1.    A contractor may not terminate or cancel a contract that requires a producer to make a capital investment in buildings or equipment that cost one hundred thousand dollars or more and have a useful life of five or more years until:

Terms Used In North Dakota Code 4.1-48-05

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37

a.    The producer has been given written notice of the intention to terminate or cancel the contract at least one hundred eighty days before the effective date of the termination or cancellation, or as provided in subsection 3; and

b.    The producer has been reimbursed for damages incurred by an investment in buildings or equipment that was made for the purpose of meeting minimum requirements of the contract.

2.    Except as provided in subsection 3, if a producer fails to comply with the provisions of a contract that requires a capital investment subject to subsection 1, a contractor may not terminate or cancel that contract until:

a.    The contractor has given written notice with all the reasons for the termination or cancellation at least ninety days before termination or cancellation, or as provided in subsection 3; and

b.    The recipient of the notice fails to correct the reasons stated for termination or cancellation in the notice within sixty days of receipt of the notice.

3.    The one hundred eighty-day notice period under subsection 1, and the ninety-day notice period and the sixty-day notice period under subsection 2, are waived and the contract may be canceled or terminated immediately if the alleged grounds for termination or cancellation are:

a.    Voluntary abandonment of the contract relationship by the producer; or

b.    Conviction of the producer of an offense directly related to the business conducted under the contract.