Payday loans are legal in North Dakota. The state does not ban them or cap their cost so low that lenders leave. It licenses them and sets hard limits on size, fee and length.

The law is Chapter 13-08 of the North Dakota Century Code, "Deferred Presentment Service Providers." That is the state's name for a payday lender: a business that pays you now against a check it holds or an electronic withdrawal it will make later. The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) licenses these lenders.

The figures below come from the statute and the DFI as of September 2026. The legislature meets in regular session only in odd-numbered years, and no 2025 bill amended the chapter, so the rules are not expected to change this year.

The limits that define the loan

Rule North Dakota limit
Most you can receive per loan $500
Most you can owe across all lenders at once $600
Maximum fee 20% of the amount advanced ($20 per $100)
Term Initial term plus one renewal: no more than 60 days
Renewals One, lasting at least 15 days, fee also capped at 20%
Wait between loans 3 business days
Right to cancel Through the close of the next business day

The $600 ceiling covers every licensed lender together, and loans are logged in a state payday loan database so a second lender can see the first. Beyond the 20% fee, a lender may pass on only what it actually paid to register your loan in that database.

Under NDCC § 13-08-12, the 20% is legally a fee, not interest, so the state publishes no APR. Consumer sites that annualize it put the figure between 487% and 526%, depending on the term they assume.

When the loan comes due and you can't pay

You get one renewal, not a chain of them. You cannot use one payday loan to pay off another.

The statute also allows a workout agreement that spreads repayment over up to 12 months with no added fee. Both sides must agree to it, so a lender can refuse.

Some things are off the table entirely. Lenders cannot take a wage assignment, use a confession-of-judgment clause, pursue criminal charges for nonpayment, or take a property title or mortgage without going through the courts. Licensed payday lenders cannot make title loans at all.

Online lenders, and loans that fall under other laws

A North Dakota license does not require an office in the state, so an online lender can hold one. Every licensee is tracked through the NMLS, and the DFI can confirm whether a lender is licensed. Our sources do not say how tribal lenders are treated, so ask the DFI before borrowing from one.

A payday license is not the only kind. Licensed money brokers operate under a separate chapter with a 36% annual rate cap. Since August 1, 2025, the DFI can bring products such as earned wage access under that law. Non-regulated lenders are held to the state usury rate, which was 9.204% in September 2026.

Our sources do not list North Dakota assistance programs or credit union small-loan terms. Asking your credit union what it offers costs nothing.

If you are closing on a house soon

A payday loan will not stay hidden from your mortgage lender. The deposit and the lender's withdrawal show up on the bank statements your underwriter reads. Repeated withdrawals are the kind of pattern that tends to prompt a request for a written explanation. An open loan is also a debt with a payment, and the lender may count it against your income.

How each lender weighs this varies. If you have a payday loan open now, tell your loan officer before the underwriter finds it, and ask whether paying it off before closing changes anything. Do not take out a new one while your file is in underwriting.