A Minnesota Eviction Moves in Days, Not Months — and a Tenant Can Undo It by Paying $5 Plus the Rent

Eviction is the fastest civil case most people will ever be part of. A complaint filed on Monday can have a hearing inside two weeks and a sheriff at the door 24 hours after the writ issues.

It’s also one of the easiest to lose on a technicality, from either side. A landlord who skips a notice gets the case dismissed and expunged. A tenant who doesn’t understand the redemption right gives up a statutory second chance that lasts right up until possession changes hands. I’ve seen both mistakes made by people who thought they knew this procedure cold.

Here’s how it actually goes.

The 14-day notice — residential only, and dismissal is mandatory

Before filing a nonpayment eviction against a residential tenant, Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1a(a) requires written notice “specifying the basis for future eviction action,” and the statute spells out what goes in it:

(1) the total amount due; (2) a specific accounting of the amount of the total due from unpaid rent, late fees, and other charges under the lease; (3) the name and address of the person authorized to receive rent and fees on behalf of the landlord;

plus three statements that have to appear verbatim — the right to seek legal help and the Legal Aid / LawHelpMN referral; the financial-assistance referral to county or Tribal social services, MNBenefits.mn.gov, and 2-1-1; and:

“Your landlord can file an eviction case if you do not pay the total amount due or move out within 14 days from the date of this notice. Some local governments may have an eviction notice period longer than 14 days.”

The statute dictates delivery too. Paragraph (b): “personally or by first class mail to the residential tenant at the address of the leased premises.”

Skip it and the consequence is harsh. Section 504B.321, subd. 1(d):

If applicable, the person filing a complaint must attach a copy of the written notice described in subdivision 1a. The court shall dismiss an action without prejudice for failure to provide a notice as described in subdivision 1a and grant an expungement of the eviction case court file.

Shall dismiss. And shall expunge. A landlord who files without the notice doesn’t just lose the motion. The tenant walks away with the record cleared, and the landlord has paid a filing fee, waited two weeks, and has to start the 14 days over.

Two limits, stated precisely. First, subdivision 1a is written in terms of a “residential tenant”. It’s a residential requirement, and commercial leases are governed by their own notice and default terms. Second, the statute expressly contemplates that a local government may impose a longer notice period, and it says the longer period controls. Check the city ordinance before you count to 14.

Seven to fourteen days to the hearing

Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1(a) requires a complaint filed with the court “stating the full name and date of birth of the person against whom the complaint is made, unless it is not known, describing the premises of which possession is claimed, stating the facts which authorize the recovery of possession, and asking for recovery thereof.”

Missing identifying information isn’t fatal. Paragraph (b): “The lack of the full name and date of birth … does not deprive the court of jurisdiction or make the complaint invalid.”

Then the speed. Paragraph (c):

The appearance shall be not less than seven nor more than 14 days from the day of issuing the summons, except as provided by subdivision 2.

Seven to fourteen days. That’s the whole window for a tenant to find a lawyer, pull together proof of payment, and get a defense ready — and for a landlord to be ready to prove its case. When I take a tenant’s call on day three, we’re already halfway to the hearing.

Subdivision 2 provides an expedited track for actions brought under § 504B.171 or on the basis that a residential tenant “engages in behavior that seriously endangers the safety of other residents, or intentionally and seriously damages the property of the landlord or a tenant.” The filer has to submit “an affidavit stating specific facts and instances in support of why an expedited hearing is required.” Generalities don’t qualify, and abusing the expedited process carries a civil penalty.

This subdivision has changed. Laws 2026, ch. 81, § 5 amends § 504B.321, subd. 2 effective August 1, 2026, and applies to eviction actions filed on or after that date. It adds a ground for expedited treatment where a residential tenant “assaults the landlord or the landlord’s employees or contractors,” defining “assault” by reference to Minn. Stat. § 609.02, subd. 10, and it raises the civil penalty for abusing the expedited hearing process to up to $750. If you’re filing or defending on or after August 1, read the amended subdivision, not the version described here.

