Does mold or asbestos relieve a tenant from paying rent to a landlord in Minnesota?

Rental Property Must Be ‘Habitable’

Minnesota law writes five covenants of the landlord into every residential lease or license, whether your agreement is oral or written. See Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1 (enacted by 1999 Minn. Laws ch. 199, art. 1, § 13); Minn. Stat. § 504B.001, subd. 8 (defining “Lease” as “an oral or written agreement creating a tenancy in real property”).

Specifically, Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1, provides that

(a) In every lease or license of residential premises, the landlord or licensor covenants:
(1) that the premises and all common areas are fit for the use intended by the parties;
(2) to keep the premises and all common areas in reasonable repair during the term of the lease or license, including services and conditions listed in section 504B.381, subdivision 1, and extermination of insects, rodents, vermin, or other pests on the premises . . . ;
[Clause (3), on energy efficiency, omitted.]
(4) to maintain the premises and all common areas in compliance with the applicable health and safety laws of the United States, of the state, and of the local units of government, including ordinances regulating rental licensing, where the premises are located during the term of the lease or license . . . ; and
(5) to equip or furnish heat at a minimum temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit in all places intended for habitation including kitchens and bathrooms from October 1 through April 30, unless a utility company requires and instructs the heat to be reduced.
(b) The parties to a lease or license of residential premises may not waive or modify the covenants imposed by this section.

Older summaries of this statute count three covenants. That count is out of date. The heat covenant in clause (5) took effect January 1, 2024. 2023 Minn. Laws ch. 52, art. 19, § 91. The energy-efficiency covenant in clause (3) is older than the most recent amendments: the 2024 act reprinted that clause with only “and all common areas” marked as new language. A 2024 amendment effective January 1, 2025 extended clauses (2), (3), and (4) from “the premises” to “the premises and all common areas,” and clause (1) has read “the premises and all common areas” since the section was enacted in 1999. 2024 Minn. Laws ch. 118, §§ 11, 32; 1999 Minn. Laws ch. 199, art. 1, § 13. Mold or asbestos in a shared basement, hallway, or laundry room is addressed through these covenants, which reach the common areas as well as your unit, although the statute names neither mold nor asbestos. Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1(a)(1), (2), (4).

The rest of the same section answers the objections a landlord raises most often:

  • A lease cannot sign the covenants away. “The parties to a lease or license of residential premises may not waive or modify the covenants imposed by this section.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1(b). An “as-is” clause, a habitability disclaimer, or a mold-condition waiver does not defeat them.
  • Seeing the unit before you signed does not defeat them either. “This section shall be liberally construed, and the opportunity to inspect the premises before concluding a lease or license shall not defeat the covenants established in this section.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 3.
  • Shifting repairs to you has narrow limits. A landlord may agree with you that you will perform specified repairs or maintenance, “but only if the agreement is supported by adequate consideration and set forth in a conspicuous writing,” and “[n]o such agreement, however, may waive the provisions of subdivision 1 or relieve the landlord or licensor of the duty to maintain common areas of the premises.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 2.
  • Local codes stack on top. “The covenants contained in this section are in addition to any covenants or conditions imposed by law or ordinance or by the terms of the lease or license.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 4. A city housing or rental-licensing code that addresses mold or moisture adds to the statute rather than replacing it.

One exception runs through the statute, and its scope is narrower than landlords usually describe it. Clauses (2) and (4) do not apply where the disrepair or the health-and-safety violation “has been caused by the willful, malicious, or irresponsible conduct of the tenant or licensee or a person under the direction or control of the tenant or licensee.” The exception reaches a household member or guest acting under your direction, but it does not qualify clause (1), fitness for the use intended, and negligence is not on the list. A broader formulation, “willful, malicious, negligent, or irresponsible,” appears in the separate statutory defense at Minn. Stat. § 504B.415(2), which is “a sufficient defense to a complaint under section 504B.385 or 504B.395,” that is, in either a rent escrow action or a tenant remedies action. The rent escrow statute carries the same cross-reference from its own side. Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 3. The two formulations should not be stated interchangeably.

