Minnesota lawmakers passed in May several new tenant protections for renters. Championed by Senator Zaynab Mohamed (DFL-Minneapolis), a comprehensive “tenants’ rights” bill, passed through “Senate Bill 3492,” aims to protect tenants most vulnerable to housing instability, including survivors of domestic violence and undocumented renters. The law also bolsters protections for tenants against landlord retaliation, ensuring that tenants who organize – such as by joining a tenant’s union – are able to do so without negative repercussions, which can include the threat of displacement. Finally, the law also addresses excessive and arbitrary rental fees, known commonly as “junk fees,” making Minnesota the latest in a growing number of states targeting excessive rental fees in 2024.
Minnesota’s new tenants’ rights bill will extend new renter protections to two renter groups in particular: survivors of domestic violence and undocumented immigrants. First, “Senate Bill 3492,” will allow survivors of domestic violence to terminate a lease early without the threat of an eviction filing. Under existing state law, domestic violence survivors are within their rights to terminate a lease early by filing notice of their intent to vacate their rental property. However, for victims who have already fled their unit due to extenuating circumstances, they may not be able to provide sufficient notice to a landlord of their intent to vacate. Minnesota’s new law mandates that landlords accept a tenant’s notice to vacate, especially in circumstances where a tenant has already left the unit. As such, the state’s new law closes the existing loophole by mandating that a landlord cannot file an eviction against a tenant for vacating the premises early without sufficient notice. New Hampshire enacted similar protections for tenants in 2024. New Hampshire’s law, which was passed through “House Bill 261,” allows survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking to terminate a lease early without facing the threat of eviction.
For undocumented renters, moreover, Minnesota’s new law will ensure that prospective tenants seeking out new housing opportunities will not be denied housing due to their immigration status. Prior to the passage of “Senate Bill 3492,” undocumented renters were at-risk of being denied housing due to stringent rental application barriers that barred tenants from qualifying for housing. When applying for housing, landlords and property owners often require prospective tenants to submit their Social Security Number alongside their rental application as a way for landlords to run any necessary background or credit screening checks on a tenant. For undocumented renters who do not have a Social Security Number due to their status, housing options are limited. For this reason, Minnesota’s new law requires landlords to accept a tenant’s “Individual Taxpayer Identification Number,” which is a number issued by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to undocumented renters for tax purposes. In Minnesota, there are 81,000 undocumented immigrants, 21,000 of whom possess Individual Taxpayer Identification numbers.
Tenant advocates advocated heavily for the inclusion of renter protections for undocumented renters in “Senate Bill 3492.” In September 2023, a coalition of organizations advocating for Latinx rights in Minnesota launched the “Vida Digna,” or dignified life, campaign to advocate for better treatment of individuals who possess Individual Taxpayer Identification numbers. The coalition, which organized tenants, and ran a tenant-centered advocacy campaign, is comprised of COPAL MN, Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research (HACER), the Latino Economic Development Center, and LatinoLead.
Under “Senate Bill 3492,” moreover, tenants who organize, such as by joining a tenant union or tenant group, will be protected if they participate in any tenant association activities. A landlord or property owner is prohibited from barring tenants from organizing, assembling, canvassing, leafleting, or exercising their rights as a tenant in any way. Specifically, the law prohibits retaliation of a tenant who engages in such activities, establishing that a landlord cannot decrease a tenant’s services, file legal action against a tenant, contact federal or state law enforcement to report on a tenant’s immigration service, or threaten a tenant in any way for joining a tenant’s union or exercising their rights, which also includes reporting a housing code violation to the proper agency tasked with overseeing state or local housing codes. Through “Senate Bill 3492,” landlords who violate the law will be subject to financial penalties, which include fines of up to $1,000 per violation and reasonable attorney fees.
Finally, “Senate Bill 3492” cracks down on excessive rental fees, commonly known as “junk fees.” Junk fees, which can be charged in the form of convenience fees, application processing fees, trash and parking fees, or late fees, exacerbate a tenant’s monthly rental costs by inflating the true amount owed by tenants per month on top of their base rental costs. These fees can be predatory, unpredictable, and arbitrary and can quickly accumulate for tenants, creating a cycle of housing instability for the lowest-income and most marginalized renters, who spend most of their income on rent. In Minnesota, 80% of low-income renters are “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent. Across the state, moreover, rising rental costs have exacerbated the state’s housing affordability crisis. Between 2021 and 2022, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, rents rose by 8% – making the increase the largest year-to-year increase in the last decade. Furthermore, rising rental costs disproportionately impact renters of color in Minnesota as 48% of Black households, 34% of Hispanic households, and 21% percent of Asian households are paying more than 30% of their monthly income on rent. In comparison, only 16% of white households pay more than 30% of their monthly income on rent in the state.
In 2024, six states – including Minnesota - introduced legislation to cap rental fees, including Georgia, Illinois, Virginia, and Washington. Under “Senate Bill 3492,” the law cracks down on two types of fees in particular: pet fees and late fees. First, the law mandates that a landlord or property owner cannot charge tenants with a service or support animal fee. Fees that are charged must be disclosed in a tenant’s rental agreement. Second, the law addresses late fees, noting that a landlord or property owner cannot levy a late fee against a tenant who pays their rent after the rent’s due date, unless the landlord and tenant agree, in writing, that a late fee can be assessed against a tenant. For such agreements, however, a late fee cannot exceed 8% of the late rent.
Learn more about Minnesota’s new tenant protection bill here.