Senator Scott Dibble, author of compromise legislation
On March 10th, the Senate Health, Housing, and Family Security Committee recommended passage of the Minnesota Tenant Bill of Rights and sent it to its last committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee.
We expect the Judiciary Committee to hear the bill in its final form next week.
After that, the proposal should be headed to the House and Senate floors for votes by both bodies.
If you get the chance, thank our Senate authors — Dibble, Higgins, Kelash, and Marty.
Only two issues remain to be worked out:
- What percentage of rent is a fair charge for late fees? Advocates believe 5% is the correct amount and is fairly close to what is already practice in court proceedings.
- When can expungement hearing happen in the case of an eviction hearing that resulted in a settlement? Advocates believe an expungement hearing should happen immediately if the tenant requests it. That way, all the parties will be present (i.e. tenant, landlord, and judge) and the substance of the case will be fresh in everyone’s minds.
Below are the outlines of the agreement among the negotiating parties — HOME Line, Legal Service Advocacy Project, and Minnesota Multi Housing Association:
- Late Fees: All sides agree that late fees should be capped at a certain percentage of rent. This provision will do away with daily late fees when a tenant pays their rent late and outlaw the most egregious late fee abuses. Advocates are pushing for a cap of 5% on late fees. Minnesota Multi Housing Association has yet to propose its offer.
- Receipt for Rent: All sides agree that tenants should be given a receipt if they pay their rent with cash. Also agreed upon is that the receipt for a money order bought to pay rent should serve as proof of rent-paid unless the landlord proves otherwise.
- Attorney Fees: All sides agree that if a lease entitles a landlord to have its attorney fees paid when they win a certain kind of case, tenants be entitled to the attorney fees in the same kind of case.
- Limiting Tenant Screening Fees: Agreement has been reached on how to process tenant applications for an apartment and the how to inform prospective tenants about how their application will be judged. Similar to the practice currently used in Minneapolis and St. Paul, legislation is moving forward that will require landlords to:
- provide the criteria upon which they will screen applications (will keep many tenants from paying an application fee for an apartment they have no chance of getting);
- process applications for an apartment in sequential order (so that if a tenant’s application fee is cashed, the application will be examined on its own merits); and,
- return application fees if they reject a prospective tenant for reasons other than the criteria they provided.
- Penalty for Improper Division of Utility Costs: All sides agree that if a landlord does not follow the entire law on division of utility charges, s/he is liable to the tenant for triple the damages or $500, whichever is greater.
- Bad Faith Retention of Security Deposits: All sides agreed that the penalty for a landlord not returning the proper amount of a security deposit will increase from “not to exceed $200″ to “not to exceed $500.”
- Hearing on Motion: While important details are still being negotiated, HOME Line and LSAP would require the court to hear a motion for expungement at the same hearing in which the eviction case is heard. This would allow tenants who prevail in an eviction case to have their motion for expungement heard immediately. What would happen in the case of a settlement between a landlord and tenant are still being debated.
- Renters Living in Foreclosed Property: All sides agreed that State law should be brought into conformance with Federal law. Tenants living in foreclosed property have the right to the term of their lease or 90 days beyond the redemption period, whichever is longer.
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