Minnesota Rewrote HOA Law in 2026 — and Whether It Reaches Your Association Depends on What Kind of Community You Live In, Not How Old It Is

Two things about Minnesota association law surprise nearly everyone who lives under one.

The first is that the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act does not apply the same way to every association, and the dividing line is not the year the community was built. It is what kind of community it is. A condominium recorded in 1979 gets a long list of MCIOA protections that override its own declaration. A townhome development recorded the same year — a “planned community” — gets almost none of them unless it opted in. Owners in the second community routinely assume they have rights that the statute never gave them.

The second is that on January 1, 2027, a great deal of this changes. The 2026 Legislature passed the most substantial rewrite of chapter 515B in years: a hard cap on fines, a right to speak at board meetings, a ban on retaliation, competitive-bidding requirements, a cap on late fees and interest, mandatory collection policies, and a rule that partial payments must be accepted. Act of May 12, 2026, ch. 82 (S.F. 1750). A companion technical bill, Act of April 29, 2026, ch. 61 (S.F. 3622), took effect August 1, 2026 under the default rule of Minn. Stat. § 645.02.

This article is about what an owner can actually make an association do — records, meetings, votes, fines, amendments — and about the two structural surprises: amendment by silence, and the type-not-date applicability rule. Assessments and the association’s lien are covered separately in the HOA assessment lien article.

Does MCIOA even apply to my association?

Not necessarily, and the answer is in Minn. Stat. § 515B.1-102. Start with the base rule in subsection (a): “this chapter, and not chapters 515 and 515A, applies to all common interest communities created within this state on and after June 1, 1994.”

For anything older, subsection (b) sorts by type:

That fourth row is the one that matters most in practice, because a very large share of Minnesota’s older townhome and detached-home associations are planned communities, not condominiums.

Two provisions cut across all of it. Under § 515B.1-102(g), “Sections 515B.1-106 and 515B.2-118(a)(5), (a)(7), and (d), shall apply to all common interest communities” — the deemed-consent and court-petition amendment rules discussed below reach every association in the state. And under subsection (d), an older community may elect into MCIOA by recording a conforming declaration or amended declaration and adopting conforming bylaws, subject to the requirements in paragraphs (1) through (5). Many have. Read the recorded documents before assuming yours has not.

There is also a set of communities MCIOA excludes outright under subsection (e), including a two-unit planned community meeting the plat requirements, communities “limited by the declaration to nonresidential uses,” and — importantly —

a common interest community that consists solely of platted lots or other separate parcels of real estate designed or utilized for detached single family dwellings or agricultural purposes, with or without common property, where no association or master association has an obligation to maintain any building containing a dwelling or any agricultural building located or to be located on such platted lots or parcels …

§ 515B.1-102(e)(2). If your association maintains a shared road and a monument sign but has no obligation to maintain any dwelling, it may sit entirely outside chapter 515B. The 2026 technical act added a further exemption at § 515B.1-102(e)(6) for wholly nonresidential real estate subject only to instruments creating access, utility, parking, ditch, drainage, irrigation, insurance, or casualty-repair rights. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 61, § 1.

Where MCIOA does not reach, three other statutes still do. Minnesota Statutes §§ 500.215, 500.216, and 500.217 bind association powers directly — § 515B.3-102(d) says so for MCIOA associations, and the sections themselves are drafted to reach beyond MCIOA. Section 500.216 defines the “homeowners association document” it governs to include the documents of “a common interest community, as defined in section 515B.1-103, regardless of whether the common interest community is subject to chapter 515B,” and of “a residential community that is not a common interest community.” § 500.216, subd. 1(c).

