On Tuesday evening (3/16/10), the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that significantly advances tenant rights in Minnesota. Should the legislation become law:
- Late Fees: Late fees will be capped at 8% of rent. This provision will do away with the most egregious late fees and outlaw daily late fees amassing beyond the 8% cap (effective August 1, 2011).
- Receipt for Rent: Tenants will be given a receipt if they pay their rent with cash. The receipt provided for a money order bought to pay rent will serve as proof of rent-paid unless the landlord proves otherwise.
- Attorney Fees: If a lease entitles a landlord to have its attorney fees paid when they win a certain kind of case, tenants will be entitled to the attorney fees in the same kind of case.
- Limiting Tenant Screening Fees: A fair and consistent process will be used when screening applicants for an apartment. Prospective tenants will also be informed about how their application will be judged. Upon becoming law, landlords will be required to:
- provide the criteria upon which they will screen applications (that 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: 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: 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.”
- Renters Living in Foreclosed Property: State law will 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.
The legislation must now be voted on by the full House and Senate. A conference committee may then have to work out some small differences between the House and Senate language. However, the final legislation should reflect the outline provided above.
The Minnesota Multi Housing Association has agreed to ask Governor Pawlenty to sign the legislation making it law.
If any further grassroots action is required to advance the legislation, HOME Line will let you know. Of course, we would encourage anybody and everybody to contact the bill authors thanking them for their advocacy on behalf of the Minnesota Tenant Bill of Rights:
Senator Dibble — (651) 296-4191
Senator Higgins — (651) 296-9246
Senator Marty — (651) 296-5645
Senator Kelash — (651) 296-8061
Representative Mullery — (651) 296-4262
Representative Champion — (651) 296-8659
Representative Clark — (651) 296-0294
Representative Hayden — (651) 296-7152