Habitability as a Defense to Eviction

You may raise the landlord’s breach of these covenants as a defense to an eviction for nonpayment of rent, because the habitability covenants and your covenant to pay rent are mutually dependent, so the rent, or at least part of it, is not due when the landlord has breached them. Fritz v. Warthen, 298 Minn. 54, 213 N.W.2d 339, 341-42 (1973). The Minnesota Supreme Court reaffirmed that defense in Ellis v. Doe, 924 N.W.2d 258, 262-63, 266 (Minn. 2019), concluding that the rent escrow action under Minn. Stat. § 504B.385 is a remedy “in addition to” the defense rather than a replacement for it, and declining to add a written notice requirement before you may raise it.

Fritz named three routes, which remain the practical menu:

(1) The tenant may assert breach of the covenants as a defense to the landlord’s unlawful detainer action for nonpayment of rent; (2) the tenant may continue to pay rent and bring his own action to recover damages for breach of the covenants by the landlord; (3) the tenant, after vacating the premises and suspending rent payments, may raise breach of the covenants as a defense to an action by the landlord for the rent.

The “unlawful detainer” action in route (1) is today’s eviction action: the 1999 recodification enacted Minn. Stat. § 504B.281, titled “FORCIBLE ENTRY AND UNLAWFUL DETAINER PROHIBITED,” and Minn. Stat. § 504B.285, titled “EVICTION ACTIONS; GROUNDS; RETALIATION DEFENSE; COMBINED ALLEGATIONS,” under the heading “EVICTION ACTIONS,” recodifying the former unlawful detainer statute, Minn. St. 566.03. 1999 Minn. Laws ch. 199, art. 1, §§ 37-38.

Two limits belong next to that rule. First, “the rent is not due” is not permission to keep the money. In a rent escrow proceeding, “the residential tenant must pay rent to the landlord or as directed by the court and may not withhold rent to remedy a violation,” Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 1(d), and Minn. R. Gen. Prac. 608 requires a tenant who withholds rent in reliance on a defense in an eviction action to deposit the accruing rent into court. In an eviction action filed on or after January 1, 2024, though, the court may no longer order a deposit as a matter of course: Minn. Stat. § 504B.335(e) bars any court-ordered payment into court, bond, or security before final disposition, except where final disposition may be delayed more than ten days, and then only up to the rent accruing during the case.

Second, moving out is a prerequisite to a different defense. Fritz held that “abandonment of the premises is a prerequisite to the defense of constructive eviction,” that “[n]o different rule is applicable to partial constructive eviction,” and that tenants who “have not vacated their apartments . . . cannot assert total or partial constructive eviction as a defense.” If you stay in the unit, the habitability defense is the door that is open to you.

Is Living with Mold or Asbestos Considered ‘Uninhabitable?’

Whether a particular condition breaches the habitability covenants is a question of fact. Fritz v. Warthen, 298 Minn. 54, 213 N.W.2d 339, 341-42 (1973). Fritz describes the trial court determining “that a fact question exists as to the breach of the covenants of habitability.” Fritz v. Warthen, 298 Minn. 54, 213 N.W.2d 339, 341-42 (1973). Who decides that fact depends on how the dispute is brought. In an eviction action, Minn. Stat. § 504B.335(b) provides that “Either party may demand a trial by jury,” and Minn. Stat. § 504B.345, subd. 1, enters judgment on what “the court or jury finds.” A judge sits as the sole finder of fact in the two statutory summary proceedings: a rent escrow hearing “shall be conducted by a court without a jury,” Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 6, and in a tenant remedies action factual issues “must be tried by the court without a jury,” Minn. Stat. § 504B.421.

Because a mold or asbestos defense usually needs an inspection report and a witness, it is not resolved at your first appearance. The court “must select a date that allows for a fair, thorough, and timely adjudication of the merits of the case,” accounting for the complexity of the matter, discovery, the presence of witnesses, and “the opportunity for the defendant to seek legal counsel and raise affirmative defenses.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.335(a).