• Flags. “Any provision of any deed restriction, subdivision regulation, restrictive covenant, local ordinance, contract, rental agreement or regulation, or homeowners association document that limits the right of an owner or tenant of residential property to display the flag of the United States and the flag of the State of Minnesota is void and unenforceable.” § 500.215, subd. 1(a).
• Solar. A private entity “must not prohibit or refuse to permit the owner of a single-family dwelling to install, maintain, or use a roof-mounted solar energy system,” subject to the section’s other terms, for dwellings whose owner is the sole owner of the entire building and solely responsible for its maintenance, repair, replacement, and insurance. § 500.216, subds. 2, 3.
• Licensed child care. A private entity “must not prohibit, unreasonably restrict, or refuse to permit the owner of a dwelling from providing child care under a family and group family child care provider license,” and “must not impose a fee, assessment, or other cost upon the owner of a dwelling in connection with providing child care.” § 500.217(a). The association may require indemnification and parent liability waivers. § 500.217(b).

Can the board keep me out of its meetings?

Only for three reasons, and it has to give you notice of the meeting in the first place.

Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-103(g): “Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, meetings of the board of directors must be open to the unit owners. To the extent practicable, the board shall give reasonable notice to the unit owners of the date, time, and place of a board meeting.” Notice is excused if the schedule is set in the governing documents, announced at a previous board meeting, posted in an accessible designated location, or if an emergency requires immediate consideration.

The closure grounds are exclusive: (1) personnel matters; (2) pending or potential litigation, arbitration, or other potentially adversarial proceedings, where the board determines closure is necessary to discuss strategy or protect the association’s position or an owner’s privacy; and (3) criminal activity in the community where closure protects a victim’s privacy or the investigation. Minutes of a closed portion “may be kept confidential at the discretion of the board.”

Two limits on the owner’s side. “The failure to give notice as required by this subsection shall not invalidate the board meeting or any action taken at the meeting” — so a notice violation is not a route to undo the board’s decision. And “[n]othing in this subsection imposes a duty on the board to provide special facilities for meetings.”

What changes January 1, 2027. The 2026 act rewrites this subsection substantially. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 4. It strikes “[t]o the extent practicable” from the notice sentence and makes all board meetings open. It requires the board to “make the meeting agenda, and contracts or other documents the board intends to approve or disapprove at the board meeting, available to unit owners in any reasonable manner, including but not limited to electronic mailing or posting on the association’s website” — excluding documents tied to closed-session items. And it creates a right to be heard:

Before any action is taken on an agenda item at any board meeting open to unit owners, a unit owner, or a person designated in writing by the owner, must be permitted to speak at a time designated by the board on an agenda item. … The board may place a reasonable limit on the time a member is allowed to speak and may, after a warning by the chair of the meeting, expel any person who disrupts the meeting or causes a disturbance. A board may not impose a fine for exercising the right to speak or provide a written statement.

The owner is asked to make “a good faith attempt to notify the board in advance” of an intent to speak, and may request that an item be added to the agenda or submit a written comment beforehand. The same section adds a carve-out: no notice or minutes are required for a meeting among board members or officers “if the subject of the meeting is solely to discuss issues related to basic maintenance, or daily operations and management of the association … provided the meeting does not result in a vote or formal action by the board.”

What records am I entitled to see, and what can the association charge?

Broad access, at capped copying rates. Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-118 requires the association to keep records of membership, owner meetings, board meetings, committee meetings, contracts, leases, “and material correspondence and memoranda relating to its operations,” plus financial records detailed enough to support the annual report and resale certificates. Then:

All records, except records relating to information that was the basis for closing a board meeting under section 515B.3-103, paragraph (g), shall be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner or the unit owner’s authorized agent, subject to the applicable statutes. The association must provide copies in paper or electronic form as requested by the owner or authorized agent, provided that the association is not required to provide copies in electronic form if the records are not maintained in that form by the association.

The fee ceiling is the useful part. The association “may require the unit owner or the authorized agent to pay a fee for copies, which must not exceed” either (1) “the actual costs of making or electronically transmitting the copies and searching for and retrieving the requested records, including the cost of agent or employee time for responding to the request,” or (2) “if 100 or fewer pages of black and white, letter or legal size paper copies are requested, no more than 25 cents for each page copied, instead of actual costs.”

Read those alternatives carefully. For a request under 100 pages of ordinary paper copies, the flat 25-cent rate is available instead of actual costs — which is how an owner avoids being billed for a manager’s hourly time on a small request.

