Eviction Notice Requirements in Minnesota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Notice for unpaid rent

Since 2023, Minnesota requires a warning before a nonpayment eviction. "Before bringing an eviction action alleging nonpayment of rent... a landlord must provide written notice to the residential tenant" giving the tenant 14 days to pay or move (§ 504B.321 subd. 1a). Paying the full amount within 14 days — or a longer period if your city sets one — stops the filing. The notice is not a bare demand: it must state "the total amount due," give "a specific accounting" of rent, late fees, and other charges, name the person authorized to receive rent, and include the statute's exact legal-aid and rent-assistance statements. And it has teeth: if the landlord files without attaching the notice, "the court shall dismiss an action without prejudice... and grant an expungement of the eviction case court file" (§ 504B.321 subd. 1).

Notice for a lease violation

Minnesota has no statutory cure-or-quit notice for a non-rent lease violation. A landlord may evict when a tenant "holds over... contrary to the conditions or covenants of the lease" (§ 504B.285 subd. 1), but the right to evict for a particular breach comes from the lease, not the statute. The eviction complaint must "identify the clause of the lease which is the basis of the allegation, the nature of the conduct... and the clause granting the right to evict based on the alleged conduct" (§ 504B.321 subd. 3). So whether you get a chance to fix the problem, and how much notice you get, depends on what your lease says — there is no state-law floor of days.

Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)

Minnesota does not use a fixed-day "unconditional quit" notice. Instead, for the most serious conduct — a tenant who "seriously endangers the safety of other residents," assaults the landlord or the landlord's employees or contractors, intentionally and seriously damages property, or engages in unlawful or drug activity under § 504B.171 — the landlord files a sworn affidavit and asks for an expedited hearing. The appearance is five to seven days after the summons is issued, and the summons is served within 24 hours (§ 504B.321 subd. 2). This is a fast court action rather than a pre-suit cure notice. For actions filed on or after August 1, 2026, misuse of the expedited process carries a penalty of up to $750.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

To end a tenancy at will — which includes an ordinary month-to-month tenancy — "either party" must give "notice in writing," and "the time of the notice must be at least as long as the interval between the time rent is due or three months, whichever is less" (§ 504B.135). For a tenancy where rent is due monthly, that is one month's written notice; the three-month cap only matters where rent is paid on a longer cycle. No reason need be given.

How the notice must be served

The 14-day nonpayment notice must be delivered "personally or by first class mail to the residential tenant at the address of the leased premises" (§ 504B.321 subd. 1a). A notice ending a tenancy at will simply must be "in writing" (§ 504B.135); Minnesota does not impose a personal-service ladder for that notice the way some states do. What is mandatory is the nonpayment notice's content and attachment: a complaint filed without it "must" be dismissed and the record expunged (§ 504B.321 subd. 1, subd. 5).

Tenant's right to cure/reinstate

Minnesota allows payment both before filing and after a case begins. Before a case is filed, paying the total due within the 14-day window stops it. After a nonpayment case is filed, the tenant "may, at any time before possession has been delivered, redeem the tenancy and be restored to possession by paying... the amount of the rent that is in arrears, with interest, costs of the action, and an attorney's fee not to exceed $5" (§ 504B.291 subd. 1) — unless the landlord also alleged a material lease violation. If the landlord combines nonpayment with a lease-violation claim and fails to prove the violation, "the tenant shall be given up to seven days of additional time to pay any rent determined by the court to be due" (§ 504B.285 subd. 5). And a notice to quit served within 90 days of a tenant's good-faith code complaint or attempt to enforce a lease right is presumed retaliatory, shifting the burden to the landlord (§ 504B.285 subd. 2; § 504B.441).

For eviction actions filed on or after August 1, 2026, § 504B.118 adds a separate digital-payment defense. If the landlord's required or permitted payment platform fails, the landlord must offer a no-fee alternative. When both the platform and the supplied alternative fail for the tenant, the landlord may not file for nonpayment or assess late fees. A violation is an affirmative defense requiring dismissal, reasonable attorney fees, and appropriate equitable relief.

What trips people up

The 14-day nonpayment notice is a statutory filing prerequisite. Minnesota only began requiring a pre-filing nonpayment notice in 2023. A landlord who files without first serving the correctly-worded 14-day notice and attaching it to the complaint gets the case dismissed and the record expunged, so a defective or missing notice is a real defense for the tenant.

"One month" for a month-to-month means the rent interval, not a flat 30 days. The notice to end a tenancy at will must be at least as long as the gap between rent payments. For monthly rent that is a month; for weekly rent it is a week. The "three months" figure in the statute is only a ceiling for unusually long rent cycles, not the normal notice period.

The August 1, 2026 rules apply by filing date. For eviction actions filed on or after that date, assault of the landlord or the landlord's employees or contractors is an expedited-hearing ground, the penalty for abusing that process is up to $750, and failure of both a digital rent-payment platform and the landlord's alternative can require dismissal of a nonpayment case. Earlier-filed actions remain governed by the prior rules.

Common questions

My landlord filed for eviction the day after rent was late. Is that allowed? No. Minnesota requires a written 14-day notice before a nonpayment eviction can be filed, and the notice must be attached to the complaint. A case filed without it is dismissed and expunged.

If I pay everything I owe, can I still be evicted for the back rent? Usually not. You can pay within the 14-day notice period to prevent a filing, and even after a nonpayment case is filed you can redeem — by paying the rent owed plus interest, costs, and up to a $5 fee — any time before you are actually removed, unless the landlord also proved a lease violation.

Can my landlord evict me for no reason? For a month-to-month tenancy, yes — with written notice at least as long as the interval between rent payments (one month for monthly rent). Minnesota has no statewide just-cause requirement, though some cities do.

Does Minnesota make my landlord give me time to fix a lease violation? Not by statute. For anything other than unpaid rent, whether you get a cure period, and how long, depends on your lease — the state sets no minimum number of days for a lease-violation notice.

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. § 504B.321 — complaint and summons: mandatory 14-day nonpayment notice and its contents (subd. 1a); dismissal/expungement if the notice is not attached (subd. 1, subd. 5); expedited hearing for unlawful activity, endangerment, assault, or serious damage (subd. 2); required complaint contents (subd. 3). https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.321 (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Minn. Stat. § 504B.118 — no-fee alternative when a digital rent-payment platform fails and an affirmative defense when both payment methods fail. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/81/laws.0.2.0 (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Minn. Stat. § 504B.285 — eviction grounds (holdover contrary to covenants; tenant at will after notice to quit); retaliation defense with 90-day burden-shift (subd. 2); 7 extra days to pay when grounds are combined (subd. 5). https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.285 (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Minn. Stat. § 504B.135 — terminating a tenancy at will: written notice at least as long as the rent interval, capped at three months. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.135 (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Minn. Stat. § 504B.291 — nonpayment eviction and the tenant's right to redeem before possession is delivered. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.291 (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Minn. Stat. § 504B.441 — residential tenant may not be penalized (evicted) for a complaint; 90-day burden-shift. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.441 (accessed 2026-08-10)
• MN 2026 c 81 (SF 4171) — enrolled act supplying the current § 504B.118 digital-payment defense and § 504B.321 subd. 2 assault ground and $750 penalty for actions filed from August 1, 2026. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/Session+Law/Chapter/81/ (accessed 2026-08-10)