MN victims of domestic violence statues

MN victims of domestic violence statues

Bloomington , MN · Member since 2017 · 5 posts · 0 votes
Hello, I have a boyfriend/girlfriend tenant situation where the boyfriend is accused/charged with a domestic violence incident. Minnesota has a law that protects DV victims where they can provide written concern to the landlord and basically get out of the lease. The statue says it "terminates the lease" and doesn't give back security deposit either. .... my tenants prepaid 6 months of rent which only applies to the last 6 month this of the lease terms. If my tenants lease is terminated, do I have to give back that money? I've discussed this with a lawyer, I am able to evict based on my zero tolerance for criminal activity addendum, but an eviction with a physically aggressive person doesn't sound like a great idea. I'm still awaiting the police reports. The statue: (b) In a tenancy with multiple tenants, one of whom is terminating the lease under subdivision 1, any lease governing all tenants is terminated at the latter of the end of the month or the end of the rent interval in which one tenant terminates the lease under subdivision 1. All tenants are responsible for the rent payment for the full month in which the tenancy terminates. Upon termination, all tenants forfeit all claims for the return of the security deposit under section 504B.178 and are relieved of any other contractual obligation for payment of rent or any other charges for the remaining term of the lease, except as provided in this section. Any tenant whose tenancy was terminated under this paragraph may reapply to enter into a new lease with the landlord. Thanks everyone
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  • Tim SwierczekPro Member
    Lender · White Bear Township, MN · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Natalie Hideg I'm not an attorney and don't know the answer to your question.  However, the most similar situation is if someone breaks a lease they owe you until you re-rent it. You cannot profit in that situation so I can't see how the state would allow you to profit in this situation since it's a statutory reason to terminate the lease.  I would be very surprised to hear you could keep any of the money and based on your potential legal costs in a court case I would personally err on the side of getting the place rented as soon as possible.  Keep the deposit and give the rest of the money back.  You could try to keep any lost months rent but I think it's asking for more trouble than it's worth.    Good luck to you.  Please report back your decision and tag me.   I'm curious as to how this works out and what you decide.

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