Mobile home lot rent rules in Minnesota

Minnesota has a strong dedicated law for manufactured home park lot rentals — Minn. Stat. Chapter 327C. It controls how and how often lot rent can rise and requires rent to be uniform across the park. The information below describes how the law generally works; anyone dealing with a specific increase should consider consulting a licensed attorney in Minnesota.

What the statute says

On notice and frequency, Minn. Stat. §327C.06 provides: "No increase in the amount of the periodic rental payment due from a resident shall be valid unless the park owner gives the resident 60 days' written notice of the increase" (subd. 1); "no rent increase shall be valid if its purpose is to pay ... any civil or criminal penalty imposed on the park owner" (subd. 2); and "a park owner may impose only two rent increases on a resident in any 12-month period" (subd. 3).

On uniformity, §327C.03, subd. 3 provides that "all periodic rental payments charged to residents by the park owner shall be uniform throughout the park, except that a higher rent may be charged to a particular resident due to the larger size or location of the lot, or the special services or facilities furnished by the park." And §327C.04, subd. 6 gives a specific protection when a park starts billing for water: "a park owner may not increase lot rents for 13 months following the commencement of utility bills for a resident whose lease included water and sewer service."

How it works in general

A Minnesota park must give at least 60 days' written notice before any lot-rent increase takes effect, and it can raise a given resident's rent at most twice in any 12-month period. The rent must be uniform throughout the park, with differences allowed only for lot size or location or for special services. There is no statewide dollar or percentage cap on the amount of an increase — the written lease and the market set the figure — but the notice, frequency, and uniformity rules are firm, and a park can't raise rent to pass along a penalty it was assessed or (for 13 months) right after it starts billing separately for water and sewer that had been included in the rent.

Common scenarios

General examples Minnesota park residents commonly encounter:

• A rent increase takes effect on short notice. It is not valid without 60 days' written notice (§327C.06, subd. 1).
• A park raises rent a third time in a year. Only two increases are allowed per 12 months (§327C.06, subd. 3).
• One resident's rent is higher than similar neighbors'. Rent must be uniform except for size, location, or special services (§327C.03, subd. 3).

Other authorities that may apply

Chapter 327C governs the tenancy and cannot be waived — §327C.02, subd. 4 makes "any attempt to waive or circumscribe any privilege or right guaranteed by law" void. The written rental agreement supplies the rent and any longer notice. Local ordinances may add protections, and federal law such as the Fair Housing Act can apply to how an increase is administered.