Significant changes were made to landlord-tenant laws at the 2010 Minnesota legislative session this past May. The topics vary from late fees, to abandoned personal property, to federal foreclosure notice conformity. BSL Real Estate believes it’s important to have both well-informed clients and employees, and with that being said I’ve supplied a brief synopsis of some major changes.
All and all, there were eight landlord-tenant regulation topics that were subject to change during this last session and here they are (in a nutshell).
1. Cash Receipts: Management is now required to immediately provide a written receipt for payments made in cash.
2. Application-Screening Fees: In regards to applicant screening fees, here are the landlord’s MUST NOTS: A landlord may not collect or hold an applicant-screening fee without providing a written receipt for the fee upon request of the applicant. Nor may a landlord use cash, or deposit an applicant-screening fee until all prior applicants have either been screened or rejected, or offered the unit and declined to enter into a rental agreement. A landlord must also return the applicant fee if a prior applicant is offered the unit and agrees to enter into a rental agreement.
Now for the MUSTS: A landlord must disclose in writing, prior to taking the applicant screening fee, the criteria on which decision to rent will be based. Also, a landlord must notify the applicant within fourteen days of rejection, identifying the criteria the applicant failed to meet, and must return the application-screening fee if the applicant is rejected for any reason not listed in the required disclosure. Finally, a prospective tenant who provides materially false information on the application or omits material information requested is liable for damages, plus a civil penalty up to $500, civil court filing costs, and reasonable attorney fees.
3. Attorney Fees: For those residential leases that contain a provision providing that management may collect attorneys fees from the resident will now be construed to provide residents the right to collect attorney fees if successful in a legal action. Resident collection of attorney fees will be limited to the same type of action, the same circumstances, and to the same extent that management would be allowed to collect from the resident under the lease.
4. Abandoned Personal Property: This law has changed from 60 days to 28 days. This means management must now only retain the property for 28 days.
5. Late Fees: Fees for late payments are now up to 8% of the overdo rent payment.
6. Bad Faith Retention of Security: The specific additional bad faith penalty for management not returning or accounting for a security deposit increased to a maximum of $500.
7. Single Meter Buildings: There is now a penalty for violating conditions of separate utility billing in single-meter buildings.
8. Federal Foreclosure Notice Conformity: Under federal law, rental residents in foreclosed properties must be provided at least 90 days notice to vacate after the end of the redemption period rather than the two months required under state law. State law will conform to federal foreclosure law until the federal law sunsets on December 31, 2012 at which time the state law will returns to the two month notice requirement.
I hope this update helpful and if you have any further questions regarding landlord-tenant laws please contact me at Buy Sell Lease (BSL Realty)
O: 952.460.3420
F: 952.460.3421
E: Travis@BuySellLeaseMN.com
All the best,
Travis Senenfelder
BSL Real Estate
440 2nd St., Excelsior, MN 55331
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