In a significant legislative development, the Minnesota Legislature has implemented sweeping changes to tenant rights as part of the Judiciary and Public Safety omnibus bill.
These comprehensive alterations span 16 pages and cover a variety of topics, which include novel laws that prohibit landlords from requiring pets to be declawed or devocalized, and the provision for easier methods to expunge past evictions from court records.
The changes in legislation were made possible due to the shift in the state’s political landscape. With the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party seizing control of the state House, Senate, and governor’s office, this power trifecta led to a reshaping of negotiations.
Under the previous divided government, the formulation of new legislation required agreements between landlord associations and tenant advocates. However, the DFL’s triumph meant that rental owners and managers found themselves largely excluded from the process of finalizing the legislation.
This shift in dynamics led to the passage of multiple changes, some of which had been lobbied for over a decade, all within one legislative session.
Two key figures in this significant shift were Rep. Esther Agbaje from DFL-Minneapolis and Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten from DFL-St. Paul.
Both of them took charge of this initiative in their respective legislative chambers. Agbaje’s interest in the matter can be traced back to her time as a law student at Harvard, where she worked at a legal aid clinic that dealt primarily with tenant issues.
On her return to her home state, she was determined to strengthen Minnesota’s tenant protections based on her experiences.
Starting January 1, 2024, the new provisions will come into effect. Some of the significant changes include requiring landlords to give a 14-day written eviction notice for non-payment of rent, a provision that allows cities to require even longer pre-eviction notices.
Furthermore, eviction notices are to be removed from court records if the tenant prevails, the case is dismissed, the parties agree to do so, or if the eviction is more than three years old.
This is a marked change from the existing law where such records remain public for seven years.
Also included in the changes are stricter rules on rental owners and managers wanting to enter a tenant’s unit. They are now required to give a 24-hour notice, specify a window of time, and can only enter between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., unless the tenant agrees otherwise.
The new laws also call for an immediate repair of essential amenities like broken refrigerators, air conditioners, serious infestations, and non-working elevators.
Despite these changes being met with some criticism from rental owners and managers who feel they were not adequately consulted, the new laws have been widely seen as a significant step towards ensuring and securing tenant rights.
The changes aim to tilt the balance of power between landlords and tenants, ensuring a more equitable and fair housing landscape for all residents of Minnesota.