Minnesota Month-to-Month Lease Agreement

Legal Aspects of Month-to-Month Leases in Minnesota

Lease Termination & Renewal 

• The tenant and landlord must give the other party at least one (1) month’s notice if they want to terminate this lease. That generally means it’s about a 30-day notice period.
• It must be a written notice, and any reason, except for landlord retaliation, is valid termination grounds.
• A month-to-month agreement renews automatically each month until one of the parties provides a termination notice.

Rent Increases

• Minnesota has no state-wide rent control laws. However, the state allows local governments to establish rent control laws for their county.
• Landlords can raise their rent as high as they want. However, some local governments limit this, like St. Paul, which limits the total rent increase in 12 months to 3%.
• The notice for raising the rent should be the same period for rental payments. That means for a month-to-month agreement, landlords must give a month’s notice.

Security Deposit

• For an unfurnished rental unit, lessors can charge up to one (1) month’s rent as the security deposit.
• The maximum security deposit limit for a furnished unit increases to two (2) months’ rent.
• If the monthly rent is $500 or more, then the landlord can ask for 1.5x the monthly rent as a security deposit on unfurnished units.
• Landlords must pay 1% annual interest on the security deposit to the tenant.
• Walk-through inspections are allowed, which helps to create an itemized deduction statement when returning the deposit.
• Lessors must return the security deposit within three (3) weeks of the lease ending.

Tenant Rights 

• Lessees have a right to a rental unit that’s in good repair, habitable, and safe.
• Throughout October to April, a lessee has a right to a rental unit with a temperature not lower than 68 degrees.
• Tenants have a right to an insulated and weatherized building if built before 1976.
• A tenant is entitled to privacy, and landlords must give reasonable notice when entering the property.
• Tenants have a right to an unharassed and peaceful possession of the rental unit for the duration of the lease.

Required Disclosures

The following disclosures are also necessary in this agreement. Without these disclosures, your written contract can become null and void:

• Notice of Financial Distress
• Landlord/Managed Identification
• Notice of Tenant’s Rights
• Lead-Based Paint Disclosure
• Outstanding Inspection Orders
• Covenant of Landlord and Tenant Not To Allow Illegal Activities
• Shared Utilities
• Late Fee Disclosure
• Inspection and Condemnation Disclosure