Grand Forks, ND Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)
Key Facts
- Annual license fee
- $20 per rental unit
- License expires
- December 31 every year
- Local agent required
- if owner is over 60 miles away
- New owner filing window
- 60 days after transfer
- Max fine per violation
- $500
- Licensing office
- city zoning administrator
Summary
In the City of Grand Forks, any owner, manager or other person with control of a rental unit must obtain a rental license before leasing it. Applications go through the zoning administrator, the annual fee is $20 per unit, and every license expires December 31, regardless of when it was issued.
It is unlawful for any person, as the owner, manager or other person having control of any rental unit, to lease, rent, offer for rent or lease, or permit to be leased, rented or offered for rent or lease, any rental unit within the city unless the rental unit has been licensed under this article. ... Any owner intending to rent a rental unit within the city shall obtain a license for each rental unit before doing so. Each application for a rental unit license required by this article shall be made upon forms as may be prescribed by the city zoning administrator. ... The annual fee for the license required by this article shall be the sum of twenty dollars ($20.00) per rental unit. Payment of the annual fee shall be due and payable annually, in advance, on or before the thirty-first day of December. ... Each license issued pursuant to this article shall expire annually on the thirty-first day of December.
Full Breakdown
Grand Forks City Code § 21-0603 makes it unlawful to lease, rent or offer any rental unit unless it has first been licensed under Article 6. Section 21-0605 requires the owner to file an application with the zoning administrator listing the owner's name, birth date and three-year address history, the unit's address, the designated local property manager if any, the number of rental units in the dwelling, the maximum occupant count, and the number of bedrooms. Any owner who does not live within 60 miles of the Grand Forks city limits must appoint a local agent or property manager within that radius so the city can serve notices, and must update the city in writing whenever that agent changes (§ 21-0606).
The annual license fee is $20 per rental unit, due each year by December 31 (§ 21-0607), and every license issued under the article expires on that same date regardless of issuance date (§ 21-0608). When ownership changes, the new owner has 60 days to file a fresh application, though no added fee is owed for the remainder of that year if the prior owner was current on fees and code compliance (§ 21-0609). Submitting a materially false statement or omitting required information on the application voids the application or any license already issued, and separately exposes the applicant to a fine of up to $500 per violation under § 21-0605(2).
Violations & Fines
Renting a unit without the required license violates § 21-0603. The article's general penalty clause, § 21-0617, sets a municipal court fine of up to $500 per violation, on top of any injunctive or administrative relief the city pursues. A materially false rental license application draws its own $500 maximum fine under § 21-0605(2), and the city can deny, suspend or revoke the underlying license through the § 21-0613 process for continued noncompliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How much does a Grand Forks rental license cost?
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Grand Forks
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