Starting January 1, 2027, the record set expands. The 2026 act requires the association to “maintain a record of the bid selection process, including the criteria used, and the contracts awarded for the last six years, and make those records available to unit owners at cost or as otherwise provided in section 515B.3-118.” 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 4 (adding § 515B.3-103(j)).

Can the association take away my vote because I’m behind on dues?

No, and any document that says otherwise is void by statute.

Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-110(a) closes with a sentence worth memorizing:

Any provision in the articles of incorporation, bylaws, declaration, or other document restricting a unit owner’s right to vote, or affecting quorum requirements, by reason of nonpayment of assessments, or a purported violation of any provision of the documents governing the common interest community, shall be void.

That covers both halves of a common association tactic — stripping the vote and excluding the unit from the quorum count.

The rest of the section is equally practical. If a unit has more than one owner, only one may cast the vote, and “[i]f the owners of a unit fail to agree and notify the association as to who shall cast the vote, the vote shall not be cast.” § 515B.3-110(a). Proxies are permitted if the articles or bylaws allow, and the board “may specify the form of proxy and proxy rules, consistent with law.” § 515B.3-110(b).

Electronic and mailed-ballot voting has its own guardrails under § 515B.3-110(c): the vote counts only if “the total votes cast are at least equal to the votes required for a quorum”; the board must set a voting period “not less than 15 nor more than 45 days after the date of delivery of the notice of the vote and voting procedures”; the board must report results within 30 days after the voting period closes; and these procedures “shall not be used in combination with a vote taken at a meeting of the unit owners,” although electronic voting and mailed ballots may be combined with each other.

Class voting is allowed by the articles or bylaws but “may only be used to address operational, physical, or administrative differences within the common interest community,” and “units shall not constitute a class because they are owned by a declarant.” § 515B.3-110(d). Finally, “[n]o votes allocated to a unit owned by the association may be cast nor counted toward a quorum.” § 515B.3-110(f).

How much notice do I get for meetings, and how do I force one?

Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-108(a) requires a meeting of the association “at least once each year,” and it fixes a minimum agenda: election of successor directors whose terms have expired, “a report on the activities and financial condition of the association,” and consideration of any other matters in the notice.

Unless the bylaws say otherwise, special meetings “may be called by the president and shall be called by the president or secretary upon the written petition of a majority of the board or unit owners entitled to cast at least 20 percent of the votes in the association.” That is the owners’ lever. Twenty percent of the voting power, in writing, compels a special meeting.

Notice runs on two clocks under § 515B.3-108(b): “[n]ot less than 21 nor more than 30 days in advance of any annual meeting, and not less than seven nor more than 30 days in advance of any special meeting,” hand delivered or sent by prepaid U.S. mail to the mailing address of each unit or to another address the owner designated in writing. The notice must state the date, time, place, and purposes of the meeting, and if proxies are permitted, “the procedures for appointing proxies.” § 515B.3-108(c).

Quorum is low by design. “[U]nless the bylaws provide otherwise, a quorum is present throughout any meeting of the association if unit owners entitled to cast in excess of 20 percent of the votes in the association are present in person or by proxy at the beginning of the meeting,” and for a board meeting, in excess of 50 percent of the board’s votes present in person. § 515B.3-109(a), (b).

The annual report is a real disclosure document, not a formality. Section 515B.3-106(c) requires, at minimum, a statement of capital expenditures exceeding two percent of the current budget or $5,000, whichever is greater, for the current and succeeding two fiscal years; total replacement reserves and how the board has allocated them by component; last year’s statement of revenues and expenses and a year-end balance sheet; the status of pending litigation or judgments; a detailed description of insurance coverage; and “a statement of the total past due assessments on all units, current as of not more than 60 days prior to the date of the meeting.”

Effective January 1, 2027, the insurance item must also state the association’s deductible and carry this notice in capital letters: “IF THE ASSOCIATION LEVIES A LOSS ASSESSMENT, THE UNIT OWNER IS PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING IT, EVEN IF THE UNIT OWNER DOES NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT INSURANCE COVERAGE.” 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 5.

Can 67 percent of my neighbors ban rentals — and does my silence count as a yes?

