What Privacy Rights do Minnesota Tenants Have?
Do Minnesota tenants have a right to privacy?
Yes. Minnesota tenants do have privacy rights to their leased residence, although these rights are not as broad as many tenants believe. Minnesota Statutes Section 504B.211 provides that a landlord “may enter the premises rented by a residential tenant only for a reasonable business purpose and after making a good faith effort to give the residential tenant reasonable notice under the circumstances of the intent to enter.”
The tenant may not waive this right in a lease, and a landlord may not try to force a tenant to give up this privacy right. However, “reasonable business purpose” is a very broad term, and allows landlords to enter the property for a wide variety of reasons as long as notice is provided.
Section 504B.211 provides a list of many possible reasonable business purposes, including:
Showing the unit to new prospective tenants during the notice period before the lease terminates
Showing the unit to a prospective buyer or insurance representative
Performing maintenance work
Allowing inspections by city or state officials
Entering the unit when a tenant is causing a disturbance
Entering the unit where the landlord has a reasonable belief that the tenant is violating the lease
Pre-arranged housekeeping work in senior housing
Where the landlord has a reasonable belief that the unit is occupied by a person without a legal right to occupy the unit, and
When the tenant has vacated the property
This list is not exhaustive, and only gives some of the major reasons where a landlord may enter the unit. Minnesota landlords are thus empowered to enter a unit for a wide variety of reasons, and it is rare where a landlord is unable to articulate a valid business reason for entering a leasehold property.
However, where Minnesota landlords can sometime run into trouble is where they fail to meet the second requirement of Section 504B.211. Specifically, many landlords forget or fail to provide notice to tenants that they are going to enter the property.
Minnesota landlord-tenant law requires that a landlord must make a “good faith effort to give the residential tenant reasonable notice under the circumstances” of the landlord’s intent to enter the property. “Reasonable notice” is not necessarily 24-hour notice, although many Minnesota tenants appear to hold this misconception. However, providing 24-hour notice is a good general rule-of-thumb that typically is considered to be reasonable notice by Minnesota judges.
Minnesota law also provides some exceptions for when notice is necessary, specifically excepting circumstances where immediate entry to the property is necessary:
To prevent injury to people or property because of conditions related to maintenance, building security, or law enforcement
To determine a tenant’s safety, or
To comply with local ordinances regarding unlawful activity in the premises
However, where a landlord enters the property where the tenant is not present and there has not been notice given, the landlord is required to let the tenant know that they entered the property by placing a disclosure in the premises. This disclosure usually takes the form of a note or paper notice that the landlord leaves behind to let the tenant know about the entrance.
If a landlord violates these rules, they can be subject to penalties for each privacy violation. Section 504B.211 states that this can take the form of civil penalties of $100 for each violation, rent reduction, or even cancellation of the lease. These are significant penalties and should be of concern to any landlord when arranging for entry into a tenant’s leased property.
If you are concerned that Minnesota tenant privacy violations have taken place or if you have been sued for tenant privacy violations, contact RAM Law PLLC’s experienced landlord-tenant attorneys for a free consultation. Our Roseville based attorneys can be reached by phone at 651-468-2103 or by submitting our convenient consultation form.