At one extreme, mold or asbestos could be sealed in a wall and not harmful to those living with it. This is often the case in older buildings that were developed when asbestos was a common building material. At the other extreme, a house filled with black mold and asbestos dust would be extremely dangerous. A court weighs whether the condition in your particular unit leaves the premises unfit for the use the parties intended, out of reasonable repair, or out of compliance with an applicable health or safety law.

You do not have to prove the home is unlivable. On finding a violation the court “may find the extent to which any uncorrected violations impair the residential tenants’ use and enjoyment of the property contracted for and order the rent abated accordingly.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.425(e), imported into rent escrow actions by Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 9(a)(1). Partial impairment supports partial rent abatement.

The covenants are also not a strict-liability rule. The Minnesota Court of Appeals held that the landlord’s covenants to keep leased premises in reasonable repair and fit for intended use “do not impose strict liability upon a landlord,” and that Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1(a)(1), “does not impose liability where the landlord cures or attempts to cure a defect within a reasonable time using an effective method of repair, even when the tenant prefers a different repair method or is inconvenienced by the chosen method.” Rush v. Westwood Village Partnership, 887 N.W.2d 701, 709 (Minn. Ct. App. 2016). The practical question in most mold disputes is notice and reasonable cure: what the landlord knew, when, and what was done about it.

Minnesota’s habitability protections are statutory rather than case-specific. In every residential lease the landlord covenants “that the premises and all common areas are fit for the use intended by the parties” and “to maintain the premises and all common areas in compliance with the applicable health and safety laws of the United States, of the state, and of the local units of government.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1(a)(1), (4). A mold condition can breach those covenants, and those covenants cannot be waived or modified. For a plain-language guide to these rights, the Minnesota Attorney General publishes Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities.

Is There a Law Specifically About Mold?

Minnesota has adopted no statewide statute or rule imposing mold standards, testing, or disclosure duties on residential landlords. A mold problem is governed instead by the covenants in Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1: that the premises be “fit for the use intended by the parties,” kept “in reasonable repair,” and maintained “in compliance with the applicable health and safety laws . . . of the local units of government.”

That last covenant pulls local mold ordinances into your lease, and the state’s two largest cities have them. Minneapolis, Minn., Code of Ordinances § 244.510(d) requires interior surfaces to show “no signs of visible mold growth or chronic or persistent excessive dampness or moisture,” and St. Paul, Minn., Legislative Code § 34.10(1) requires every basement and crawl space to be kept “reasonably free from dampness and free of any mold or mildew.”

Federally assisted housing names mold outright. Under 24 C.F.R. § 5.703(e)(1), “[t]he inside, outside and unit must be free of health and safety hazards that pose a danger to residents,” and the listed concerns “include, but are not limited to carbon monoxide, electrical hazards, extreme temperature, flammable materials or other fire hazards, garbage and debris, handrail hazards, infestation, lead-based paint, mold, and structural soundness.” Those standards do not supersede state and local housing codes. 24 C.F.R. § 5.703(f)(1).

Mold or Asbestos Attorney Help

If you are a tenant, here are some articles that may be helpful to you:

If you are a landlord, you can read more about your rights in these articles written by a Minnesota landlord attorney:

Mold in Rental Housing

The Minnesota Department of Health publishes current guidance for renters, Mold in Rental Housing (last updated February 24, 2026). MDH states that under Chapter 504B a rental unit must be “[f]it to live in,” “[k]ept in reasonable repair,” and “[k]ept in compliance with state and local health and safety laws,” that “[t]here are few laws or codes that specifically reference indoor mold growth,” and that a tenant who cannot get help from the city or county “may be able to take legal action, including a rent escrow action.” MDH also says plainly that “[t]he Minnesota Department of Health does not provide direct services, such as inspections or testing, for mold problems,” so the state health department is not the office that will come inspect your unit.

The rest of this section explains the practical side of a mold problem and the steps available to you.