Yes to both, and the second half is the trap.

The default amendment threshold in Minn. Stat. § 515B.2-118(a) is “vote or written consent of unit owners of units to which at least 67 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any greater or other requirement the declaration specifies.”

A short list of amendments requires unanimous written consent under § 515B.2-118(a)(3): creating or increasing special declarant rights; increasing the number of units; changing unit boundaries; changing allocated interests; changing common elements to limited common elements or units; changing a unit’s authorized use from residential to nonresidential or the reverse; and changing the characterization of a cooperative owner’s interest between real estate and personal property.

A rental restriction is not on that list. It is an ordinary 67 percent amendment. And the 2026 act confirms that rental limits can live in the rules as well as the declaration: it singles out a violation that “involves using the property for financial enrichment, including renting or offering for rent a unit in violation of the declaration, bylaws, or a rule or regulation prohibiting short-term or long-term rentals” as one that escapes the new fine cap. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 3.

Now the deemed-consent rule, § 515B.2-118(a)(7):

If any provision of this chapter, the declaration, the bylaws, or the articles of incorporation requires the vote or consent of unit owners as a condition for the approval or effectiveness of an amendment …, the affirmative vote or consent of a unit owner is deemed to be granted if the association sends notice and a copy of the amendment, by certified United States mail, postage prepaid and return receipt requested, and (i) if a vote is conducted, the unit owner’s vote is not cast against the proposed amendment, or (ii) if consent is requested, the unit owner’s written refusal to consent is not received by the association within 60 days after notice is mailed.

An owner who ignores the certified envelope has voted yes. A parallel rule at § 515B.2-118(a)(5) deems a secured party’s consent granted if its written refusal is not received within 60 days — except for amendments affecting lien priority or the ability to foreclose. And under § 515B.1-102(g), both of these apply to every common interest community in Minnesota, including ones the rest of chapter 515B does not reach.

Two more deadlines matter. Amendments are “effective only when recorded” in every county where any part of the community sits, § 515B.2-118(c) — and “[n]o action to challenge the validity of an amendment or a supplemental declaration may be brought more than two years after the amendment or supplemental declaration is recorded.” § 515B.2-118(b).

If the association cannot reach the threshold, § 515B.2-118(d) lets it petition district court to reduce it. The procedure is demanding: a hearing date not less than 90 days after filing; personal service (or service by publication where a summons could be published) of the petition and hearing notice on all members not less than 15 days before the hearing, or a signed waiver; and seven findings, including that “a reasonably diligent effort was made to permit all eligible members to vote,” that at least 67 percent actually approved, and that “the amendment is reasonable.” The court cannot approve an amendment that would have required unanimous consent under (a)(3).

What are the limits on fines — today, and on January 1, 2027?

Today the statute requires process but sets no dollar ceiling. Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-102(a)(11) currently lets the association “impose interest and late charges for late payment of assessments and, after notice and an opportunity to be heard before the board or a committee appointed by it, levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations,” with a proviso that attorney fees and costs must not be charged to an owner who disputes a fine or assessment where the owner requested a hearing, a hearing was held, and the board did not adopt a resolution levying the fine or upholding the assessment.

Section 515B.3-102(c) already requires a dated written notice that states the amount and reason; specifies the violation, the date of the levy, and “the specific section of the declaration, bylaws, rules, or regulations allegedly violated”; warns that unpaid fines and assessments are liens that could lead to foreclosure; describes the right to be heard; warns that the amount may grow through attorney fees and collection costs; and points the owner to the Minnesota Homeownership Center.

On January 1, 2027, this becomes a different regime. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 3 replaces clause (11) with a capped-fine structure. Unless owners holding a majority of the votes approve a greater amount at a board meeting, the association may impose “a fine not to exceed $100 for a single violation of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations,” except that a larger fine is allowed “for a subsequent violation for the same conduct,” or if the violation:

• “has a serious and immediate impact on the health or safety of a resident, occupant, or guest”;
• “causes physical damage to another unit or a common element”; or
• “involves using the property for financial enrichment, including renting or offering for rent a unit in violation of the declaration, bylaws, or a rule or regulation prohibiting short-term or long-term rentals.”

