One of your most important responsibilities as a landlord in Minnesota is keeping track of how the rental industry is regulated by property management laws on the federal and state levels. It is imperative to ensure that your business practices are compliant with the law so that you don’t run into any legal trouble in the future.
This article will review some of the most important Minnesota landlord tenant laws that you should know as a landlord or property manager in the state.
Rent and Fees
Rent control is banned in Minnesota, meaning that there cannot be a legal limit placed on the price of rent. Lease agreements should specify the date that rent is due.
Additionally, if a tenant submits a check for their rent payment and that check bounces, you are able to charge them a rental NSF (non-sufficient funds) fee of up to $30.
Minnesota landlords are not required to give their tenants a grace period to pay rent. This means that if a tenant has not submitted their rent payment after the collection date has passed, you can start charging late fees right away. However, the amount of those fees is regulated—Minnesota law states that these late fees can only be up to 8% of the rent payment. Using the statewide median monthly rent payment of $1,537, a hypothetical late fee could not exceed $122.96.
Lastly, landlords are permitted to charge Minnesota rental application fees, but the law states that the amount of the fee must be refunded to the applicant if they are rejected from tenancy for an undisclosed reason, if a prior applicant accepts, or if the landlord does not obtain any consumer credit or tenant screening report.
Fair Housing Laws
Minnesota follows the guidelines of the federal Fair Housing Act. First enacted in 1968, it illegalizes any form of housing discrimination by landlords or real estate agents based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, familial status, or disability. Minnesota state laws further prohibit discrimination based on marital status, source of income, and sexual orientation.
Landlords in the state are allowed to consider the results of a criminal background check during the tenant screening process. It is best practice to follow the guidelines of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which urges against any blanket policies that would deny applicants based on the existence of a criminal record. Instead, you should consider applicants individually and look closely at threats to safety or a potential inability to follow the terms of a lease agreement.
Evictions
Eviction laws in Minnesota dictate that if a tenant fails to pay their rent, you cannot file for eviction until after you have issued a rent demand notice. For month-to-month tenancies, you must provide this notice at least fourteen days before filing for eviction.
If you choose to give your tenants a grace period, it shouldn’t overlap with an eviction notice period that you outline in your rental agreement. For instance, if you give your one-year-lease tenants a three-day grace period and a five-day eviction notice period, at least eight days must pass from the rent collection date before you can file for eviction based on failure to pay rent.
In the case of other lease violations or illegal activity on the property, there is nothing in Minnesota law that requires landlords to give tenants a period to “cure” or fix the issue before filing for eviction. Unlike in many other states, you are allowed to file for eviction right away. However, if you are taking legal action against a tenant, it is always a good idea to give them notice beforehand.
Conclusion
As a landlord in Minnesota, staying on top of the laws in your state can be tedious, but protecting your investments from potential legal complications is always worth it. Hopefully this article has given you an idea of what you should look out for and will help you make educated and guided decisions moving forward that keep your business safe, sustainable, and successful.
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