Redemption — the right tenants most often don’t know they have

This is the heart of Minnesota nonpayment practice, and it’s the provision I explain more often than any other in this chapter. Minn. Stat. § 504B.291, subd. 1(a):

A landlord may bring an eviction action for nonpayment of rent irrespective of whether the lease contains a right of reentry clause. Such an eviction action is equivalent to a demand for the rent.

And then:

In such an action, unless the landlord has also sought to evict the tenant by alleging a material violation of the lease under section 504B.285, subdivision 5, the tenant may, at any time before possession has been delivered, redeem the tenancy and be restored to possession by paying to the landlord or bringing to court the amount of the rent that is in arrears, with interest, costs of the action, and an attorney’s fee not to exceed $5, and by performing any other covenants of the lease.

Read that slowly. Four things in it decide cases.

• “At any time before possession has been delivered.” Not before the hearing. Not before judgment. Not before the writ issues. Before possession actually changes hands. A tenant with the money on the courthouse steps still has the right.
• “[A]n attorney’s fee not to exceed $5.” That’s the statute, unamended on this point for a very long time, and it’s why a landlord’s legal spend on a nonpayment case isn’t recoverable through redemption.
• The exception is the landlord’s lever. If the landlord also pleads a material lease violation under § 504B.285, subd. 5, the redemption right in this paragraph doesn’t apply. That pleading choice is strategic, and I make it deliberately every time. Never on reflex.
• A tenant short on costs isn’t out of options. Paragraph (b): if the tenant has paid the rent arrears but can’t pay “the interest, costs of the action, and attorney’s fees,” the court “may permit the tenant to pay these amounts into court and be restored to possession within the same period of time, if any, for which the court stays the issuance of the order to vacate under section 504B.345.”

The same subdivision carries two evidence rules that surprise people on both sides of the courtroom.

Money orders create a rebuttable presumption of payment. If the tenant produces copies of money orders or original receipt stubs that total the rent, bear dates roughly matching when rent was due, and (for copies of money orders) are payable to the landlord, “[t]here is a rebuttable presumption that the rent has been paid.” The landlord rebuts it “by produc[ing] a business record that shows that the tenant has not paid the rent,” and may bring in other evidence as well.

Taking partial rent can waive the case, unless it’s papered. Paragraph (c): the parties “may agree only in writing” that partial payment accepted before the order for restitution issues “may be applied to the balance due and does not waive the landlord’s action to recover possession … for nonpayment of rent.” Only in writing. A landlord who takes a partial payment on a handshake has a serious problem with its own case.

The writ, and 24 hours

If the landlord wins, the court issues a writ of recovery of premises and order to vacate. Under Minn. Stat. § 504B.361, subd. 1, the state court administrator develops the uniform form, and the writ itself has to carry the statement: “You have the right to seek legal help. If you can’t afford a lawyer, free legal help may be available. Contact Legal Aid or visit www.LawHelpMN.org …”

Then execution. Minn. Stat. § 504B.365, subd. 1(a):

The officer who holds the order to vacate shall execute it by demanding that the defendant, if found in the county, any adult member of the defendant’s family who is occupying the premises, or any other person in charge, relinquish possession and leave, taking family and all personal property from the premises within 24 hours.

And if nobody’s there — paragraph (c): if the defendant can’t be found in the county and there’s no person in charge, “the officer shall enter the premises, breaking in if necessary, and remove and store the personal property of the defendant at a place designated by the plaintiff … .”

Removal and storage of property are governed by subdivision 3, with motions about removal or storage under subdivision 4. Subdivision 5 provides a penalty and says waiver isn’t allowed.

The timeline, compressed

What I tell landlords

1. Send the 14-day notice and get the accounting right. A “specific accounting” that separates rent from late fees from other charges is a statutory element, not a courtesy. An inflated or unexplained number is the easiest thing in the case to attack.
2. Attach the notice to the complaint. Subdivision 1(d) isn’t discretionary.
3. Check the local ordinance before you count days.
4. Make the § 504B.285, subd. 5 call deliberately. Pleading a material lease violation alongside nonpayment changes the redemption analysis, and it changes what you have to prove.
5. Never take a partial payment without a signed writing that tracks § 504B.291, subd. 1(c).
6. Bring the business records. They’re what rebuts the money-order presumption.
7. Don’t confuse possession with collection. An eviction gets the premises back. Getting the money back is a separate judgment with its own enforcement path — see my conciliation court guide and my garnishment and exemptions guide.

