A Minnesota rental application asks for your identification, income, rental history, and consent to a background check, and state law requires the landlord to give you specific written disclosures before collecting any screening fee. Fill it out accurately, keep copies of everything, and don’t hand over money until you have those disclosures in writing.
What to Gather Before You Start
Most applications ask for the same core information: legal name, date of birth, current and past addresses, employer and income, and permission to run a background check. Minnesota law specifically allows landlords to request your full name and date of birth.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.111 – Written Lease Required Pull these together before you sit down with the form:
- Government-issued photo ID: a driver’s license, state ID card, U.S. passport, or military ID.
- A Social Security number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Minnesota landlords must let you provide either, and cannot reject you solely because you supplied an ITIN instead of an SSN.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.117 – Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
- Proof of income: usually two to three months of recent pay stubs, a job offer letter stating your salary, or tax returns if you are self-employed. Many landlords look for household income of roughly two to three times the monthly rent, though the threshold varies.
- Rental history for the past three years, with accurate phone numbers and email addresses for prior landlords. Verification stalls when contact information is wrong.
- References. Some applications ask for personal or professional references in addition to prior landlords.
If your rental history is thin because you were living with family, in transitional housing, or in institutional care, you can often offer alternatives such as an employer, caseworker, or social services provider. Landlords receiving federal housing assistance or using inclusive screening criteria may be required to consider these.
There is no single statewide form. Most landlords and property management companies use their own, either on paper at the leasing office or through an online portal.
What the Landlord Must Put in Writing Before You Pay
Two disclosures have to arrive in writing before a Minnesota landlord can take a screening fee from you.
Who Manages and Owns the Property
Every rental application or lease must identify the person authorized to manage the property and the name and address of the owner or an agent who can accept legal notices on the owner’s behalf.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.181 – Landlord or Agent Disclosure If the form you receive doesn’t include this, ask for it before signing anything or paying.
The Screening Service and the Criteria
Before accepting a screening fee, the landlord must also tell you in writing the name, address, and phone number of the tenant screening service they will use (unless they screen in-house), and the specific criteria they will apply in deciding whether to rent to you.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.173 – Applicant Screening Fee Those criteria matter later: if you are rejected for a reason that wasn’t on the disclosed list, the landlord has to return your fee.
Lead-Based Paint, for Older Buildings
For any property built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint hazards, provide any available testing records, and give you a copy of the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home before you sign a lease.5U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Disclosure Form for Target Housing Rentals and Leases This often comes with the application packet for older buildings.
Screening Fee Rules and When You Get It Back
Minnesota does not cap the dollar amount of a screening fee, but it tightly controls when and how a landlord can charge one.6Minnesota Attorney General. Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities In practice, fees typically run $30 to $75 depending on the screening service. The statute requires:
- A unit must be available, or expected to become available within a reasonable timeframe.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.173 – Applicant Screening Fee
- The landlord cannot collect your fee until earlier applicants have been screened and rejected, or offered the unit and declined.
- The landlord must give you a written receipt upon request.
- If the landlord never runs a background check, credit report, or reference check, any portion of the fee not spent on those purposes must be returned to you.
- If you are rejected for a reason that wasn’t included in the pre-screening criteria disclosure, the full fee must be refunded.
A landlord who violates these rules is liable for the fee itself plus a civil penalty of up to $100, court filing costs, and reasonable attorney fees.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.173 – Applicant Screening Fee Small claims court is the usual route to recover those amounts.
Holding Deposits Are Not Screening Fees
Some landlords ask for a separate holding deposit (sometimes called a pre-lease deposit) to take a unit off the market while they process your application. That is a different payment. Under Minnesota law, if you and the landlord ultimately sign a lease, the holding deposit must be applied toward your security deposit or rent.7Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.175 – Pre-Lease Deposits Get the terms in writing before you pay, including what happens if you decide not to sign or the landlord rents to someone else.
What a Landlord Cannot Ask or Hold Against You
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status. Minnesota’s Human Rights Act adds protections for marital status, status with regard to public assistance, creed, gender identity, and sexual orientation.8Minnesota Housing. Fair Housing
In practice, a landlord cannot build questions into the application that identify your religion, sexual orientation, or whether you receive housing assistance, and cannot use any protected characteristic to reject you or to impose different income thresholds, deposits, or lease terms. If you have a disability that makes it hard to complete a standard application, you can request a reasonable accommodation, and the landlord must work with you unless doing so would impose an undue financial or administrative burden.
Criminal history is a narrower story. Minneapolis has its own fair chance housing ordinance limiting when a landlord can ask about criminal history during the application process. A statewide version has been proposed but is not yet law. Outside Minneapolis, most Minnesota landlords can still ask about criminal history on the application, but screening agencies must update their Minnesota court records within 24 hours before sending a report to a landlord.9LawHelp Minnesota. Tenant Screening
After You Submit
Once your application is in, the landlord or their screening service pulls your credit report, checks court records for evictions and criminal history, and contacts your previous landlords. Some online services return results the same day; others take several business days, especially when prior landlords are slow to respond.
Your signature on the application typically includes written authorization for the credit pull. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a rental application you initiate is a permissible purpose for accessing a consumer report, but the landlord still needs your authorization.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Read the authorization language before signing. It should identify what types of reports the landlord will obtain and which screening agency will provide them.
If you are approved, expect to move quickly. The landlord will present a lease for signature and collect the security deposit and first month’s rent. Minnesota does not set a statewide cap on security deposits, though some cities such as Minneapolis have their own limits.6Minnesota Attorney General. Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities
If Your Application Is Denied
A rejection triggers two separate notices, one under state law and one under federal law.
Under Minnesota’s screening fee statute, the landlord must notify you within 14 days of rejecting your application and must identify the specific criteria you failed to meet.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.173 – Applicant Screening Fee If the reason wasn’t among the criteria disclosed before you paid, you are entitled to a full refund of the screening fee.
Separately, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires an adverse action notice whenever a rejection is based even partly on information from a consumer report, meaning your credit report, criminal background check, or tenant screening report.11Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Should I Do if My Rental Application Is Denied Because of a Tenant Screening Report? That notice must include the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting agency, a statement that the agency did not make the rental decision, and notice that you have the right to dispute the report’s accuracy and obtain a free copy within 60 days.12Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know
If you think an error in your screening report caused the denial, request the free copy right away and dispute any inaccuracies directly with the reporting agency. Correcting the record won’t reverse this landlord’s decision, but it keeps the same mistake from sinking your next application.