Minneapolis Renters’ Rights: Deposits, Repairs, and Evictions

If you rent in Minneapolis, your rights come from two layers of law working together: Minnesota Statutes Chapter 504B sets the statewide baseline for every landlord-tenant relationship, and the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances adds protections around screening, source-of-income discrimination, and heat that go further than state law. Together, Minneapolis renters’ rights cover how you’re screened before move-in, how your deposit is handled, when a landlord can enter, how repairs must be addressed, and what notice you’re owed before an eviction. Knowing which rule applies to your situation is often the difference between absorbing a loss and recovering money or your home.

Protection From Discrimination, Including Voucher Users

Federal fair housing law prohibits landlords from refusing to rent, setting different lease terms, or steering you toward certain units based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.¹ Minneapolis adds a category federal law leaves out. Under the city’s Civil Rights Ordinance, it is illegal to refuse to rent to you because you pay with a housing voucher, Section 8 subsidy, or other public assistance, and landlords cannot advertise a preference for tenants who pay without vouchers.²

If you have a disability, your landlord must grant reasonable accommodations that let you use and enjoy your home on equal terms with other tenants. That can mean waiving a no-pets policy for a service or emotional support animal, reserving an accessible parking spot, or allowing a ramp installation. The landlord covers the cost of policy changes; you typically pay for physical modifications. A landlord can refuse only if the accommodation would impose a genuine financial hardship or fundamentally change the housing operation.

Limits On How You Can Be Screened

Minneapolis restricts what landlords can hold against you during the application. Under the city’s Renter Protection Ordinance, landlords who use the inclusive screening criteria must follow specific caps on criminal, rental, and credit history.³

Criminal history: misdemeanor convictions with sentencing dates older than three years, felony convictions older than seven years, and certain violent felonies older than ten years cannot be considered. Manufacturing or distributing controlled substances and lifetime sex offender registration remain exceptions.
Rental history: eviction judgments older than three years and settlements older than one year cannot be held against you. Dismissed evictions and evictions you won cannot be considered at all. A landlord cannot reject you simply for having no prior rental history.
Credit: landlords cannot use a credit score as a screening tool, though they can look at specific items in a credit report that relate to your ability to pay rent. No prior credit history is not grounds for denial.

Landlords who do not adopt the inclusive criteria have to conduct an individualized assessment of each applicant instead. Blanket rejections for a low credit score or an old misdemeanor are not allowed in Minneapolis.

Security Deposit Rules And The Doubling Penalty

Once your tenancy ends and you give the landlord a written forwarding address, they have three weeks to either return the full deposit with interest or send you a written statement explaining exactly what was withheld and why.⁴ Vague descriptions like “cleaning” or “damages” do not satisfy the statute. The statement must identify each specific problem.

Deductions are limited to unpaid rent and the cost of restoring the unit to its move-in condition, with normal wear and tear excluded. Faded paint, minor scuffs, and worn carpet from everyday use are not deductible. If the landlord misses the three-week deadline or fails to itemize, you can recover the wrongfully withheld amount plus a penalty equal to that same amount, both with interest, which effectively doubles what you get back. Deposits also earn simple non-compounded interest at 1% per year, starting the first day of the month after you pay it in full and running until the landlord returns it or a court enters judgment.⁴

A non-refundable move-in fee is a separate charge that covers administrative costs and is not returned when you leave. If your landlord charges both, make sure the lease clearly labels which is which; only the refundable deposit triggers the protections above.

Habitable Housing, Heat, And Repairs

Every residential lease in Minnesota includes an implied covenant of habitability. Your landlord must keep the unit and common areas fit for residential use, maintain plumbing, electrical, and ventilation in working order, and comply with health and safety codes.⁵ This cannot be waived. A lease clause saying you accept the unit “as-is” or that you waive your right to repairs is void.

Minneapolis adds specific heat minimums. From October 1 through April 30, your heating system must be capable of maintaining at least 68°F inside the unit. During the shoulder seasons of September 15 through September 30 and May 1 through May 15, the minimum drops to 65°F.⁶ Heat loss in winter is a code violation you can report to city housing inspectors.

Rent Escrow When A Landlord Ignores Repairs

When repairs stall, do not simply withhold rent, which can backfire in an eviction case. Minnesota offers a rent escrow action instead: you deposit your rent with the court and let a judge decide what happens. First, notify your landlord in writing or report the problem to a housing inspector. If the landlord does not fix it within 14 days of your written notice, you can deposit rent with the court administrator along with an affidavit describing the violation. A hearing is scheduled within 10 to 14 days.⁷ If the judge finds a violation, available remedies include ordering repairs, letting you make them and deduct the cost from rent, appointing an administrator to collect rent and oversee repairs, reducing or eliminating rent until the issue is fixed, or fining the landlord.

If the unit becomes truly uninhabitable through no fault of yours, such as condemnation or fire damage, you can vacate without further rent obligations and you do not need to go through the escrow process first.⁷

Your Landlord Cannot Just Walk In

A landlord must have a reasonable business purpose for entering your unit and must make a good-faith effort to give you at least 24 hours’ written notice beforehand.⁸ Reasonable purposes include repairs, inspection, or showing the unit to a prospective tenant or buyer. “Just checking in” is not a valid reason. The only exception is a genuine emergency such as a burst pipe or fire, where immediate entry is necessary to prevent injury or serious property damage.