What Is Mold and What Causes It?

Mold is a type of fungus that is present in our natural environment. Mold spores, which are tiny microscopic “seeds,” can be found virtually everywhere, including in homes, and are a part of the general dust found in homes. These spores can grow on building materials and furnishings if conditions are right. Excess moisture is the critical factor in any indoor mold problem. Eventually, the moisture and mold will damage what it is growing on, which may include both the building and your personal belongings. The key to preventing mold growth is preventing moisture problems.

What Are the Health Concerns?

Health effects from exposure to mold vary depending on the person and the amount of mold in the home. Symptoms may include coughing, wheezing, and nasal and throat symptoms. People with asthma or allergies who are sensitive to mold may notice those symptoms worsen. Individuals with a severely weakened immune system who are exposed to moldy environments are at risk of developing serious fungal respiratory infections. Consult a medical professional if you are concerned about the effect of a moldy environment on your health.

What Can You Do as a Tenant?

The landlord’s duty is to keep the unit fit for the use intended, in reasonable repair, and in compliance with applicable health and safety laws, unless the disrepair or the violation has been caused by the willful, malicious, or irresponsible conduct of the tenant or of a person under the tenant’s direction or control. Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1(a)(1), (2), (4). MDH describes what that means in practice: “Generally, the landlord is responsible for repairing moisture problems and cleaning up mold, unless it is a minor issue related to the tenant’s behavior.” Minnesota Department of Health, Mold in Rental Housing (fact sheet, April 2010).

It still helps to look at your own habits, because moisture is what feeds mold:

  • Always use bathroom fans during and after bathing or showering.
  • Avoid spilling liquids on carpet. If this occurs, dry the carpet quickly, and notify the landlord if it stays wet.
  • Use the kitchen fan when cooking.
  • Do not run the shower to humidify your home.
  • Avoid using humidifiers unless there is a medical reason to use one.
  • Ensure good air movement in your home to prevent condensation on cold surfaces:
    • open windows when possible,
    • do not block supply and return registers with furniture,
    • keep a few inches of space between furniture and walls,
    • do not let parts of your home get very cold, such as closets against exterior walls.
  • Watch what you put down drains to avoid clogs and overflows.

When a moisture problem does occur, report the cause quickly and dry the affected areas. Notify your landlord promptly when you find a moisture problem or mold growth. Common moisture problems include pipe leaks, roof leaks, sewage back-ups, and overflowing toilets, sinks, and bathtubs. Follow up any verbal communication with a letter, and keep a copy for possible use in future legal proceedings. A timely response is in the interest of both you and the landlord, because delays lead to greater cleaning and repair costs.

What Can Be Done About Indoor Mold?

Tenants and landlords do best working cooperatively to investigate and correct moisture problems and remove mold growth. If mold can be seen, if a musty odor is present, or if there is good reason to believe health problems are being caused by mold, inspect the home carefully. Pay attention to hidden areas such as plumbing access areas, crawl spaces, behind mirrors, attics, behind furnishings, closets, and cupboards.

Correcting a mold problem properly requires fixing the moisture problem, removing the mold, and keeping the home dry going forward. Mold growth can be cleaned from nonporous surfaces such as concrete, metal, glass, tile, and solid wood. It is difficult to clean on absorbent surfaces such as drywall, carpet, fleecy furnishings, and insulation, and those moldy materials are usually discarded. Personal belongings can be kept if there is no mold growth in them, though they may need a deep cleaning to remove mold particles that have settled in the fabric. Applying a chemical such as bleach without removing the mold growth is not an effective solution, and neither is painting over the problem.

Private contractors inspect and clean mold in homes. Where problems cannot be identified or safely remediated, the landlord may want to hire a residential service provider. Certain moisture problems may also be covered under property or renter insurance policies.

What Are Your Options If the Landlord Refuses to Help?

When the owner or occupant of a mold-damaged building is unable or unwilling to correct the problem, insurers, private contractors, nongovernmental assistance organizations, and local units of government may be able to help. Whether and how a government agency can respond depends on the local codes or ordinances in place and the authority the local program has. Here are the steps available to you.

