I am often asked what is different about a manufactured home eviction in comparison to a regular eviction from residential property. Typically, the resident of the manufactured home park owns the manufactured home in which they live, but leases the  land – commonly called a lot – occupied by the manufactured home. The short answer is that the process is largely the same, but there are some specific requirements – and only limited reasons – why a tenant can be evicted from a manufactured home.

Evictions from a manufactured home park are governed by Minn. Stat. Ch. 504B and Minn. Stat. Ch. 327C .320 7C .09 list the only reasons why a resident of a manufactured home park can be evicted:

1. Nonpayment of rent or utilities;

2. Violations of law;

3. Rule violations;

4. Endangering or substantially unknowing other residents;

5. Repeated serious violations of lease or ordinance or state law/rule;

6. Material misstatement in application; and

7. Specific improvement that the park owner plans to make that necessitate the eviction of the resident.

Most of these reasons why a resident of a manufactured home can be evicted require the landlord to provide some sort of notice and opportunity to correct the violation. For example, if a landlord wants to bring an eviction action based on nonpayment of rent or utilities, the landlord has to provide the resident of the manufactured home park with a 10-day notice, and give the resident 10 days to correct the nonpayment before the landlord can bring an eviction. For other violations, the landlord typically has to give a 30 day advance notice before bringing an eviction, but the amount of time in the landlord's rights and responsibilities vary.



For all of these reasons, the landlord should consult with an attorney who focuses on evictions, landlord-tenant law, and manufactured homes before taking any action. To that end, I invite landlords to give me a call at 763-450-9494 to discuss their unique situation. I have represented many landlords, but typically do not represent tenants.

WARNING: The information contained in this blog post does not constitute legal advice and may not be applicable to your situation.  Tim is licensed to practice law only in Minnesota, and the information contained in this blog post may not apply to jurisdictions outside of Minnesota.  Further, reading this blog post does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Baland Law Office, P.L.L.C.  You should always discuss your situation with an attorney before taking any action based on what you may read in this blog.  To that end, please call (763) 450-9494 to set up an appointment to discuss your situation.

I am often asked how long a landlord should give the tenant who is not paying rent before bringing an eviction. The short answer is that, in Minnesota, the landlord should bring an eviction action as soon as the rent is late.

I am often asked if a landlord should change the locks, lock the tenant out, or otherwise prevent the tenant from gaining access to the rental unit. The short answer is no, unless the tenant has already moved out, returned the keys, and has abandoned personal property.

Locking a tenant out or otherwise preventing the tenant from gaining access to the rental property carries both criminal and civil liability for the landlord.  On the criminal side, a landlord who locks the tenant out is guilty of a misdemeanor and faces a potential sentence of up to 90 days in jail. I do not know of a single landlord who would want to do jail time because of a tenant.

On the civil side, the landlord could be sued for triple damages (or $500, whatever is greater) and reasonable attorneys fees.  In other words, a landlord who locks the tenant out may have to pay for that tenant's hotel bill, if the tenant has to stay in a hotel because the landlord cut off the tenants access to the rental property.

If the tenant has moved out and abandoned personal property in the rental unit, then the landlord has a responsibility to secure that property under Minnesota law. In that case, the landlord might be able to change the locks, as a way of securing the personal property abandoned by the tenant.

However, if there is any doubt that the tenant has moved out and abandoned the property, then I would recommend that the landlord bring an eviction action against the tenant to recover the right of possession to the rental unit. Unless the tenant has relinquished possession by giving the keys to the landlord, the safest course of action would be to evict the tenant to recover the right of possession.

Every landlord – tenant situation is unique, and I recommend that landlords talk to an attorney experienced in evictions and landlord tenant law before taking action based on this blog post.  To that end, I invite landlords to give me a call at 763-450-9494 to discuss their unique situation. I have represented many landlords in conciliation court, but  typically do not represent tenants.

WARNING: The information contained in this blog post does not constitute legal advice and may not be applicable to your situation.  Tim is licensed to practice law only in Minnesota, and the information contained in this blog post may not apply to jurisdictions outside of Minnesota.  Further, reading this blog post does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Baland Law Office, P.L.L.C.  You should always discuss your situation with an attorney before taking any action based on what you may read in this blog.  To that end, please call (763) 450-9494 to set up an appointment to discuss your situation.

I am often asked whether a landlord should sue a former tenant in conciliation court to recover unpaid rent and other amounts due and owing under the lease. Typically, a tenant will be evicted, abandon the lease, or otherwise move out, but owe a lot of money to the landlord for unpaid rent and damages to the property beyond ordinary wear and tear.  The short answer is yes, for the following reasons.

A landlord stands to receive some if not all of the money the landlord is owed if they get a judgment against a former tenant. After all, a judgment that you get in conciliation court will (if you transfer or transcribe the judgment from conciliation court to District Court) show up on the tenants credit report and interfere with the tenants ability to get financing. A judgment is good for 10 years and can be renewed if it is not paid up.

I had one client who was a landlord who always sued tenants in conciliation court, transferred the judgments to District Court, and then got a call about five or six years later from the former tenants – because they could not get a mortgage with the landlord's judgment on their record.

