Cannabis, pets, privacy: What you need to know about renting and the new 2024 laws

Q: I am a landlord in Minnesota and heard there are new landlord-tenant laws for January 2024 that could affect my business. Can you tell me which new laws may be important for me to review?

A: From addressing cannabis to early lease termination for medical reasons, there are several new landlord-tenant laws and many changes to old laws that may affect your rental business. Here is a breakdown of the laws by topic that you should be aware of when they become law on Jan. 1, 2024 (except for Tenant Conduct Occurring Off the Premises, which takes effect June 1, 2024):

Landlords must now include all mandatory fees in all of their advertising and on the front page of their written lease and call it "Total Monthly Payment."

Some landlords had started adding fees to their rental contracts, like an administrative fee, monthly amenity fee, portal fee, etc., but the tenant never realized these fees existed until it was time to sign the lease. Meanwhile, the tenant has already put in time and effort and most likely paid an application fee and been approved, so they end up signing the lease and paying more than they wanted to for the apartment.

A person who is 21 or older can transport, possess or use cannabis paraphernalia legally now, and can possess or use up to 2 ounces of cannabis in a public place and up to 2 pounds in a private residence. Therefore, a landlord cannot prohibit a tenant from legally possessing cannabis on the site or in their apartment, but they can restrict smoking and vaping if the rental building is smoke-free.

A new law states that if a landlord allows tenants to have pets on the premises, they cannot require tenants to declaw or devocalize their pets. Landlords who allow pets on the property also cannot advertise that prospective tenants must declaw or devocalize pets or deny occupancy to prospective tenants who refuse to declaw or devocalize their pets.

There is now a uniform statewide law requiring that heat in rental units be at a minimum of 68 degrees (previously it varied depending on the city) from Oct. 1 through April 30, but it only applies if tenants do not control their own heat.

An emergency tenant remedy action is a special court case a tenant can file to force a landlord to make emergency repairs. The list for what qualifies as an emergency repair has now expanded to include more items such as a nonworking refrigerator, air conditioner and nonworking elevator, but only if the landlord was already providing the appliances or elevator when the tenant signed the lease.

Serious infestation has been added to the list now, which could be bedbugs, roaches, mice, and other types of pests that can be serious enough to require emergency intervention. These emergency actions usually don't end up being filed, since most landlords will respond to a phone call or a maintenance request to make repairs in the rental unit.

The privacy law has changed in that landlords still have the right to enter a tenant's unit for a reasonable business purpose, but now landlords need to give 24-hour notice stating a specific time or block of time they will be entering between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The landlord and tenant may mutually agree to a different time outside those hours and to less than a 24-hour notice before entering.

The penalty has also changed if the landlord violates the privacy law from $100 currently to $500 under the new law. There is an exception to this law, which consists of emergency situations like a leak, fire or well-check.

In the past, when landlords and tenants would do an optional move-in inspection there would often be a checklist and both parties would compare the move-in checklist with the move-out checklist and discuss any damages that may have occurred. With the new law, the landlord is now obligated to inform the tenant of their right to a move-in inspection when the tenancy begins or within 14 days.

If the tenant doesn't want a one-on-one inspection but does want some type of inspection, then both parties may agree to taking photos and videos for the inspection. This needs to be agreed to by both parties. Remember, a landlord cannot make the tenant do an inspection or write it into the lease as an obligation.

Landlords must also inform the outgoing tenant of the right to request a move-out inspection, which must be made within a reasonable time after the landlord or tenant gives notice to terminate the tenancy or before the end of the lease term.

The move-out inspection cannot occur earlier than five days before the tenant is moving out, since the place could change in appearance and it also gives the parties opportunity to work out any issues. If your tenant doesn't want to do a move-out inspection, then as a landlord you have no obligation and you should just follow the security deposit law.

The new law prohibits any landlord, using a lease that's 10 months or longer, from having a lease provision that requires renewal before the last six months of the lease term. For example, if a landlord has a lease that runs from Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 31, 2025, there cannot be a lease provision that says the tenant needs to let the landlord know if they are renewing for the 2025-26 season before Feb. 1, 2025.

Tenants can now terminate their lease early if it becomes medically necessary for them to move into a care facility, but it only applies to leases signed after Jan. 1, 2024.

In all nonpayment of rent cases, which is a vast majority of evictions in Minnesota, landlords are first required to give tenants a 14-day notice of intent to evict prior to filing an action for failure to pay rent. A landlord must either give the notice to the tenant personally, or by first class mail.

The landlord need not create an affidavit indicating that the 14-day letter was sent, but will need to be able to testify about the manner of communication if the tenant denies receipt. Previously, some city codes or ordinances had an affidavit requirement, so this new state law is easier to follow since all Minnesota cities are now covered under it.

Finally, the notice must state the amount outstanding and where the tenant can go to get help paying the rent or get legal help. The statute is very specific, and anyone filing an eviction action should make sure they are following the pre-filing notice exactly or their action will be dismissed.

Tenants are now allowed to redeem with a letter of guarantee by a reliable entity in nonpayment of rent cases. The new statute says landlords have to accept the letter of guarantee from a federal agency, state agency, local government unit or any other organization that qualifies for tax-exempt status, that administers a government rental assistance program, has the funds available, and guarantees funds will be provided to the landlord.

This is good for tenants since they may be able to get a letter of guarantee faster than the payment, and landlords now have to accept the letter of guarantee.

The law has changed regarding eviction actions that allege both nonpayment of rent and either holding over and/or violations of the lease. Previously the court required tenants to place their past due rent with the court before having their trial or hearing, but starting in January tenants won't be required to do that. However, in those instances when the trial is going to be delayed more than 10 days, then the court may require the tenants to post their rent with the court.

Because many landlords look at a tenant's rental history as part of their due diligence, having an eviction action on record can make it difficult for a tenant to rent a place.

Some landlords are even less likely to rent to tenants who have won past eviction actions. Now if the tenant prevails in an eviction case, even if the case is dismissed prior to a hearing on the merits, Minnesota law requires that the eviction action be expunged. Also, eviction actions that are more than three years old must be expunged.

A new law effective on June 1, 2024, states that a residential landlord cannot impose a penalty, terminate a lease or evict a tenant for criminal conduct that a tenant engages in, or one of their household members or a guest of the tenant engages in, that occurs off the rental premises. The exception is if the conduct constitutes a crime of violence against another tenant who lives on the property, another tenant's guest, the landlord or the landlord's employees, or if the conduct results in a conviction of a crime of violence against another person unrelated to the rental premises.

As you can see, there have been many changes to the landlord-tenant law, with most taking effect on Jan. 1, 2024. There isn't sufficient space here to get into much detail on these changes, but there is an excellent resource on HOME Line's website in which the nonprofit tenant advocacy organization has provided a YouTube video on the subject. I highly recommend listening to it since some of the attorneys who assisted in drafting these laws explain them in the presentation with more detail and clarity.

Kelly Klein is a Minneapolis attorney and can be reached at kklein@kleinpa.com.