Check the Lease Agreement

Understand the terms of your lease and keep a signed copy available. Leases seldom address responsibility for mold and air quality specifically, though they usually include language on how maintenance and repair concerns are handled. Remember the two limits above: a clause disclaiming habitability is unenforceable, and a clause assigning repairs to you is valid only with adequate consideration and a conspicuous writing, and never for common areas.

Contact the Local Housing Department

A city or county may have housing codes that govern rentals and set minimum maintenance requirements, enforced by a local housing inspection department. The inspection is your entitlement, not a favor: “If requested by a residential tenant, a housing-related neighborhood organization with the written permission of a residential tenant, or, if a residential building is unoccupied, by a housing-related neighborhood organization, an inspection shall be made by the local authority charged with enforcing a code claimed to be violated.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.185, subd. 1.

What follows the inspection is a duty, not a discretionary courtesy. The inspector “shall inform the landlord or the landlord’s agent and the residential tenant . . . in writing of any code violations discovered,” and “[a] reasonable period of time must be allowed in which to correct the violations.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.185, subd. 2.

Contact the Local Health Department

If a local housing inspection program does not exist or the housing code cannot be applied, file a complaint with the local city or county health department. Minnesota law lets a county board adopt ordinances “to define public health nuisances and to provide for their prevention or abatement,” Minn. Stat. § 145A.05, subd. 7, and when “a public health nuisance, source of filth, or cause of sickness is found on any property,” the community health board, county, city, or its agent must order the owner or occupant to remove or abate it “within a time specified in the notice but not longer than ten days,” Minn. Stat. § 145A.04, subd. 8. A “public health nuisance” is “any activity or failure to act that adversely affects the public health.” Minn. Stat. § 145A.02, subd. 17.

Two points from the same section matter if the landlord stalls. The local authority may enter a building “where contagion, infection, filth, or other source or cause of preventable disease exists or is reasonably suspected,” Minn. Stat. § 145A.04, subd. 7. And the authority may sue to enjoin “any activity or failure to act that adversely affects the public health,” Minn. Stat. § 145A.04, subd. 9.

Contact the Municipal Building Official

You may also seek help from the local building code official, if your city has one. The official may enter at reasonable times when an inspection is necessary to enforce the code, or when the official has reasonable cause to believe a condition makes the structure unsafe, dangerous, or hazardous, and must present credentials and request entry if the unit is occupied. “If entry is refused, the building official shall have recourse to the remedies provided by law to secure entry.” Minn. R. 1300.0110, subps. 1, 5, 7. The official “shall issue all necessary notices and orders to ensure compliance with the code,” and those “[n]otices and orders shall be in writing unless waived by the permit applicant, contractor, owner, or owner’s agent.” Minn. R. 1300.0110, subp. 4.

Maintenance is a separate question, and the answer turns on local law. State law lets a city enact and enforce an ordinance requiring existing components and systems “to be maintained in a safe and sanitary condition or in good repair.” Minn. Stat. § 326B.121, subd. 2(c).

If a housing, health, or building code inspection is not available, or the inspection does not produce a correction order, you may still be able to establish that the unit is uninhabitable. A breach of the Minn. Stat. § 504B.161 covenants is itself “a violation of this chapter” under Minn. Stat. § 504B.001, subd. 14(2), and both the rent escrow action and the tenant remedies action open on 14 days’ written notice with no inspection report attached. For a code-violation claim under clause (1), by contrast, the tenant remedies complaint must be accompanied either by a certified copy of the official inspection report or by “a statement that a request for inspection was made to the appropriate state, county, or municipal department, that demand was made on the landlord to correct the alleged code violation, and that a reasonable period of time has elapsed since the demand or request was made.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.395, subd. 6(b).

