Minnesota Parking Rent Settlement: Dominium, Iliff, Thompson

The Dominium parking rent lawsuit has produced one concrete recovery so far: a related overcharge case, Thompson v. St. Anthony Leased Housing Associates II, settled for nearly $204,000, with more than $166,000 refunded directly to low-income senior tenants who had been charged rent above the legal limit.¹ The larger parking-fee class action, Iliff v. Dominium Management Services, LLC, was certified as a class action in September 2023 covering more than 3,000 current and former tenants across 24 Minnesota properties, and has not yet resolved.²

What Dominium Was Accused of Doing

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program under 26 U.S.C. § 42 lets a developer include the cost of tenant amenities like parking garages in the property’s “eligible basis,” which sets the size of the federal tax credit. The condition is simple. If the parking is paid for with tax credits, tenants cannot be charged separately to use it. Minnesota Housing Finance Agency compliance guidance states that “the cost of tenant facilities (e.g. parking, garages, and swimming pools) may be included in eligible basis if there is no separate charge for use of the facilities.”³

The plaintiffs alleged Dominium did both: it claimed the tax credits for building the parking and then charged monthly “parking rent” for those same spaces. The complaint described a business model that “diverts millions of dollars earmarked for affordable housing into corporate profits.”⁴ Tenants already paying near the maximum rent allowed under LIHTC rules were being billed again for something the federal government had already financed.

The Iliff Class Action

The parking case was filed on March 5, 2021, in Hennepin County District Court by eight tenants along with HOME Line, a Bloomington-based tenant advocacy nonprofit.⁴ The Housing Justice Center and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath represent the plaintiffs.² The suit names 57 related Dominium entities and identifies at least 18 properties in cities including St. Anthony, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Coon Rapids, Crystal, Woodbury, Cottage Grove, Champlin, Columbia Heights, Blaine, Spring Lake Park, Minnetonka, and St. Cloud.⁵

The claims are grounded in Minnesota state law: consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and unjust enrichment. After Dominium moved the case to federal court, U.S. District Judge Michael Davis remanded it back to state court in September 2021, finding the dispute turned on state-law claims.⁶

Two years later, on September 11, 2023, Hennepin County District Court Judge Thomas Conley certified the class. The certified group potentially covers more than 3,000 current and former tenants across 24 Dominium properties in Minnesota. Jim Poradek of the Housing Justice Center said plaintiffs looked “forward to trial on the tenants’ consumer protection claims.” Dominium partner Paula Prahl said the company was disappointed and planned to appeal the certification.²

The Thompson Settlement That Actually Paid Tenants

Running in parallel with the parking case was Linda Cobb Thompson v. St. Anthony Leased Housing Associates II, LP, which attacked a different Dominium billing practice at the same kind of property. Thompson argued the company was charging rent above the ceiling that applies to housing financed with state tax-exempt bonds. The University of Minnesota Law School’s Consumer Protection Clinic, led by Professor Prentiss Cox, served as co-counsel with the Housing Justice Center.⁷

The Thompson case resolved for nearly $204,000. Of that, more than $166,000 went directly to low-income senior tenants as refunds for overcharges, which Cox described as “100% reimbursement.” About $28,000 was directed to two nonprofits, CommonBond and Agate Housing and Services. Roughly $8,000 represented refunds owed to three class members who died before the settlement was finalized.¹

Cox called the outcome “a complete win for the plaintiffs.” Student attorney Jordan Hughes argued the case before the Minnesota Court of Appeals; Cox argued before the Minnesota Supreme Court.⁷

Why the Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling Mattered

The Thompson settlement only became possible because tenants first won a threshold legal fight over what the rent-limit statute means and whether tenants can enforce it. The dispute centered on the phrase “area fair market rent” in Minnesota Statute § 474A.047. Dominium argued the phrase referred to “payment standards” set by local public housing agencies, which can run higher. The tenants argued it meant the fair market rent figures published each year by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which are generally lower.

On August 24, 2022, the Minnesota Supreme Court sided with the tenants, holding the term is an established housing-law concept tied to HUD’s published figures. It reversed the lower courts and sent the case back for further proceedings.⁸

The Court also decided a question with reach beyond this case. Thompson’s lease promised compliance with “all applicable state and local laws,” and the Court held that her allegation of rent above HUD limits was enough to state a viable breach-of-contract claim. Tenants can enforce rent-limit rules through their leases even where the underlying statute does not spell out a private right of action.⁸

If You Rented at a Dominium Property in Minnesota

The Thompson recovery was limited to the senior tenants in that specific case. The larger parking-fee class action remains pending, and its certified class covers more than 3,000 current and former tenants across 24 Dominium properties in Minnesota. If you paid a monthly parking charge at a Dominium building in one of the Minnesota cities named in the complaint, you may fall inside that class. Class members are typically identified from the landlord’s own rent records, and notice is sent through the court process once a case resolves. The Housing Justice Center and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath are class counsel.²

1
University of Minnesota Law School. Consumer Protection Clinic Helps Low-Income Seniors Gain Settlement for Excessive Rent
2
Star Tribune. Hennepin County Judge Grants Class-Action Status to Tenants in Case Against Dominium
3
Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. MHFA Compliance Manual
4
ClassAction.org. Illiff et al. v. Dominium Management Services, LLC et al., Class Action Complaint
5
ClassAction.org. Double-Dipping: Low-Income Housing Developer Pocketed Tax Credits Earmarked for Parking Costs, Class Action Alleges
6
FindLaw. Iliff v. Dominium Management Services LLC
7
Minnesota Law Magazine. Clinic Scores an Impactful Win Before Minnesota Supreme Court
8
FindLaw. Thompson v. St. Anthony Leased Housing Associates II, LP