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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The third canon we apply is to consider the law that preceded the current version of the statute at issue. Minn. Stat. § 645.16(5). Enacted in 1973, the original Tenant Remedies Act4 allowed the commencement of a tenant-remedies action to remedy an alleged violation, see Minn. Stat. § 566.20, subd. 1 (1974), but defined "violation" more narrowly to encompass only violations of state and local code, see Minn. Stat. § 566.18, subd. 6 (1974) (defining violation as "the violation of any state, county or city health, housing, building, fire prevention, or housing maintenance code applicable to the building which materially endangers the health or safety of the tenants of the building involved"). The original Tenant Remedies Act set forth the procedure by which a tenant could demand an inspection from a local authority and provided that "[a]fter an inspection of a building has been made upon demand by a tenant, the owner or his agent and the complaining tenant shall be informed in writing by the inspector of any violations discovered and a reasonable period of time shall be allowed in which to correct such violations." Minn. Stat. § 566.19, subd. 2 (1974) (emphasis added). Significantly, the phrase "complaining tenant" unequivocally referred to a tenant's expression of dissatisfaction to a local housing inspector regarding a violation of state or local code. It did not refer to the commencement of a formal legal action or to an expression of dissatisfaction to the landlord.

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