The 14 days runs in the landlord’s favor, not yours: it is a window the landlord gets, not a deadline you set. Give the landlord written notice specifying the violation, delivered personally or sent to the person or place where rent is normally paid, and then allow at least 14 days to correct it. Under Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 1(c), which governs a violation of chapter 504B itself rather than a code violation an inspector has cited, you may deposit rent with the court administrator after that written notice and “[i]f the violation is not corrected within 14 days,” and Minn. Stat. § 504B.395, subd. 4, requires that a landlord “be informed in writing of an alleged violation at least 14 days before an action is brought.” A deposit based on a city inspector’s code violation runs on a different clock: there the tenant may not deposit the rent “until the time granted to make repairs has expired without satisfactory repairs being made, unless the residential tenant alleges that the time granted is excessive.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 1(b).

Some variations on that timeline are worth knowing:

  • A documented code violation runs on the inspector’s clock. After an inspection under Minn. Stat. § 504B.185, an action “may not be brought under sections 504B.381, 504B.385, or 504B.395 to 504B.451 until the time granted under section 504B.185, subdivision 2, has expired and satisfactory repairs to remove the code violations have not been made.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.395, subd. 3(a). If that period is too long for the condition you are living with, you need not wait: “an action may be brought if the residential tenant, or neighborhood organization with the written permission of a tenant, alleges the time granted under section 504B.185, subdivision 2, is excessive.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.395, subd. 3(b).
  • A true emergency is much faster. For conditions that “pose a serious and negative impact on health or safety,” the petitioner need only “attempt to notify the landlord, at least 24 hours before application to the court, of the petitioner’s intent to seek emergency relief,” and the 14-day requirements do not apply. Minn. Stat. § 504B.381, subds. 4, 7.
  • A tenant remedies action starts with formal process. “The action must be started by service of a complaint and summons. The summons may be issued only by a judge or court administrator.” Minn. Stat. § 504B.395, subd. 5.

A rent escrow action moves quickly and can produce real relief. The hearing is held 10 to 14 days after you deposit the rent or file the notice, Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 5(a), and on finding a violation the court may order relief under section 504B.425 including retroactive rent abatement, release the escrowed rent to remedy the violation, order future rent deposited or abated until the landlord remedies the violation, or impose fines, Minn. Stat. § 504B.385, subd. 9(a).

Document the problem as you go, with letters, photographs, evidence of health problems, orders from local inspectors, and anything else that would support your case.

The Landlord Cannot Retaliate

A landlord may not punish you for reporting a code violation to a government agency or to an official responsible for enforcing a building, housing, health, or safety code. The landlord may not raise the rent, cut services, change the rental agreement, file a legal action against you, or seek to recover possession in retaliation, and the landlord carries the burden of proof if that action comes within 90 days of your protected activity. After 90 days, the burden is yours. Minn. Stat. § 504B.212, subd. 2. Where a landlord unlawfully and in bad faith violates these tenant-organizing and anti-retaliation protections, you may recover up to $1,000 per occurrence plus reasonable attorney fees. Minn. Stat. § 504B.212, subd. 3.

Protected activity is broader than the inspector call. It also covers asking the landlord to make repairs required by chapter 504B or to remedy a building or health code violation, reporting the condition to a community organization or the news media, and testifying in any court or administrative proceeding about the condition of the premises. Minn. Stat. § 504B.212, subd. 2(a)(2), (4), (6).

Two older provisions add to that protection. A residential tenant “may not be evicted, nor may the residential tenant’s obligations under a lease be increased or the services decreased,” as a penalty for complaining of a violation, Minn. Stat. § 504B.441, and a good faith report of a code violation to a governmental authority supports a retaliation defense in an eviction action, Minn. Stat. § 504B.285, subd. 2.

The protection is not immunity. And nothing in the retaliation provisions limits the landlord’s right to terminate for your violation of a lawful, material lease provision or to hold you liable for damage to the premises, Minn. Stat. § 504B.285, subd. 4(a).

Who Is Responsible for Your Belongings?

