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A Minnesota eviction notice is a landlord's written warning to a tenant. Unpaid rent gives the tenant 14 days to pay or leave (Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a). Landlords use this page for notice periods, notice contents, serving steps and the eviction process.
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The notice period of a Minnesota eviction notice depends on the reason: 14 days for unpaid rent, measured from the date of the notice, and the landlord can file an eviction case only if the tenant does not pay the total amount due or move out within those 14 days (Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a). A foreclosure or a terminated contract for deed changes the period; an ordinary sale is not one of those cases. After a foreclosure, the immediate successor in interest must give at least 90 days' written notice to vacate, provided that the tenant pays the rent and abides by all terms of the lease (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
| Situation | Minimum notice | Condition | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid rent | 14 days from the date of the notice to pay the total amount due or move out | The landlord can file only after the 14 days pass | Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a |
| Month-to-month tenancy (tenancy at will) | Tied to the interval between rent due dates, see below | Written notice to quit | Minn. Stat. § 504B.135 |
| Foreclosure, a longer lease | The tenant stays to the end of the lease, then at least 90 days' written notice to vacate, effective no sooner than the date the lease expires | Only while the tenant pays the rent and abides by all terms of the lease | Minn. Stat. § 504B.285 |
| Terminated contract for deed | At least two months' written notice to vacate, no sooner than one month after the termination period expires | Only while the tenant pays the rent and abides by all terms of the lease | Minn. Stat. § 504B.285 |
A lease violation has no notice period in the sources this page cites. Check the lease itself for any notice it promises before ending the tenancy.
The 14-day notice is the Minnesota eviction notice for unpaid rent: the tenant can pay the total amount due or move out within 14 days, and the landlord can file only after that (Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a). The statute words the warning this way:
“Your landlord can file an eviction case if you do not pay the total amount due or move out within 14 days from the date of this notice.” (Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a)
The date printed on the notice starts the count. A notice dated the day it is delivered gives the tenant the full period and leaves no doubt about the deadline.
A notice to quit ends a tenancy at will, such as a month-to-month rental with no fixed end date, without any lease violation. The written notice must be at least as long as the interval between rent due dates, or three months, whichever is less, so a month-to-month tenancy needs at least one full rental period's notice (Minn. Stat. § 504B.135).
A holdover tenant is one who stays after the tenancy has ended. A tenant at will who holds over after a notice to quit ends the tenancy can face an eviction action (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
After a foreclosure or a terminated contract for deed, the immediate successor in interest's notice to vacate follows longer, fixed periods, provided that the tenant pays the rent and abides by all terms of the lease (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285). The redemption period is the time a former owner has to buy the property back after a foreclosure sale.
A clear Minnesota eviction notice names the parties, the rental unit, the reason and the deadline, so the tenant knows what to fix and by when. Each item below answers one question a tenant or a judge asks about the notice.
The checklist above is drafted from common practice, not from the statute. The 14-day notice for unpaid rent carries the statutory warning quoted above: the landlord can file an eviction case if the tenant does not pay the total amount due or move out within 14 days from the date of the notice (Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a); read subd. 1a on the Revisor's site for every item and the exact wording Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a requires.
Example: Notice dated March 3. Tenant: Jordan Lee, 120 Elm Street, Apt. 4, Duluth. Rent due: $1,150 for March. Pay the total amount due or move out within 14 days from the date of this notice.
Filling out the eviction notice is an ordered task: the notice type comes first, then the facts, the signature, delivery and proof. The steps below follow that order.
A Minnesota lease agreement sets the rent due date and the terms the notice refers to, so keep it at hand while filling in the notice.
The eviction process in Minnesota runs from the notice to a complaint filed with the court, then a court appearance, a judgment and a writ (Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1). The notice alone never removes a tenant.
A Minnesota eviction case runs on a short set of papers, from the landlord's complaint to the writ that returns the unit. Each paper below has one job in the case.
A self-help eviction, meaning a lockout or a utility shutoff in place of a court case, is a misdemeanor in Minnesota for the landlord or anyone acting for the landlord (Minn. Stat. § 504B.225). The eviction notice starts a lawful process; it gives the landlord no right to change the locks.
A landlord cannot force a tenant out without a court order. Removing or excluding a tenant, or cutting electricity, heat, gas or water to force the tenant out, is a misdemeanor under Minn. Stat. § 504B.225.
“A landlord, an agent, or person acting under the landlord's direction or control who unlawfully and intentionally removes or excludes a tenant from lands or tenements or intentionally interrupts or causes the interruption of electrical, heat, gas, or water services to the tenant with intent to unlawfully remove or exclude the tenant from lands or tenements is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
A Minnesota eviction case meets statutory defenses once it is filed: retaliation, protection for victims of listed acts, and limits on what a court can demand from the tenant (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
A retaliation defense, often called a revenge eviction claim, answers an eviction or a notice to quit served as a penalty for a protected act of the tenant (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285). A separate defense in a nonpayment case covers a rent increase or a cut in services used as a penalty for any lawful act of the tenant: the tenant proves it by a preponderance of the evidence and tenders the rent due under the original obligation to the court or the landlord (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285). If the notice to quit was served within 90 days of the tenant's protected act, the landlord bears the burden of proving the notice was not retaliatory (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
A Minnesota landlord may not bring an eviction action solely because the tenant or an authorized occupant was the victim of an act listed in section 504B.206, subdivision 1, paragraph (a) (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285). The same bar covers a residential tenant who ended a lease as section 504B.206 allows (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
The questions below are the ones searchers ask most about an eviction notice in Minnesota.
No, an eviction notice is only the warning; the eviction itself needs a judgment for the landlord and a writ executed by an officer (Minn. Stat. § 504B.345, subd. 1; Minn. Stat. § 504B.365, subd. 1).
No, in Minnesota they are two different notices. The 14-day notice for unpaid rent lets the tenant pay the total amount due or move out (Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a), while a notice to quit ends a tenancy at will (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
A Minnesota landlord can remove a tenant only through a judgment and a writ, and the officer executing the writ gives the tenant 24 hours to leave (Minn. Stat. § 504B.365, subd. 1). A lockout before that point is a misdemeanor (Minn. Stat. § 504B.225).
A month-to-month tenant gets a written notice to quit tied to the interval between rent due dates, as the notice to quit section above sets out (Minn. Stat. § 504B.135).
Yes, one eviction action can combine nonpayment of rent and a material lease violation, heard as alternative grounds (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285). The tenant then gets up to seven days of additional time to pay any rent the court finds due (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
No, a court must not require a tenant to post rent as a condition of a claim, defense or counterclaim related to the landlord's utility billing or practices (Minn. Stat. § 504B.285).
General information, not legal or tax advice.
The sections below are from the Minnesota Statutes, published by the Office of the Revisor of Statutes.