If the landlord violates these rules, you can recover a penalty of up to $500 per incident, plus the possibility of a rent reduction, lease termination, return of your deposit, and reasonable attorney fees.⁸

Protection From Retaliation

A landlord cannot evict you, raise your rent, or cut your services as punishment for filing a code complaint. If the landlord takes any of those actions within 90 days of your complaint, state law presumes the action was retaliatory and the landlord bears the burden of proving otherwise.⁹ After 90 days the burden shifts back to you, but retaliation claims remain viable if you can show the connection. The Minneapolis housing code extends a presumption of retaliation with no built-in time limit when a tenant complains to the city’s inspection agency or sues over housing conditions. Keep copies of your complaints, inspection reports, and any communications from your landlord that follow; a documented timeline is often the most persuasive evidence a judge sees.

Eviction Notice You Must Receive

Since January 1, 2024, a landlord filing an eviction for nonpayment of rent must first send you a written notice at least 14 days before going to court. That notice must include the total amount you owe, a breakdown of how much is rent versus late fees or other charges, the name and address of the person who can accept payment, and information about free legal help and financial assistance programs.¹⁰ If you pay the full balance within those 14 days, the landlord cannot file. If the landlord skips the notice, a housing court judge can dismiss the case.

For lease terminations that are not based on nonpayment, the required notice matches your rent payment interval, up to three months. In a standard month-to-month arrangement, either side must give one full month’s written notice before ending the tenancy; a week-to-week arrangement requires one week.¹¹ A lease clause cannot shorten these minimums.

Ending A Lease Early For Safety Or Military Service

If you or another authorized occupant of your unit fears imminent violence due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, sexual extortion, or stalking, you can terminate your lease without penalty.¹² You must provide signed written notice stating that you fear imminent violence, that you need to terminate, and the end date, along with a qualifying document such as an order for protection, a no-contact order, or a written statement from law enforcement, a court official, or a qualified third party such as a licensed social worker.

A sole tenant owes rent through the end of the month in which they leave and nothing beyond, but forfeits the security deposit under this provision. In multi-tenant units, the lease for remaining tenants terminates at the later of the end of the month or the end of the current rent interval.¹² A landlord may ask the name of the perpetrator to protect other tenants but cannot require disclosure as a condition of termination.

Active-duty service members can terminate a residential lease early under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act when they receive permanent change of station orders or deployment orders lasting 90 days or more.¹³ Deliver written notice with a copy of your orders; the lease ends 30 days after the next rent payment is due following delivery. Be cautious about signing SCRA waiver language in a lease, as doing so can eliminate this protection.

Late Fee Cap

Minnesota caps late fees at 8% of the overdue rent amount, and any lease provision trying to charge more is unenforceable.¹⁴ On $1,200 rent, the maximum late fee is $96. A landlord also cannot charge a late fee until rent is actually past due, so a fee imposed on the day rent is due rather than after a grace period is overreaching.

Lead Paint Disclosure In Older Buildings

If your Minneapolis apartment was built before 1978, federal law requires your landlord to disclose known information about lead-based paint hazards before you sign the lease. The landlord must give you a copy of the EPA’s lead hazard information pamphlet, disclose any known lead paint or hazards in the unit, provide any available inspection reports, and include a signed lead warning statement in the lease.¹⁵ Signed copies must be kept for at least three years. Much of the Minneapolis housing stock predates 1978, so this applies to a large share of city rentals. If your landlord never provided these documents, that is a federal violation worth raising.

There is no equivalent federal mold disclosure rule, and Minnesota has no specific mold statute. Your protection against mold comes through the general habitability covenant: if mold is severe enough to make the unit unfit for living, it falls under the landlord’s duty to maintain the premises.

Right To Form A Tenant Association

Minnesota law gives residential tenants the right to form and operate a tenant association to address building and living condition issues. A landlord cannot retaliate against you for participating in or helping organize one. In larger Minneapolis buildings with recurring maintenance problems, pest issues, or management disputes, collective complaints tend to produce faster responses than individual ones.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing
2
City of Minneapolis. Public Assistance for Housing
3
City of Minneapolis. Renter Protection Ordinance – Renter Screening
4
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.178 – Interest on Security Deposits, Withholding Security Deposits, Damages, Limit on Withholding Last Month’s Rent
5
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.161 – Covenants of Landlord or Licensor
6
City of Minneapolis. Low or No Heat in Rental Properties
7
Minnesota Attorney General. Landlords and Tenants – Rights and Responsibilities
8
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.211 – Residential Tenant’s Right to Privacy
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Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.441 – Penalty for Retaliatory Conduct
10
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.321 – Subdivision 1a – Written Notice for Nonpayment of Rent
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Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.135 – Termination of Tenancies at Will
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Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.206 – Early Lease Termination, Victims of Violence
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3955 – Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases
14
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 504B.177 – Late Fees
15
US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures About Potential Lead Hazards