Minnesota Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Minnesota, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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If a tenant misses several months of rent, can a Minnesota landlord (including a housing authority) charge a new 8% late fee each month based on the cumulative total of unpaid rent, and does the landlord have to recalculate the late fees down if the tenant later makes a partial payment?
No to cumulative; no to recalculation. The 8% cap in Minn. Stat. § 504B.177(a) is applied once to each rent payment when that payment first becomes overdue, not monthly against a growing past-due bala…
Does a company running a time-limited eBay-style online auction of property located in a Minnesota county have to hold a Minnesota auctioneer's license?
No. The AG concluded that time-limited online auction sales on platforms like eBay are not the 'business of an auctioneer' under Minn. Stat. ch. 330, and corporate entities cannot be licensed auctione…
If a Minnesota county rejected the State Building Code in a 1979 referendum, can the county now adopt the Code by ordinance without going back to the voters?
Yes. The AG concluded that after 1994 and 1998 amendments to Minn. Stat. § 16B.72, the statute permits a 'municipality' (a defined term that includes counties) that does not currently have the Code in…
When two Minnesota cities are voting whether to consolidate, and the vote is happening at the same time as a general election, does approval require a majority of everyone who showed up to vote that day, or just a majority of those who marked an answer on the consolidation question?
Approval requires only a majority of those who actually voted on the consolidation question, not a majority of every voter at the general election. The AG read Minn. Stat. § 414.041, subd. 6(d) consis…
After a Minnesota county's voters rejected the State Building Code in a referendum, can the county board later adopt the code by ordinance without going back to the voters?
No to the first question, yes to the second. The AG concluded the county could not bypass the failed referendum result with an ordinance, but the matter of code application could be resubmitted to the…
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Attorney general opinions in Minnesota are written by the Minnesota Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.