Section 504B

Citation: Section 504B
Parent Document: Cent. Hous. Assocs., LP v. Olson, 929 N.W.2d 398 (2019)
Jurisdiction: Minnesota (state)
Effective Date: 2019-06-12
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8288834/cent-hous-assocs-lp-v-olson/ ↗

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Notably, the procedures outlined in section 504B.385, unlike the procedures for filing a tenant-remedies action outlined in section 504B.395, do not require a tenant to file a formal complaint to commence a lawsuit. Section 504B.385 sets out certain procedures for initiating a rent-escrow action that require a tenant to submit, along with the rent, either: (1) a copy of a notice of code violation or (2) a simplified affidavit. Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 1(b)-(c). Both subdivision 1(b) and 1(c) require a tenant to make a complaint of a violation in the sense of communicating an expression of dissatisfaction-either to the City under subdivision 1(b) or to the landlord under subdivision 1(c). Id. And, although section 504B.415(1) states that "[i]t is a sufficient defense to a complaint under section 504B.385 or 504B.395 that ... the violation or violations alleged in the complaint do not exist or that the violation or violations *407have been removed or remedied," neither paragraph (b) or (c) of section 504B.385, subdivision 1 explicitly requires the filing of a complaint commencing a lawsuit. Yet, under subdivision 11 of section 504B.385, a residential tenant can assert the retaliation defense set forth in section 504B.441. In sum, construed together, section 504B.385 and section 504B.441 strongly suggest that the Legislature meant to penalize retaliation for a tenant's expression of dissatisfaction, rather than only for commencing a tenant-remedies action.

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