By Madison McVan, Minnesota Reformer
As of Jan. 1, landlords must give renters 14 days’ notice before filing an eviction; include all required fees in the advertised rent; ensure units maintain a temperature of at least 68 degrees during the winter; and provide tenants 24 hours’ notice before entering a unit.
All evictions will be removed from a tenant’s record after three years. Evictions can be expunged sooner if the renter and landlord agree to it as part of a settlement; for example, in cases where a tenant is evicted but later pays back the money owed.
The package of renters’ protections that went into effect this week also bars landlords from requiring renters to declaw or devocalize their pets as a condition of rental; codifies renters’ right to a move-in and move-out inspection performed by the landlord; expands what is considered an “emergency repair” to include broken air conditioning (when included in the lease) and refrigerators; and gives public housing tenants the right to a lawyer in eviction cases.
The new laws had been proposed at the Legislature for many years but were finally passed in 2023 as part of the DFL’s sweeping legislative agenda, which also included large investments in new housing development, the Family Homelessness Prevention Assistance Program and a down payment assistance program for first-generation homebuyers.
Lt Gov. Peggy Flanagan and DFL lawmakers touted the laws at a press conference Thursday, where Flanagan described the new requirements as “reasonable expectations” for landlords.
Flanagan said in the upcoming legislative session the governor’s office would be working on legislation to strengthen anti-discrimination provisions to protect renters who use Section 8 housing vouchers, which is a federal program that pays a portion of rent for very low-income families.
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