1998 Minnesota Code
Chapters 500 - 515B Property Interests and Liens
Chapter 504A Landlords and Tenants
Section 504A.211 Defenses.

504A.211 Defenses.

Subdivision 1. Notice to quit. (a) It is a defense to an action brought under section 504A.205, subdivision 1 or 2, after the landlord has given notice to quit, for a renter to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the termination by the landlord was intended in whole or in part as a penalty for:

(1) the renter's good faith attempt to secure or enforce rights under an oral or written lease or contract, under the laws of the state or any of its governmental subdivisions, or under the laws of the United States; or

(2) the renter's good faith report to a governmental authority of the landlord's violation of a health, safety, housing or building code or ordinance.

(b) If the notice to quit was served within 90 days of the date of an act that was performed by the renter under paragraph (a), clause (1) or (2), the burden of proving that the notice to quit was not served in whole or in part for a retaliatory purpose is on the landlord.

Subd. 2. Nonpayment of rent. It is a defense to an action brought under section 504A.205, subdivision 2, clause (3), for the renter to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the landlord increased the renter's rent or decreased the services as a penalty in whole or in part for a lawful act of the renter as described in subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (1) or (2), providing that the renter pays to the court or to the landlord the amount of rent due and payable under the renter's original lease.

HIST: 1998 c 253 s 21