What I tell tenants

1. Don’t miss the hearing. The window is 7 to 14 days, and it doesn’t reopen because you didn’t read the mail.
2. Look for the notice. If a nonpayment case was filed against you as a residential tenant without the 14-day notice attached, the statute directs dismissal and expungement.
3. Bring your money orders and receipt stubs. The presumption is real, and it’s in the statute.
4. Know the redemption right, and know it runs until possession is delivered — not until the hearing. If you can pay the arrears with interest, costs, and an attorney’s fee capped at $5, and perform your other lease covenants, you can be restored to possession.
5. If you can cover the rent but not the costs, ask the court about paying those into court under § 504B.291, subd. 1(b).
6. Apply for assistance right away. Under § 504B.321, subd. 1b, the notice itself is deemed sufficient demonstration of an emergency for county assistance purposes, and the county “must not require a tenant to provide additional verification of the emergency.”

Fast on the merits, forgiving on the money

Summary eviction exists because a landlord who can’t get an income-producing property back on a predictable timeline stops renting it. The seven-to-fourteen-day appearance is the whole point of the proceeding.

But speed cuts against accuracy, and the Legislature has spent the last several sessions putting friction back in at the front and the back. At the front, a specific, itemized, statutorily worded 14-day notice, enforced by dismissal with expungement. At the back, a redemption right that survives judgment, survives the writ, and expires only when the tenant actually loses the keys.

So it’s fast on the merits and forgiving on the money. Landlords who treat it as a collection tool are usually disappointed. Tenants who treat the hearing date as the end of the line usually give up a right they still had. I’ve watched both happen in the same courtroom on the same morning.

Madgett Law, LLC represents Minnesota landlords and tenants in eviction proceedings, lease default disputes, and the collection actions that follow. If you’ve gotten a 14-day notice or an eviction summons, the window is measured in days. Call before it closes. Send us a message or call 612-470-6529.

Sources: Minn. Stat. § 504B.321 (complaint and summons — subd. 1(a), contents of the complaint; subd. 1(b), effect of missing name or date of birth; subd. 1(c), appearance not less than seven nor more than 14 days from issuance of the summons; subd. 1(d), the requirement to attach the subd. 1a notice and the mandatory dismissal without prejudice and expungement; subd. 1a, the residential nonpayment notice, its six required contents, delivery personally or by first class mail to the leased premises, and the 14-day period subject to a longer local period; subd. 1b, the notice as verification of emergency for county assistance; subd. 2, expedited procedure and the required affidavit of specific facts and instances, as amended by Laws 2026, ch. 81, § 5, effective August 1, 2026 and applicable to eviction actions filed on or after that date, adding an assault ground defined by reference to Minn. Stat. § 609.02, subd. 10 and raising the abuse-of-process civil penalty to up to $750); Minn. Stat. § 504B.291 (eviction action for nonpayment; redemption; other rights — subd. 1(a), the action as equivalent to a demand for rent, the rebuttable money-order presumption and its rebuttal by business record, the redemption right exercisable at any time before possession has been delivered on payment of arrears with interest, costs, and an attorney’s fee not to exceed $5 and performance of other lease covenants, and the exception where the landlord also alleges a material lease violation under § 504B.285, subd. 5; subd. 1(b), payment into court within any stay under § 504B.345; subd. 1(c), the written-agreement requirement for partial payments); Minn. Stat. § 504B.361, subd. 1 (uniform summons and writ forms and required legal-help statement); Minn. Stat. § 504B.365 (execution of the writ — subd. 1(a), the 24-hour demand; subd. 1(c), entry where the defendant cannot be found and no person is in charge; subds. 3–5, removal and storage of property, related motions, and penalty with no waiver) (Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes). Section 504B.321, subd. 1a is written in terms of a residential tenant; commercial lease defaults are governed by the lease and by other provisions of chapter 504B, and should be analyzed separately. Local ordinances may impose longer notice periods. This article is general legal information about Minnesota law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. No outcome is promised or implied.