Minnesota Senate Passes Tenants' Rights Legislation

The Minnesota Senate passed a bill on Monday that strengthens tenants’ rights by providing them with the right to organize to improve their living conditions, protections in the event of construction delays, and the right to have wrongfully filed evictions expunged. The bill also explicitly states that landlords may not interfere with tenants’ rights to seek emergency assistance during mental health or other health crises.

The legislation was sponsored by Senators Zaynab Mohamed (DFL-Minneapolis), Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville), and Michelle Pha (DFL-Brooklyn Park). Three Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in supporting the bill: Senators Jim Abeler (R-Anoka), Julia Coleman (R-Waconia), and Karin Housley (R-Stillwater).

Many of the bill’s provisions focus on protecting tenants’ rights to organize. It gives tenant organizers the right to leave information in common areas of apartment buildings and to deliver information to individual units, contact tenants, and hold meetings at apartment buildings. Landlords may not create rules that interfere with tenants’ rights to peacefully organize.

The legislation also requires landlords to provide tenants with several options when construction or rehabilitation of rental units isn’t completed by the agreed upon move-in date. Landlords must provide alternative housing, reimburse the tenant for the cost of obtaining housing elsewhere, or allow the tenant to terminate the lease agreement.

Another section of the bill gives tenants the right to have an eviction expunged if it was filed under certain illegal circumstances. Under Minnesota law, landlords may not evict tenants solely because they are the victim of domestic violence, sexual extortion, or harassment. Tenants who have experienced such an eviction in the past can now file a motion to have it expunged. The bill also requires landlords to pay tenants a $2,000 penalty if information related to their status as a victim or their new address or location is disclosed to third parties.

The law also requires landlords to disclose in the lease that no fees are required for service animals and allows tenants to provide an individual taxpayer identification number to landlords rather than a social security number.

Republican lawmakers introduced several amendments to the bill prior to its passage. Senator Eric Lucero (R-St. Michael) introduced an amendment clarifying that landlords are not required to provide tenants’ contact information to organizers, which the Senate voted to adopt.

Senator Rich Draheim, R-Madison Lake, introduced an amendment that would have allowed landlords to require that tenant organizers submit to background checks to ensure that they are “not a violent criminal.” He described a situation in which a property manager in Minnesota was recently shot and killed and questioned whether it is a good idea to “invite anyone into a building.”

Mohamed responded that tenant organizers are already background checked by their employers, organizers who enter buildings must be accompanied by residents, and landlords don’t background check other individuals who enter their buildings such as utility workers. The Senate voted against adopting Draheim’s amendment.

Senator Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) proposed an amendment that would allow homeowners to petition a local sheriff to remove squatters from their property rather than file an eviction action in court. He contended that “open borders” contribute to the problem of squatting. Draheim stated that he has received calls from seniors who are worried that they will be greeted by squatters in their home when they return from vacation, and the current eviction process takes months.

However, Senator Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) argued that the process could be misused by landlords who wanted to circumvent the normal eviction process and sheriffs would essentially be acting as judges. Drazkowski’s amendment was also unsuccessful.

The bill was passed 37-29.