The hearing process becomes concrete. The owner “within 30 days after receipt of the notice, must request a hearing, unless the declaration provides for a different period,” and “has the right to be advised by an attorney or a designated representative at the hearing.” Attorney fees and costs “must not be charged or collected from a unit owner unless the hearing is held and the board or committee adopts a final resolution upholding the fine or assessment.” The association must deliver a copy of the final resolution within 30 days of adoption, and “[t]he resolution must contain an explanation for upholding the fine or assessment.”

Associations that fine must also publish a menu: “a list of fines for common violations of the governing documents and a description of the remedies available to the association” must go to every owner “in any reasonable manner, including but not limited to electronic mailing or posting on the association’s website,” and again whenever the schedule is amended.

Three money limits arrive with it. Interest on delinquent assessments and special assessments is capped at eight percent. A late-payment fee may not exceed the greater of $20 or five percent of the amount owed. And the association “may not refuse to accept payment from an owner of any amount for any assessment, fine, or fee, except if the association has commenced a foreclosure under chapter 580 or 581” — with acceptance expressly not waiving any claim or defense.

Payments now have a statutory application order: a payment “must be applied to assessments for common expenses and special assessments first before it is applied to fines, fees, or other assessments,” unless the owner and association agree otherwise or the fine is one of the three excepted categories and has gone unpaid more than 120 days. And “[a]n association must consider offering a reasonable payment plan for a delinquency.”

Finally, a general grievance right that is not limited to fines:

A board must allow a unit owner to present, orally or in writing, a grievance to the board or a committee appointed by the board on a matter other than a fine governed under subsection (a)(11), or an application to alter a unit under section 515B.3-107(e). The board must make a good faith effort to resolve the grievance or, if resolution is not achieved, refer the unit owner to the common interest community ombudsperson. An association may not impose any fees or charges on the unit owner for making the presentation.

That office already exists — just not inside chapter 515B. The common interest community ombudsperson is established by Minn. Stat. § 45.0137, enacted in the 2025 special session (1Sp2025 c 4 art 7 s 2) and housed within the Department of Commerce. Its statutory duties include plain-language explanations of governing-document provisions and, on request, informal mediation of disputes between owners and associations — with exceptions where the same dispute is already in a judicial or administrative proceeding, in another ADR process, or subject to an active harassment restraining order under § 609.748. § 45.0137, subd. 4. The office is barred from giving legal advice or making a formal determination or issuing an order in a dispute. § 45.0137, subd. 5. Chapter 82’s grievance-referral provision here, and its amended fine-notice disclosure at § 515B.3-102(c)(7), are simply cross-referencing that existing office, not creating a new one.

Can the board run up a legal bill on my inquiry and send me the invoice?

Not without warning you first, starting January 1, 2027. The 2026 act creates a new section:

[515B.3-125] LEGAL FEES; NOTICE REQUIRED. (a) If an association elects to refer a unit owner’s inquiry to the association’s legal counsel, the association must notify the unit owner in advance that the association: (1) intends to refer the inquiry to the association’s legal counsel; and (2) may incur legal fees which may result in an assessment to the unit owner. (b) The board must provide the notification under subsection (a) at no cost to the unit owner.

2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 10. Advance notice is excused where the matter involves pending or threatened litigation, where the owner has retained counsel and the association is responding to the owner’s attorney, or where “immediate legal action is necessary to preserve the legal rights of the association or to prevent immediate harm to persons or property.” § 515B.3-125(c).

Do boards have to take competitive bids?

Beginning January 1, 2027, yes — above a threshold, with disclosure, and with a six-year paper trail. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 4 adds conflict-of-interest standards for elected boards:

• A board member “must not participate in deliberations regarding or vote on the approval or disapproval of a contract to which the association is or may be a party where the board member or a member of the family of a board member has a material financial interest in the contract or is likely to realize a material financial gain,” using the definition of “member of the family” in § 317A.255, subd. 4.
• No board member — and no property manager authorized to contract for the association — may “solicit or accept any money or other compensation from any person as an inducement” to vote for or enter into a property maintenance, construction, repair, or reconstruction contract.
• “[P]rior to entering into any contract for property maintenance, construction, repair, or reconstruction services with an estimated cost exceeding $50,000, the board or property managers must solicit a minimum of three written competitive bids.” Bids from anyone affiliated with a board member, a family member, a property manager, or an employee “must be disclosed prior to consideration or a vote on the bids,” and “[a] written record of the disclosures must be retained and recorded in the meeting minutes.”

