LaMoure County, North Dakota Eviction Risk: Very Low

LaMoure County sits in the lower-risk tier of North Dakota eviction laws's 53 counties by eviction risk, scoring 1.7/10 (Very Low) on the Eviction Risk Map index and ranking 50th of 53 statewide. That places it among the handful of North Dakota eviction laws counties where tenant-protection exposure is minimal and landlords operate under a framework that is straightforward by national standards. The county average of 1.7/10 compares favorably to the North Dakota eviction laws state average of 1.8/10, a gap that reflects both the county's thin rental market and the absence of any local rent-control or just-cause overlay on top of the baseline state law.

The county seat, LaMoure (1.6/10, pop. 658), and the county's largest community, Edgeley (1.6/10, pop. 666), anchor the lower end of the risk range. Most of the county's 9 scored cities cluster tightly: Montpelier scores 1.6/10, Berlin 1.6/10, and Dickey, at 1.5/10, represents the lowest reading in the county. The spread between the county floor and ceiling runs from 1.5 to 2.4, a narrow band that signals consistent market conditions across communities rather than dramatic local policy divergence. Kulm (1.8/10, pop. 474) and Marion (1.7/10) sit in the middle of that range. The notable outlier is Ypsilanti (2.4/10, pop. 55), a small community that carries the county's highest individual score - driven by its rent-burden profile relative to its size - though even that reading remains well within Low territory on a national scale.

LaMoure County's rental market is small by any measure: roughly 18.9% of residents rent rather than own, average asking rents run around $761 per month, and the average rent burden sits at 20.9% of household income - below the 30% threshold that most housing researchers treat as financially stressed. Poverty runs at 13.4%, consistent with other agricultural counties in the James River corridor. North Dakota's state law (N.D.C.C. § 47-16) governs the entire rental relationship here without any local supplement: the state preempts local rent regulation, no just-cause requirement applies to non-renewals, and source-of-income is not a protected class under state law. For landlords, that framework means a 3-day pay-or-quit notice for nonpayment, a 30-day no-cause notice for month-to-month tenancies, court filing fees between $75 and $150, and an uncontested eviction timeline of 21 to 40 days once filed. Those parameters explain much of the county's low score relative to peer states where procedural complexity and tenant protections compress landlord options and extend timelines significantly.

LaMoure County's 1.7/10 score reflects a combination of low rent burden (20.9%), a minimal tenant-protection legal environment under N.D.C.C. § 47-16, and a small, stable rental base. With 53 total counties scored in North Dakota eviction laws and this county ranking 50th, only 3 counties statewide present a more landlord-favorable profile.