The habitability covenants in Minn. Stat. § 504B.161, subd. 1(a), reach the rental unit and the common areas, not what you keep inside. The Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a landlord’s responsibility under them “did not include the condition of tenants’ personal belongings, furniture, or other personal effects,” and that “[a] plain reading of section 504B.161, subdivision 1(a)(2), does not support tenants’ argument that the HRA’s statutory responsibility to keep the leased premises in reasonable repair extends to tenants’ personal property.” Rush v. Westwood Village Partnership, 887 N.W.2d 701, 707 (Minn. Ct. App. 2016).

Getting the landlord to pay for ruined property is therefore harder than showing carelessness. “[T]he covenants of habitability do not support a negligence cause of action by a tenant against a landlord for breach of its duty to repair and maintain the common areas of the leased premises,” Wise v. Stonebridge Communities, LLC, 927 N.W.2d 772, 776 (Minn. Ct. App. 2019), and “Minnesota follows the common-law rule that landlords are generally not liable and have no duty of care to tenants for damages caused by defective conditions on the premises,” id. at 777. That default gives way only where a recognized exception applies: a hidden dangerous condition the landlord knew or should have known of and that you exercising due care would not have discovered, a defect in a common area the landlord retains control of, premises leased for purposes involving admission of the public, or repairs the landlord undertook and performed negligently. Rush also noted that it did not reach whether a proven habitability violation supports consequential damages, so that avenue is unresolved rather than closed.

A building owner’s property insurance normally does not cover your belongings, because the Minnesota standard fire insurance policy insures the named insured against loss “to the property described hereinafter while located or contained as described in this policy,” and any other subject of insurance must be added “by endorsement in writing hereon or added hereto.” Minn. Stat. § 65A.01, subds. 1, 3. What any policy covers for mold or asbestos damage is set by that policy’s own terms, which is why renter’s insurance is worth reading closely before you need it.

If you do make a claim, the statutory policy sets the clock. The insured “shall give immediate written notice to this company of any loss, protect the property from further damage,” and render a signed and sworn statement “within 60 days” setting forth the value of the property insured, the insured’s interest, and all other insurance. Minn. Stat. § 65A.01, subd. 3. Document the damage with photographs and written descriptions, then contact your agent or insurer.

You Live in Public Housing. Are There Other Options?

Yes. Raise the condition with the housing agency that owns and operates the building, not with a state HUD office. There is no Minnesota Housing and Urban Development Office: HUD is a federal executive department, 42 U.S.C. § 3532, and the federal office serving this state is the HUD Minneapolis Field Office, 212 Third Avenue South, Suite 150, Minneapolis, MN 55401, (612) 370-3000.

The housing agency’s maintenance duty is not discretionary. Its lease must obligate the agency “[t]o maintain the dwelling unit and the project in decent, safe, and sanitary condition,” “[t]o comply with requirements of applicable building codes, housing codes, and HUD regulations materially affecting health and safety,” and “[t]o make necessary repairs to the dwelling unit.” 24 C.F.R. § 966.4(e)(1)-(3); 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(l)(3).

The grievance is first presented informally, and the agency’s written summary of that discussion must “specify the procedures by which a hearing may be obtained if the complainant is not satisfied.” 24 C.F.R. § 966.54. The formal hearing must be before an impartial party, with the chance to examine the agency’s relevant documents beforehand, and if the agency withholds a document it “may not rely on such document at the grievance hearing.” 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(k); 24 C.F.R. § 966.56(b)(1). Losing the grievance does not close the courthouse: an adverse decision “will not constitute a waiver of, nor affect in any manner whatever, any rights the complainant may have to a trial de novo or judicial review.” 24 C.F.R. § 966.57(c). The federal procedure is a floor rather than a ceiling, because the agency “must not only meet the minimal procedural due process requirements contained in this subpart but also satisfy any additional requirements required by local, state, or federal law.” 24 C.F.R. § 966.52(e).

You may also call the Office of Public Housing at the HUD Minneapolis Field Office, (612) 370-3135, to file a complaint against your housing agency. HUD, Minnesota (last visited September 7, 2026). The other options described above remain open to you as well.