Handling a Noisy Neighbor
by Michael Vraa
71 Hennepin Lawyer 14 (May 2002)
Original Article
Text of Article (slightly easier to read than original)
The Minnesota cases cited in this article are accessible through the links below:
Person v. Torchwood Management, No. UD-1920604543 (Minn. Dist. Ct. 4th Dist., July 6, 1992)
Dendy v. Solar Partnership, No. UD-1940707547 (Minn. Dist. Ct. 4th Dist., Aug. 26, 1994)
Wilkinson v. Clauson, 29 Minn. 91, 12 NW 147 (1882)
Colonial Court Apartments v. Kern, 282 Minn. 533, 163 N.W.2d 770 (1968)
Housing Justice Network
October 2006 Materials
HJN Meeting Notes
Gilmore Pleadings
Smart Steps for Small Claims
by Michael Vraa
76 Hennepin Lawyer 1 (December 20, 2006)
Article (via Hennepin Lawyer website)
Basics of Mortgage Foreclosure and Contract-for-Deed Cancellation for Residential Tenants by Paul Birnberg (Updated July 2018)
This essay is actually pretty short if the reader skips all the footnotes (highlighted in yellow in the essay). The essay without the footnotes is aimed at lay (non-lawyer) readers. The footnotes are aimed at attorneys and others interested in some of the details behind the summary of the law.
This essay takes into account the June 2018 restoration (“un-sunsetting”) of the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act.
Security Deposits and Roommates
by Paul Birnberg
One question that comes up occasionally is how should the security deposit be handled when one of several roommates moves out and a replacement moves in. This memo by one of our attorneys discusses the issue. Those more interested in the conclusions rather than the reasoning of the attorney who wrote the memo should concentrate on the parts highlighted in yellow.
Be Careful Before Using Certified Mail to Send a Legal Notice
by Paul Birnberg
Tenants often want to or are required to give a notice required by a statute.
For example, a tenant might want to give a repair notice because if repairs are not done within 14 days after the notice is received, the tenant may file a Rent Escrow case. See Minnesota Statute section 504B.385. For another example, a tenant might want to give a “month’s notice” on a month-to-month lease under Minnesota Statute section 504B.135. These are only two examples of a variety of notices tenants give from time to time.
Tenants are tempted to use certified mail to deliver the notice. As discussed in more detail in a memo here, IF the statute in question requires certified mail, then certified mail must be used. Otherwise, not only does certified mail not have to be used, generally it should not be used.
Who Takes the Risk of Loss or Delay When Rent Is Mailed?
by Paul Birnberg
Sometimes a tenant mails her rent to the landlord and the mail gets delayed or lost. Who bears the risk of the delay in payment, the landlord or the tenant? This memo discusses some of the relevant law.
Where does the 5-year tax depreciation of carpets rule come from?
Sometimes in a lawsuit over carpet damage, the landlord or the tenant refers to IRS Publication 527 in which the IRS instructs the landlord to depreciate carpet over a five-year period. This memo discusses the underlying law and how this five-year period relates to a study the IRS did of real-world carpets in rental units. The study determined that most residential-rental carpets tend to last between five and nine years.
IRS Carpet Depreciation Law
Two studies of courts hearing housing cases
These are two studies of the operation of housing calendars in suburban courts and in Hennepin (downtown) Housing Court.
Due Process Denied: Handling of Eviction Cases at Anoka and Dakota County Courts.