What Minnesota law already requires
Minnesota sets the base process: a 14-day nonpayment notice with three required statements under Minn. Stat. 504B.321, a summons with a first appearance 7 to 14 days after it issues, a writ of recovery that the court can stay up to seven days, and a sheriff’s 24-hour demand before removal. A tenant can redeem by paying everything owed up to the moment possession changes. Our Minnesota eviction process guide covers each of those steps.
State law also says a longer local pre-filing notice controls. Minneapolis has one.
The Minneapolis 30-day pre-eviction notice
Minneapolis Code 244.2060 requires written notice at least 30 days before you file an eviction for nonpayment of rent or other unpaid financial obligations under the lease. If the tenant hasn’t paid the total due or moved out within 30 days of delivery or mailing, you can file under 504B.321.
The notice must show the total amount due, an itemized accounting of unpaid rent, late fees and other charges, and the name and address of the person authorized to receive payment. It must also describe how to reach legal and financial help through the city’s website and state that you can file after the 30 days run. The city posts a template in English and Spanish.
Deliver it personally or by first-class mail to the unit. You may also email or text it, but only in addition to one of those methods. Because the state’s 14-day notice has its own required wording, the safest Minneapolis notice carries both the city items and the state statements, and gives 30 days.
Breaking the notice rule costs more than the case
A defective notice usually means dismissal, but in Minneapolis the consequences go further. Under 244.2060(f), failing to comply can lead to criminal prosecution, adverse rental license action and administrative fines, and the city doesn’t have to send a notice of violation first.
The 30 days have also been politically live in 2026. The City Council passed temporary extensions to 60 days in March and 45 days in April, citing renters hurt by Operation Metro Surge. The mayor vetoed both, and the council didn’t override the first veto. The city’s current guidance still states the requirement as 30 days, but check it again before you serve a notice.
Your rental license is part of every eviction
Every Minneapolis dwelling unit the owner doesn’t live in needs a rental license, including vacant units advertised for rent. Fees are due by March 1 each year, licenses aren’t transferable, and you must notify Regulatory Services within 10 days of changes to the people listed on the application. An owner who lives more than 60 miles away, or outside the listed metro counties, needs a local contact.
You must post the license certificate and a Who to Call poster in a common area, and give renters advance notice of a nonpayment eviction, a foreclosure or a cancelled contract for deed.
If the city revokes, cancels or denies a building’s rental license, or a tenant has to move because of the owner’s code violations, the city’s renter guidance says the tenant may be eligible for relocation help of three months’ rent.
Conduct on licensed premises
Minneapolis Code 244.2020 makes the license holder responsible for taking appropriate action after tenants or guests commit certain qualifying offenses on the property. These include drug sales or possession, prostitution, unlawful weapons activity, gambling, illegal liquor sales, noisy assemblies, and disorderly conduct that disturbs at least two other units or recurs within 60 days.
When a crime prevention specialist finds a qualifying incident based on a police report, the city mails notice to you and the tenants, may require you to meet with city staff within at least 10 days, and refers the property to an interdisciplinary review panel. Failing to engage can lead to adverse license action or an intervention plan.
If you then serve a notice to vacate or file an eviction tied to that incident, you must tell the assigned crime prevention specialist within 10 calendar days. The ordinance says the city won’t encourage or direct evictions under the program, so the decision and the legal risk stay with you.
Right to counsel and other 2025–2026 changes
- Right to counsel. Since a 2021 ordinance, low-income Minneapolis renters, those with income below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, have a right to a lawyer in eviction cases.
- Rent-setting algorithms. Under 244.2070, you may not use an algorithmic device that relies on non-public competitor data to set rents or occupancy levels, and tenants can sue for damages and attorney fees.
- Immigration status and retaliation. Under 244.2030, effective May 2, 2026, you can’t ask about an applicant’s or tenant’s immigration or citizenship status, deny an application because it uses an ITIN, or retaliate against tenants who report code violations, request repairs or join a tenant association.
- Security deposits. Deposits can’t exceed one month’s rent, under the city’s renter protections.
- Rent levels. Unlike St. Paul, Minneapolis has not adopted a rent stabilization ordinance.
Hennepin County Housing Court
Minneapolis evictions are filed in Hennepin County District Court, where Housing Court is a specialty part of the Civil Division with three referees. Cases are heard on the 3rd floor of the C Tower in the Hennepin County Government Center, and the court posts remote hearing information for parties who appear by video.
Volunteer mediators are available at the hearing if either side asks the courtroom clerk at check-in. Free legal services are available to low-income tenants and to low-income landlords who live in their Hennepin County rental and hold title in their own name, and Adult Representation Services takes tenant cases.
Expect money at the hearing. The court tells tenants facing a nonpayment case to bring the rent owed and the court fees listed on the complaint in cash or a certified check, and tells them they can ask for up to seven days to move, or longer only if you agree.
A tenant who wants to contest the case can file a written answer, with the filing fee, at the Housing Court front counter and hand you a copy before the hearing starts. Either side may ask for a jury trial, which can carry a jury fee, and a contested case gets a trial date instead of a same-day ruling. Bring your lease, ledger, the 30-day notice and proof of how you delivered it.
Worked example: a $1,450 one-bedroom in Powderhorn
Assume an 18-unit building in Powderhorn where a one-bedroom rents for $1,450 a month, about $47.67 a day, and the tenant misses rent due November 1, 2026. You hand-deliver a notice on November 2 that meets both the city and state requirements.
The 30 days run, and you file on December 3. With the summons issued that day, the earliest appearance is December 10. The tenant appears without a defense, the court stays the writ the full seven days to December 17, and the sheriff’s 24-hour demand returns the unit on December 18.
That is 47 days without rent, or $2,240.55, and $3,440.55 with an assumed $1,200 for counsel. On the state’s 14-day notice alone the same path takes 31 days and $1,477.81 in lost rent, so the Minneapolis notice adds 16 days and $762.74. A tenant who redeems before possession pays the arrears, costs and a $5 attorney fee and keeps the unit.
| Milestone | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Rent due | November 1 | 0 |
| 30-day notice delivered | November 2 | 1 |
| Eviction filed | December 3 | 32 |
| First appearance | December 10 | 39 |
| Seven-day stay ends | December 17 | 46 |
| Possession after 24-hour demand | December 18 | 47 |
Payment agreements and cash for keys
Because a Minnesota tenant can redeem right up to the lockout and Minneapolis adds 30 days up front, a written payment agreement during the notice period often ends the matter faster than a filing. Rental assistance applications also tend to move during those 30 days, which is the point of the rule.
When you need the unit back, cash for keys with a set move-out date and payment at key handover avoids the filing, the court record and any conduct-on-premises reporting.
If you take a partial payment while a case is pending, put the non-waiver terms in writing as Minn. Stat. 504B.291(c) requires, so the money doesn’t undo your claim.
Selling a Minneapolis apartment building with tenants
Minneapolis rental licenses don’t transfer, so a buyer applies for its own license, and when you sell a rental dwelling you must tell the buyer in writing about any unresolved housing violation orders and administrative citations. Disclose open eviction cases, notices served and any conduct-on-premises files too, and expect the buyer to ask for tenant estoppel certificates.
Sales of naturally occurring affordable housing carry an extra cost for buyers. Under the city’s renter protections, tenants in a NOAH building that is sold may qualify for relocation help of three months’ rent if their lease ends without cause, a rent increase forces a move or the new owner rescreens them and they lose their housing. Buyers price that in, so have your rent roll and lease dates ready.
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Minneapolis and across Minnesota, occupied and as they are, including buildings with problem tenants or cases already filed. Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
