasonable costs of repossession and redelivery if applicable, and any late fee.

Fees are capped

North Dakota caps the late fee at the greater of $3 or 5% of the delinquent lease payment (§47-15.1-05). You acquire ownership by completing the disclosed total of payments; the ownership calculator can help you track where you stand. Because the agreement renews one period at a time, you can also return the item and stop owing future payments.

North Dakota rent-to-own questions

Can a rent-to-own store in North Dakota have me arrested for missing payments?
Falling behind on payments is a civil matter, not a crime. A lessor that violates the law is liable to the consumer civilly: actual damages or 25% of the total payments to own the item (at least $100, up to $1,000), plus costs and attorney's fees (N.D. Cent. Code §47-15.1-08).
Can I be charged with theft for keeping rent-to-own property in North Dakota?
Keeping the item is a separate question, and North Dakota has no specific failure-to-return crime for rented goods. Its theft chapter has no provision about leased or rented property, so only the general theft law could apply (N.D. Cent. Code §12.1-23-02), which requires proof that you knowingly took or kept the item with intent to deprive the owner. Simply being behind, or failing to return it, is not by itself that proof. Returning the item is the clean way to end the matter.
Can a rent-to-own store enter my home in North Dakota to take the item back?
A consumer rental purchase agreement can't authorize the lessor to enter your premises or commit a breach of the peace in repossession, and it can't include a confession of judgment, a negotiable instrument, a security interest in your other goods, a wage assignment, or a waiver of your claims or defenses (N.D. Cent. Code §47-15.1-04).
Can I get rented rented merchandise back after it is repossessed in North Dakota?
If you fall behind, you can reinstate without losing rights you'd earned by catching up within 5 days of the renewal date (monthly) or 2 days (more frequent). If you'd paid two-thirds or more toward ownership and returned the item, you have at least 45 days after the return to reinstate. You'd pay past-due charges, the reasonable costs of repossession and redelivery if applicable, and any late fee (N.D. Cent. Code §47-15.1-05).
In North Dakota, can I owe money after the item is repossessed?
Because a rental-purchase agreement renews one period at a time, you can return the item and stop owing future payments rather than being held to a full purchase price.

Sources

Every statement about the law on this page links to the official statute itself, so you can read the law, not just our summary of it. Notice something out of date? Let us know.

Consumer information, not legal advice. For your situation, consider speaking with a licensed North Dakota attorney or a local legal-aid office.