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North Dakota water billing: the $3 cap and no-meter rule

By · Published July 21, 2026 · 8 min read

Most states split their rent rules and their water-billing rules into separate statutes — sometimes separate titles entirely. North Dakota puts both in one place: North Dakota Century Code § 47-10-28, first enacted in 2021 and expanded since, most recently in 2025. Buried in its utility-billing subsection are two numbers almost no park owner outside North Dakota has ever seen. Here's what the statute actually says, water first, rent for context.

The short version: bill submetered water separately, or fold it into rent — your choice. Bill separately, and you can charge no more than your actual per-unit cost from the utility, plus a "reasonable" administrative fee the statute caps at exactly $3. No individual meter on a lot means no utility fee for that lot, period. And if a tenant pays for water as part of rent, you can't back-charge them later unless your own water cost actually went up.

At cost, plus an administrative fee capped at exactly $3

Subsection 8 of § 47-10-28 gives you the choice up front: purchase water and sewer service on behalf of your tenants and fold the cost into monthly rent, or bill each tenant separately based on actual usage. Bill separately, and the ceiling is specific — you may not charge a tenant more than the actual cost per unit your park paid the utility, no markup on the water itself. On top of that, the statute allows exactly one more thing: "a reasonable administrative fee that may not exceed three dollars." Not a percentage of the bill, and not an inflation-indexed figure like California's $4.75 cap (which adjusts every year) — a flat $3, named in the statute itself. Charge a cent over and it's not a "reasonable" fee anymore; it's an overcharge.

No meter, no fee — full stop

The line most owners miss entirely: "A mobile home park may not charge a fee for a utility without an individual meter for each mobile home." If a lot doesn't have its own water meter, you cannot bill that tenant a separate water charge — not at cost, not by formula, not any way. Your only option for an unmetered lot is folding water into rent. That's a direct hit on RUBS-style billing — splitting one master water bill across tenants by a formula (square footage, occupancy, lot count) instead of real meters — whenever it's used in place of individual metering: North Dakota simply won't let you charge for water that way unless every lot you're billing already has its own meter. If your park runs off one master meter today, this rule is your answer to "should I install submeters." Once you have real reads, the water submeter calculator turns two of them into an at-cost bill in one step.

No back-charging, and tenants can see their own reads

If a tenant pays for water as part of their rent, subsection 8 blocks you from adding a separate water charge or back-charging them later — with one exception. If the cost of providing the service actually increases, you may charge "a reasonable amount to cover the increased cost." The trigger has to be a real cost increase on your end, not a high-usage month. One more right owners forget lives in the same subsection: you must give a tenant access to the records of meter readings taken at their own lot. If a tenant asks to see their reads, that's not a favor — it's what the statute requires.

No Public Service Commission filing required

In Texas or Florida, a park reselling water has to watch for a state utility commission — register, stay under revenue thresholds, avoid becoming a regulated utility by accident. North Dakota doesn't set that trap for water. The Public Service Commission's submetering rule (N.D. Admin. Code § 69-09-02-15) is written for electric service only: "Electric service furnished by a public utility under established rate schedules shall not be resold or submetered by a customer unless the rate schedule under which the customer receives service specifically so provides." Water and sewer aren't mentioned there, and § 47-10-28(8) itself never references a PSC filing, tariff, or registration. For water, § 47-10-28 is the whole rulebook — there's no second agency to check with.

The rent side of the same law

Subsection 8 is why you're reading this, but the same section also sets North Dakota's lot-rent rules, and it's worth knowing since it's three subsections away:

Ready to send an increase? The notice generator drafts the 90-day letter.

Common North Dakota mistakes

Looking at a specific North Dakota park, or scoping out the state before you buy? Our North Dakota park directory covers 251 parks across 43 counties — 17,005 lots in all — pulled from the state's licensed park roster. For the fundamentals that apply everywhere, see how to bill tenants for water the legal way, and for how North Dakota stacks up against other states, start at the state-by-state overview.

Sources

General information, not legal advice. This section has been amended more than once since 2021 — most recently in 2025 — and North Dakota's legislature meets again in 2027. Confirm the current text (or ask a North Dakota landlord-tenant attorney) before you change how you bill.

Lot Sidekick itemizes submetered water on every bill automatically. Your manager keys the reads from a phone and each tenant is billed at cost. Send your spreadsheet and I'll set up your park, or see the live demo, or call (425) 405-0734.