Skip to main content
DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Cent. Hous. Assocs., LP v. Olson, 910 N.W.2d 485 (2018)

Citation
Cent. Hous. Assocs., LP v. Olson, 910 N.W.2d 485 (2018)
Parent Document
Cent. Hous. Assocs., LP v. Olson, 910 N.W.2d 485 (2018)
Jurisdiction
Minnesota (state)
Effective Date
2018-04-09

Full Text

1,412 chars
Central Housing contends that the retaliatory-eviction defense was not available to Olson under section 504B.285 because the eviction action was premised on breach of the lease. We essentially answered this argument in Cloverdale Foods of Minn. v. Pioneer Snacks , 580 N.W.2d 46 (Minn. App. 1998), interpreting nearly identical language in an earlier version of the statute. Compare Minn. Stat. § 566.03 (1996), with Minn. Stat. § 504B.285 (2016). The question before us in Cloverdale was whether the retaliatory-eviction defense under Minnesota Statutes section 566.03, subdivision 2, "only applies when a tenancy is terminated by a notice to quit" or if it also could be asserted when a tenancy was "terminated based on a breach of the lease." Cloverdale , 580 N.W.2d at 51. We reasoned that subdivision 1 of the statute "expressly distinguishes between a tenancy that is terminated based on a breach of the lease and a tenancy that is terminated by a notice to quit." Id. We observed that the retaliatory-eviction defense, by its express terms, applies "to an action for recovery of premises following the alleged termination of a tenancy by notice to quit." Id. (quoting Minn. Stat. § 566.03, subd. 2 ). And we concluded that, because the landlord brought the eviction action under the breach-of-lease provision rather than the notice-to-quit provision, "the retaliatory eviction defense does not apply." Id.