Selection must rest on “reasonable business criteria, including but not limited to, the cost of the project, the contractor’s qualifications, available warranties, the extent to which the bidder has met the bid solicitation requirements, and the length of time estimated to complete the project.” Bidding is excused where multiple bids cannot be obtained despite reasonable efforts, for emergency repairs protecting health or safety, where significant damage must be addressed without delay, where the work is covered by a warranty, where only one vendor can supply the goods or services, or where materials cost $50,000 or less and labor is volunteered at no charge.

The same section puts limits on management contracts: a declarant’s contract with a property manager “shall terminate no later than 12 months after the declarant control period has ended,” and a post-declarant-control management contract that does not automatically renew “may be terminated by the association, with or without cause, upon three months’ written notice.”

Directors also get term limits of a sort: “[e]ach term of a director must not exceed three years, provided there is no limit on the number of terms a director may serve,” terms must be staggered unless they run one year or less, and elections “must occur regularly, as provided in section 515B.3-108.”

How long can the board sit on my request to alter my unit?

Ninety days, once the 2026 changes take effect. New § 515B.3-107(e), added by 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 6, requires an association with approval authority over owner alterations to “establish, by rule or regulation, a fair, reasonable, and expeditious procedure for making any decision on the proposed alteration,” to give that procedure to any owner who asks for an alteration, and — unless the governing documents set a different period — to decide “within 90 days after submission of an application that contains all the information required or any additional information or changes to the proposal requested by the association’s board.” The decision “must be in writing, must be made in accordance with the standards of conduct for directors set forth in the statute under which the association is organized, and must be reasonable.”

The same section adds a parking rule at § 515B.3-107(f). An association “has no authority to regulate the parking of a unit owner or a guest, tenant, or invitee of the unit owner within an improved public right of way that a unit of government maintains and repairs,” except to require compliance with applicable statutes and ordinances, and the act states that “[a]bsent legislative authorization, a unit of government does not have the authority to delegate its police powers to a private entity.” Any authorized delegation runs no more than five years, renewable. Owners and residents “must be permitted to park a personal or work vehicle on the portion of the unit owner’s property or the portion of the limited common element allocated to the unit that was originally designed or subsequently modified for the parking of vehicles,” so long as the vehicle does not encroach on another unit, block a pedestrian walkway, or interfere with the association’s maintenance.

What can I do about it — and can they punish me for doing it?

Minn. Stat. § 515B.4-116 is the enforcement section, and it runs in both directions.

Subsection (a): “if a declarant, an association, or any other person violates any provision of this chapter, or any provision of the declaration, bylaws, or rules and regulations any person or class of persons adversely affected by the failure to comply has a claim for appropriate relief.” Subsection (b): “The court may award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of litigation to the prevailing party. Punitive damages may be awarded for a willful failure to comply.” Subsection (d) preserves everything else: the chapter’s remedies “are not exclusive and do not abrogate any remedies under other statutes or the common law.”

Note that the fee provision is two-sided. A prevailing association can recover fees against an owner as readily as the reverse. That asymmetry of resources is the practical reason most owner disputes are resolved before suit.

Effective January 1, 2027, the section gains an anti-retaliation provision. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 13:

An association may not retaliate against a unit owner for asserting any right the unit owner has under this chapter or other law. For the purposes of this section, “retaliation” means to restrict any right or privilege a unit owner has, or impose any fine, penalty, or other charge on a unit owner, not authorized under the declaration, bylaws, or rules or regulations. Retaliation does not include commencing a foreclosure action for a fine that remains unpaid after the time allowed for payment, after the board has adopted a resolution upholding a fine under section 515B.3-102(a)(11).