Conciliation court is – in most cases – a lot faster and cheaper than bringing a lawsuit against a former tenant in District Court. The filing fee is a lot less and the landlord does not necessarily have to follow the strict rules of evidence and rules of civil procedure in effect in District Court. Depending on the county you are in, a hearing in conciliation court will be scheduled about three – four months from the date that you file a statement of claim and summons – or complaint – in conciliation court. The only way that District Court would be faster is if the defendant did not respond to your complaint and you proceeded by way of default.

The jurisdictional limit – or the most money that you can sue somebody for – in conciliation court is $15,000. Unless the tenant has done extraordinary damage to the property, that amount should be more than enough to cover the amounts of unpaid rent and other damages.

For all of these reasons, I think that bringing a claim in conciliation court against a former tenant is a viable option for all landlords. If you have a claim against a former tenant that exceeds $15,000, you should probably talk to an attorney to decide if conciliation court or District Court is the better way for you to proceed.

Every landlord – tenant situation is unique, and I recommend that landlords talk to an attorney experienced in evictions and landlord tenant law before taking action based on this blog post.  To that end, I invite landlords to give me a call at 763-450-9494 to discuss their unique situation. I have represented many landlords in conciliation court, but  typically do not represent tenants.

WARNING: The information contained in this blog post does not constitute legal advice and may not be applicable to your situation.  Tim is licensed to practice law only in Minnesota, and the information contained in this blog post may not apply to jurisdictions outside of Minnesota.  Further, reading this blog post does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Baland Law Office, P.L.L.C.  You should always discuss your situation with an attorney before taking any action based on what you may read in this blog.  To that end, please call (763) 450-9494 to set up an appointment to discuss your situation.

I am often asked what a landlord should do if the tenant is not paying the rent. The short answer is that the landlord should bring an eviction action, preferably as soon as the rent is late.

In Minnesota, unless the landlord is a mobile home park, the landlord does not need to provide any advance notice before bringing an eviction. Most residential leases provide a five day grace period, and state that the rent is late if it is paid after the fifth day of the month. Your lease probably has a similar provision.

The lease may also say that the landlord must provide notice to the tenant before bringing an eviction. In that case, a landlord should follow the requirements of the lease exactly, and provide the requisite notice. If the landlord does not follow the requirements of the lease, the tenant may have a defense to the eviction action.

At any rate, I recommend that a landlord bring an eviction action as soon as the rent is late. In the above scenario, rent is late if it is paid after the fifth day of the month. As such, I would recommend that the landlord commence an eviction action on the sixth day of the month.

Every landlord – tenant situation is unique, and I recommend that landlords talk to an attorney experienced in evictions and landlord tenant law before taking action based on this blog post.  To that end, I invite landlords to give me a call at 763-450-9494 to discuss their unique situation. I typically do not represent tenants.

WARNING: The information contained in this blog post does not constitute legal advice and may not be applicable to your situation.  Tim is licensed to practice law only in Minnesota, and the information contained in this blog post may not apply to jurisdictions outside of Minnesota.  Further, reading this blog post does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Baland Law Office, P.L.L.C.  You should always discuss your situation with an attorney before taking any action based on what you may read in this blog.  To that end, please call (763) 450-9494 to set up an appointment to discuss your situation

I am often asked when a landlord should bring an eviction action to evict a tenant? The short answer is that it is ultimately up to the landlord, but I would recommend bringing an eviction action or sooner rather than later – probably as soon as the tenant is late with the rent. The landlord can also evict a tenant who is violating the provisions of a lease, even if the tenant is current on rent, but that is usually a more difficult eviction. This blog post will focus only on evicting a tenant for not paying rent. Watch for a different blog post on evicting a tenant for lease violations in the near future.

Most leases give the tenant a grace period – usually less than five days – to pay the rent. In other words, if rent is technically due on the first day of the month, the tenant has a grace period of a few days to actually pay the rent. However, the landlord is fully within the landlord's rights to bring an eviction action if rent has not been paid and the grace period has expired.

Mobile home parks are different under the law, because in mobile home parks, the landlord has to give a 10 day notice before bringing an eviction.  For most leases that do not involve property in a mobile home park, no notice that the landlord is going to bring a formal eviction action is required, unless that is a requirement of the lease. As a general rule, I recommend bringing an eviction as soon as possible.

In summary, a landlord should bring an eviction action as soon as the tenant is late in paying their rent, usually after the expiration of the grace period provided by the lease.  Some landlords will wait until the tenant is several months behind in paying the rent, but the danger in waiting is that the arrears will accumulate to such an extent that the tenant is unable to pay them all in a timely manner. As such, I recommend that a landlord bring in eviction action as soon as possible and as soon as is permitted by the lease.

Every landlord – tenant situation is unique, and I recommend that landlords talk to an attorney experienced in evictions and landlord tenant law before taking action based on this blog post.  To that end, I invite landlords to give me a call at 763-450-9494 to discuss their unique situation. I typically do not represent tenants.

WARNING: The information contained in this blog post does not constitute legal advice and may not be applicable to your situation.  Tim is licensed to practice law only in Minnesota, and the information contained in this blog post may not apply to jurisdictions outside of Minnesota.  Further, reading this blog post does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Baland Law Office, P.L.L.C.  You should always discuss your situation with an attorney before taking any action based on what you may read in this blog.  To that end, please call (763) 450-9494 to set up an appointment to discuss your situation.