Bed bug laws in North Dakota Who pays for treatment?
Habitability law only
No bed bug statute, but a clean three-way remedy: after a reasonable time from your request, you may repair the premises and deduct the expense from rent, recover the cost in any other lawful manner, or vacate and be discharged from further rent entirely. There is no dollar cap on that deduction, which is genuinely unusual — most states limit it to a month's rent or less. Note the opposite of Nebraska on local codes: where the building-and-housing-code duty is GREATER than the other duties, the code governs, so a strong local code raises the standard rather than capping it. And the core habitability duties cannot be handed to you in the lease.
Who pays for treatment
Landlord — core duties cannot be shifted
Landlord response deadline
Reasonable time after written request
Disclosure before lease
No
What the law actually says
No bed bug provision. N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-13.1 (landlord obligations — maintenance of premises), subsection 1: (a) comply with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety; (b) make all repairs necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition; (c) keep common areas clean and safe; (d) maintain all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and kitchen facilities in good and safe working order; (e) provide outlets for waste disposal and arrange removal; (f) supply running water, hot water and heat so far as conditions allow. Pests are not enumerated. Subsection 2 — for non-compliance with subdivisions (b) through (f), a reasonable time is allowed to remedy. SUBSECTION 3 IS THE ONE TO NOTE: if the duty imposed by subdivision (a) is greater than any duty imposed by any other subdivision, the landlord's duty is determined by reference to subdivision (a) — so a stronger local housing code RAISES the standard here, the precise opposite of Nebraska, where a local minimum housing code caps the landlord's maximum duty. SHIFTING DUTIES: subsection 4 lets the landlord and tenant of a SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCE agree in writing that the tenant performs the duties in subdivisions (e) and (f) plus specified repairs, maintenance, alterations and remodeling, but only if the transaction is entered into in good faith; subsection 5 imposes conditions on any such agreement for a dwelling other than a single-family residence; and subsection 6 bars the landlord from treating performance of that separate agreement as a condition to any obligation or performance of the rental agreement. Note what CANNOT be shifted even in a single-family home: subdivisions (a) to (d), which include code compliance, fit-and-habitable, common areas and building systems. § 47-16-13 (when lessee may repair or vacate premises) — where the landlord fails to put the premises in good condition or make repairs within a reasonable time after the tenant's request, the tenant may (1) repair the premises and deduct the expense from the rent; (2) recover it in any other lawful manner from the lessor; or (3) vacate the premises, in which case the tenant is discharged from further payment of rent or performance of other conditions. NO DOLLAR CAP — CONFIRMED. The section as published by the North Dakota Legislative Branch contains no monetary limit on the deduction, which makes North Dakota unusually generous; nearly every other state caps repair-and-deduct at one month's rent or less. One commercial guide states the remedy is 'subject to a deduction limit tied to one month's rent'. No such limit appears in the text — that figure appears to have been imported from other states' statutes. THE URLTA CLAIM IS ALSO WRONG: a commercial guide describes ch. 47-16.1 as URLTA provisions adopted by some cities, which would make North Dakota a Kentucky-style patchwork. North Dakota did NOT adopt the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and has no statewide just-cause framework; the habitability remedies live in §§ 47-16-13 and 47-16-13.1 and apply statewide. MOVE-IN EVIDENCE, § 47-16-07.2: the landlord shall provide the tenant with a statement — a check-in sheet — describing the condition of the facilities in and about the premises at the time of entering the lease, agreed to and signed by both parties, and that statement provides proof as to the condition of the facilities and premises at the beginning of the rental agreement. For an infestation dispute this is your best evidence on the question of whether the problem predated you, so complete it carefully and keep your copy. Damages: any party aggrieved under §§ 47-16-13.1 through 47-16-13.6 may recover appropriate damages, subject to a duty to mitigate; § 47-16-13.6 also lets a landlord recover court and attorney fees, so weigh that before litigating. Withholding: South Forks Shopping Center v. Dastmalchi, 446 N.W.2d 440, 444 (N.D. 1989) states that a breach of an express or implied condition of habitability of a residence may justify a tenant in not paying some or all of the rent — but note the court did not actually permit withholding on those facts, so do not treat it as a green light. Always give written notice of an intention to make repairs yourself. Small claims court is available for repair costs. Deposits: § 47-16-07.1 (one month's rent limit, held in a federally insured interest-bearing account). Tenant duties: § 47-16-13.2. Termination: § 47-16-15 (one calendar month's written notice). Eviction: grounds at § 47-32-01, three-day notice of intention to evict at § 47-32-02.
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What to do, in order
Photograph everything before you touch it
Live insects, shed skins, dark staining along the mattress seam. Timestamps are the evidence.
Notify the landlord in writing
Email or certified letter, never a phone call alone. Written notice is what starts the clock in every state that has one.
Do not throw out furniture yet
Discarded items can't be inspected, and moving them spreads the infestation down the hallway.
Let the deadline above run
Escalating before it expires generally forfeits the remedy.
Escalate to the housing agency, then to court
An independent inspection report is worth more than your own photographs. Rent withholding rules vary sharply — check the section above before you try it.
Read it yourself
Everything above was written by reading the sections named in the citation, not by summarizing another summary. You should not take our word for it — open the statute and check. Look up the section numbers quoted above.
The state's own legislature or code site. Search it for the section numbers quoted above — they are the whole basis for this page.
Last checked against the North Dakota code: . Statutes change every legislative session — if you are reading this long after that date, open the cited sections yourself before relying on them.
Not legal advice. This is a plain-language reference to publicly available statutes, verified against the North Dakota code. Liability turns on your lease, your local ordinance and your specific facts. Talk to a tenant attorney or legal aid before withholding rent or filing anything.