Minnesota: Landlord Entry Notice Requirements
The short answer
Minnesota law requires a landlord to make a good-faith effort to give at least 24 hours' notice before entering, and to enter only for a reasonable business purpose and only between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. unless you agree otherwise. The notice must state a time or window of entry. No prior notice is needed in the narrow emergencies the statute lists — an immediate threat to people or property, checking your safety, or an unlawful-activity ordinance. If the landlord enters while you are out without notice, they must leave a written note. You cannot be made to waive this right, and violations carry a penalty of up to $500 each plus attorney fees.
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This is the general rule in Minnesota. Ezel applies current Minnesota law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Minn. Stat. § 504B.211, titled 'Residential Tenant's Right to Privacy.' Minnesota did not adopt the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; this is its own provision in the landlord-tenant chapter (504B), most recently amended in 2023. The right is non-waivable: a tenant 'may not waive and the landlord may not require the residential tenant to waive' the right to prior notice 'as a condition of entering into or maintaining the lease' (subd. 2) |
|---|---|
| Advance notice required | At least 24 hours, framed as a good-faith duty. A landlord may enter 'only for a reasonable business purpose and after making a good faith effort to give the residential tenant reasonable notice under the circumstances of not less than 24 hours in advance of the intent to enter' (subd. 2). A tenant 'may permit a landlord to enter ... with less than 24 hours notice if desired' |
| Reasons a landlord may enter | Only a 'reasonable business purpose,' which subd. 3 illustrates with a non-exhaustive list: showing the unit to prospective tenants (during the notice period before the lease ends or after the tenant gives notice to move); showing it to a prospective buyer or insurance representative; performing maintenance; allowing inspections by health, housing, building, fire, or maintenance-code officials; the tenant is causing a disturbance in the unit; a reasonable belief the tenant is violating the lease inside the unit; prearranged housekeeping in senior housing (80%+ of tenants age 55+); a reasonable belief the unit is occupied by someone with no legal right to it; or the tenant has vacated |
| Permitted hours | Between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., 'unless the landlord and tenant agree to an earlier or later time' (subd. 2). The notice must also 'specify a time or anticipated window of time of entry' |
| When no notice is needed | Notwithstanding the 24-hour rule, a landlord may enter without prior notice 'to inspect or take appropriate action' if the landlord 'reasonably suspects' that: (1) 'immediate entry is necessary to prevent injury to persons or property because of conditions relating to maintenance, building security, or law enforcement'; (2) 'immediate entry is necessary to determine a residential tenant's safety'; or (3) 'immediate entry is necessary in order to comply with local ordinances regarding unlawful activity occurring within' the unit (subd. 4). If the landlord enters when the tenant is not present and gave no prior notice, the landlord 'shall disclose the entry by placing a written disclosure of the entry in a conspicuous place in the premises' (subd. 5) |
| Form and delivery of the notice | The statute does not require the notice to be in writing, but it must be a good-faith effort at reasonable notice and 'must specify a time or anticipated window of time of entry' (subd. 2). The one hard writing requirement is after the fact: an entry made while the tenant is absent and without prior notice must be followed by a written disclosure left in a conspicuous place in the unit (subd. 5) |
| Special rules for showings | Showings are reasonable business purposes, not a separate track: showing to a prospective buyer or insurance representative (subd. 3(2)), and showing to prospective tenants but only 'during the notice period before the lease terminates or after the current residential tenant has given notice to move' (subd. 3(1)). The ordinary 24-hour, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. rule applies; there is no shorter or oral-notice shortcut for showings |
| Tenant's remedies for unlawful entry | Strong statutory penalties (subd. 6): a violation entitles the tenant to 'a rent reduction up to full rescission of the lease, recovery of any damage deposit less any amount retained under section 504B.178, and up to a $500 civil penalty for each violation and reasonable attorney fees.' The tenant may use the rent-escrow procedures in §§ 504B.381, 504B.385, and 504B.395 to 504B.471 to enforce the section, and a violation 'is a violation of section 504B.161' (the landlord's habitability/covenant duties). Minnesota courts read 'substantially violates' to reach even minor unnoticed entries. The right cannot be waived (subd. 2). This section does not apply to manufactured-home-park tenancies under § 327C.015 |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Minnesota's rule has its own name: the "Residential Tenant's Right to Privacy,"
Minn. Stat. § 504B.211. Minnesota did not adopt the Uniform Residential Landlord and
Tenant Act, so this is a homegrown provision, last amended in 2023. One feature colors
everything else — the right cannot be signed away. A tenant "may not waive and the
landlord may not require the residential tenant to waive" the right to prior notice "as a
condition of entering into or maintaining the lease" (subd. 2). A lease clause purporting
to let the landlord enter without notice is void.
