SAINT PAUL, Minn. — When the calendar flips to 2024 this Monday, Jan. 1, several new laws will take effect in Minnesota impacting hundreds of thousands of renters and property owners.
Almost one in three people in Minnesota live in rental units, including the majority of residents in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Some of the major changes include, but are not limited to:
-- Requiring property owners to give at least 24 hours' notice before entering a rental unit
-- Mandating the right to inspections before or after a move
-- Disclosure of additional fees in advertisements and apartment listings
-- Landlords who control the heat in a building must keep the temperature at least 68 degrees from October to April
-- Property owners must give 14-days written notice before filing evictions if rent has not been paid
HOME Line, a tenants' advocacy group, said the new laws passed by the state legislature represent "the most substantial change in Minnesota tenant/landlord law in a single session of the Legislature in the 165-year history of the state."
"This is definitely giving tenants more certainty on some things, like the privacy issue," said Mike Vraa, who operates HOME Line's tenant hotline as the managing attorney. "I think if you had polled all the landlords in Minnesota before this law was passed, they would have said the rule was already 24 hours because a lot of them already went by that. But there were a handful of landlords that didn't. This gives everyone some clarity on what's fair."
Vraa also said the 14-day written notice of eviction aligns with other states that provide similar windows.
"It gives the tenant a chance to come up with the money, maybe go get some financial resources, whether it's from emergency assistance, maybe a friend, family member, a church even," Vraa said. "The current rule is the landlord has to give no notice before they file an eviction for non-payment, so that's a massive change."
Cecil Smith, the president and CEO of the Minnesota Multi-Housing Association, agreed that many property owners already abide by some of the new rules. However, as the head of a trade group that represents 2,000 housing providers statewide, he said the laws may hamper flexibility.
"It just adds a lot of costs," Smith said. "When we keep adding lots of more regulations onto the housing sector, it doesn't improve the housing affordability challenge. It only makes it harder."
In particular, Smith takes issue with the 24-hour notice of entry rule, which he said could make it difficult for housing providers to coordinate with delivery companies or specialist contractors.
Also, he said the 14-day written eviction notice requirement could place property owners on the hook for thousands of dollars at a time.
"Delays around the 24-hour [entry] notice period -- time costs money, and when there's delays that adds costs," Smith said. "Even the 14-day [eviction] notice, waiting another two weeks before you can even file for an eviction in housing court, that means that's two more weeks before any rent gets paid. Again, that adds costs to housing providers."
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