Minnesota tenant screening and landlord-tenant law

Minnesota does not set a maximum dollar amount for a tenant screening or application fee. Instead, Minn. Stat. §504B.173 imposes procedural guardrails: no charging a fee when no unit is realistically available; a written receipt on request; no cashing/depositing the fee until prior applicants are cleared; required pre-fee disclosures of the screening service and rental criteria; and required refunds in several scenarios (rejection for an undisclosed reason, a prior applicant taking the unit, or no actual screening being performed). A landlord who violates the statute is generally liable for the fee itself plus a civil penalty of up to $100, court costs, and attorney fees (subd. 4). Applicants who submit materially false information can, in turn, be liable to the landlord for damages plus a penalty of up to $500.

Minnesota has no state-level statute specifically limiting how landlords may use criminal history in rental decisions (a lookback period, a "fair chance" mandate, etc.). The Minnesota Human Rights Act's real-property provisions list protected classes for rental housing — race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, and familial status (Minn. Stat. §363A.09) — but criminal history is not among them. Criminal-history screening in Minnesota is generally governed by the federal Fair Housing Act framework rather than a dedicated state statute.

Minnesota is a source-of-income protection state in a specific sense. The Minnesota Human Rights Act makes it an unfair discriminatory practice to refuse to rent to, or otherwise discriminate against, a person because of their "status with regard to public assistance" (Minn. Stat. §363A.09, subds. 1-2). This is a narrower formulation than the "source of income" or "lawful income" categories used in some other states, but is generally understood to include recipients of public assistance, such as Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) holders. Landlords should confirm this interpretation with current Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) guidance. The federal Fair Housing Act itself does not include source of income as a protected class — this is a Minnesota-specific addition.

Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.) sets the baseline: a permissible purpose and (in most cases) the applicant's written authorization before pulling a report, a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, and a formal adverse action notice under FCRA §615 if you deny the application based even partly on the report. Minnesota adds the 14-day post-rejection notice and pre-fee disclosure requirements under §504B.173 described above, on top of — not instead of — the federal framework.

Minnesota does not cap the dollar amount a landlord may charge for a security deposit. Deposits must generally bear simple, noncompounded interest of 1% per year, computed from the month after the deposit is paid through the month the landlord returns it or complies with the statute (interest amounts under $1 are excluded) (Minn. Stat. §504B.178, subd. 2). Landlords generally must return the deposit with interest, or provide a written statement of specific reasons for withholding it, within three weeks after the tenancy ends (or five days if the tenant vacates due to condemnation of the building), once they have the tenant's forwarding address or delivery instructions (subd. 3). A landlord may withhold only amounts reasonably necessary to cover unpaid rent or damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, and bears the burden of proving the basis for withholding in any dispute. Bad-faith retention can expose a landlord to the wrongfully withheld amount as a penalty plus up to $500 in punitive damages per deposit (subds. 4, 7).

Minnesota generally preempts local rent control: state law provides that no city, county, or town may adopt or renew an ordinance controlling rents on private residential property, except where the measure is itself approved by that jurisdiction's voters in a general election (Minn. Stat. §471.9996). This is a genuine statewide ceiling on how local rent control may be adopted, not just a procedural formality. Minnesota statutes do not impose a general rent-increase cap or a statewide "just cause" eviction requirement outside that referendum framework. For ending a periodic tenancy, notice must generally be at least as long as the interval between rent payments (commonly one month for a month-to-month tenancy), or three months, whichever is less (Minn. Stat. §504B.135). Separately, Minnesota courts may — and in several circumstances must — expunge an eviction case from public court records, including when the tenant prevailed on the merits, the case was dismissed, the parties agreed, or three years have passed since the eviction was ordered (Minn. Stat. §484.014). This expungement system works alongside, not instead of, the screening-decision restrictions on pending/non-final eviction records described above.

Minnesota's larger cities — Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester — have each explored or debated additional renter-protection measures. St. Paul voters approved a rent-stabilization measure by ballot initiative in November 2021, consistent with the voter-referendum exception in §471.9996; the current cap percentage, exemptions, and any subsequent City Council amendments should be confirmed with the city. For Minneapolis, landlords should confirm whether any criminal-history "fair chance in housing" ordinance is currently enacted and operative. Landlords in St. Paul or Minneapolis should confirm current local rules directly with the city, or with counsel, before finalizing screening or rent-setting policy.

Minnesota's local government structure includes cities, counties, and organized townships (rather than "unincorporated county" areas functioning the way they do in some other states). The rent-control preemption statute above applies uniformly to "city, county, or town," so the same referendum-based rule governs regardless of whether a rental property sits inside city limits, in a township, or in other county territory.

Does Minnesota cap how much landlords can charge for a tenant screening fee? No. Minnesota does not set a maximum dollar amount; instead, it regulates the process — disclosures, receipts, timing, and refund conditions — under Minn. Stat. §504B.173.

Is source of income a protected class in Minnesota? Not in those exact words, but Minnesota's Human Rights Act protects against discrimination based on "status with regard to public assistance," which is generally understood to reach recipients of public assistance, including many housing-voucher holders.

Does Minnesota cap security deposit amounts? No dollar cap exists, but landlords must generally pay 1% simple annual interest on deposits and return them (or provide a written withholding statement) within three weeks after the tenancy ends.

Can a Minnesota landlord deny an applicant because of a pending eviction case? Generally, no — as of a 2024 statutory change, landlords generally may not deny an application based solely on a pending eviction, a non-public/expunged/destroyed court file, or an eviction that never resulted in a writ of recovery.

Checkr helps landlords and property managers run FCRA-compliant tenant screening while keeping Minnesota's disclosure, fee, and adverse-action requirements in view. Get started at tenant.checkr.com/signup to build a screening workflow suited to your properties.

The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.