Advance notice required
The landlord may enter "only for a reasonable business purpose and after making a good
faith effort to give ... reasonable notice under the circumstances of not less than 24
hours in advance" (subd. 2). The "good faith effort" wording matters: the duty is to try,
in good faith, to reach the tenant with at least 24 hours' notice — it is not a hard
guarantee that the tenant actually receives it, but it is more than a token gesture. A
tenant is free to allow entry on shorter notice.
Reasons a landlord may enter
Entry requires a "reasonable business purpose." Subdivision 3 gives a non-exhaustive list:
showing the unit to prospective tenants (only during the move-out notice period), to a
buyer, or to an insurance representative; performing maintenance; official code
inspections; the tenant is causing a disturbance; a reasonable belief the tenant is
violating the lease inside the unit; prearranged housekeeping in qualifying senior
housing; a reasonable belief someone is occupying the unit with no legal right; or the
tenant has vacated. Because the list is illustrative ("includes, but is not limited to"),
other genuinely business-related reasons can qualify — but idle or harassing entries do
not.
Permitted hours
Entry is limited to "between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. unless the landlord and
tenant agree to an earlier or later time" (subd. 2), and the notice "must specify a time
or anticipated window of time of entry." So a valid notice pins down when, within that
window, the landlord intends to come.
When no notice is needed
Subdivision 4 lists the emergencies that excuse prior notice — but only where the landlord
"reasonably suspects" one of them: immediate entry is necessary "to prevent injury to
persons or property because of conditions relating to maintenance, building security, or
law enforcement"; "to determine a residential tenant's safety"; or "to comply with local
ordinances regarding unlawful activity" in the unit. These are narrower than a general
"emergency" catch-all. And there is a follow-up duty: if the landlord enters while the
tenant is out and gave no prior notice, the landlord "shall disclose the entry by placing
a written disclosure ... in a conspicuous place in the premises" (subd. 5) — a note the
tenant will find.
Tenant's remedies for unlawful entry
Minnesota backs the rule with real penalties. A violation entitles the tenant to "a rent
reduction up to full rescission of the lease, recovery of any damage deposit ..., and up
to a $500 civil penalty for each violation and reasonable attorney fees" (subd. 6). The
tenant can bring the claim through the rent-escrow procedures the statute cross-references,
and a violation is also treated as a breach of the landlord's § 504B.161 covenants.
Minnesota courts have read "substantially violates" broadly enough to cover even a single
minor entry made without notice.
What trips people up
Per-violation penalties add up. The $500 penalty in subd. 6 is "for each violation,"
so a landlord who repeatedly enters without notice can face separate penalties for each
entry, on top of a possible rent reduction and attorney fees.
"Good faith effort" is a real standard, not an escape hatch. The 24-hour duty is
phrased as a good-faith effort to give notice, which protects a landlord who genuinely
tried to reach a tenant who was unreachable — but it does not excuse a landlord who simply
did not try.
Entering while you're out still requires a note. Even a lawful, business-purpose entry
made while the tenant is away without prior notice triggers subd. 5's written-disclosure
duty — the landlord must leave a note where the tenant will see it.
Common questions
How much notice does my Minnesota landlord have to give? A good-faith effort at
reasonable notice of at least 24 hours, for a reasonable business purpose, with entry only
between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. unless you agree otherwise (§ 504B.211, subd. 2).
Can my landlord enter without notice in an emergency? Yes, but only for the specific
situations in subd. 4 — a reasonably suspected immediate threat to people or property, a
check on your safety, or compliance with a local unlawful-activity ordinance. If they
enter while you are out without notice, they must leave a written note (subd. 5).
What can I do if my landlord keeps entering without notice? You can seek a rent
reduction or even rescission of the lease, return of your deposit, up to a $500 penalty for
each violation, and attorney fees (subd. 6), using the rent-escrow procedures the statute
points to.
Statutes and sources
- Minn. Stat. § 504B.211 — the Residential Tenant's Right to Privacy: the 24-hour good-faith-notice rule, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. hours, and non-waiver (subd. 2); the reasonable-business-purpose list (subd. 3); the no-prior-notice emergency exceptions (subd. 4); the written-disclosure duty after entering an absent tenant's unit (subd. 5); and the penalties — rent reduction/rescission, deposit recovery, up to $500 per violation, and attorney fees (subd. 6).
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504b.211 (accessed 2026-07-11)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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