The definition is narrower than it first looks: retaliation is confined to restrictions and charges the governing documents do not authorize. A properly authorized fine, levied through the new hearing process, is not retaliation even if the timing looks pointed. The same section makes a disclosure of data in violation of the Safe at Home program under § 5B.05, paragraph (d), a violation of chapter 515B.

Owners in a community that operates outside MCIOA are not remediless — the declaration is a contract, the association is almost always a nonprofit corporation with its own statutory duties, and discrimination claims run through the Minnesota Human Rights Act rather than chapter 515B. See housing discrimination under Minn. Stat. § 363A.09.

Can the owners dissolve the association?

It takes a supermajority of owners and of lenders. Minn. Stat. § 515B.2-119(a) currently permits termination “only by agreement of unit owners of units to which at least 80 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, and 80 percent of the first mortgagees of units (each mortgagee having one vote per unit financed), or any larger percentage the declaration specifies.” A smaller percentage may be specified only if all units are restricted to nonresidential use.

Effective January 1, 2027, for terminations initiated on or after that date, the 2026 act splits the rule. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 2. A community that “consists entirely of detached, single-family dwellings that does not include any common elements and the association has no maintenance obligations for any building that contains a dwelling” may terminate on 67 percent of the votes, with agreement “deemed to have been provided by any unit owner who has not otherwise indicated a preference and whose written refusal to agree is not received by the association within 60 days” after certified-mail notice of the proposed termination. Every other community keeps the 80/80 rule.

That is the deemed-consent mechanic again, this time applied to the association’s existence.

What else lands on January 1, 2027

Three items round out the picture.

A mandatory collection policy. “An association must adopt a collection policy and provide a copy to all unit owners,” requiring at minimum “three separate notifications to a unit owner before the account is referred to a law firm or collection agency for collections, including at least one notification sent by certified mail to the unit owner’s registered address,” and requiring a law firm engaged to foreclose the assessment lien to send the § 580.021 notice “by United States mail and certified mail to the unit owner.” 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 7 (new § 515B.3-115(k)); a parallel provision appears for communities created on or after August 1, 2010 at § 515B.3-1151. The lien itself is covered in the assessment lien article.

Better resale disclosure. Section 515B.4-107 will require the seller to furnish, along with the existing documents, “the list of common fines and allowable remedies required under section 515B.3-102 and the collection policy adopted by the association,” and “a copy of any reserve study, if any, obtained by the association within the past three years.” The resale certificate gains a warning that master-policy deductibles “may be assessed to a unit as a ‘loss assessment’” for which the owner is personally liable, and a plain-language block advising a purchaser that governing documents “may also be modified or changed at any time with the appropriate approval and any modifications or amendments will apply to existing unit owners,” and that “it is advisable to consult with an attorney before purchasing a unit.” 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 12.

Cities can no longer require an HOA. New § 515B.5-101 bars a county, town, municipality, joint planning board, or public corporation including the Metropolitan Council from conditioning approval of a residential building permit, conditional use permit, subdivision, planned unit development, “or any other permit related to residential development” on the creation of a homeowners association, on the inclusion of features requiring one absent a developer request, on particular terms in the governing documents, or on the adoption, revocation, or amendment of an association rule. Local governments may still require “the maintenance or insurance of common elements.” This one applies only “for all common interest communities created on or after” January 1, 2027. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 14.

An application clause governs the rest: “Sections 1 to 13 are effective on the dates provided and apply to common interest communities created before, on, or after the date of enactment.” 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 15. That reaches back across vintages — but it does not by its terms rewrite the type-based applicability scheme of § 515B.1-102, so an owner in a pre-1994 planned community should still start there.

Practical takeaways

• Find out what your community is before you rely on any of this. The recorded declaration will identify itself as a condominium, cooperative, or planned community, and will state the date. Then run § 515B.1-102.
• Open the certified envelope. Under § 515B.2-118(a)(7), not voting against an amendment is voting for it, and that rule reaches every association in Minnesota.
• Calendar two years from recording if you want to challenge an amendment. § 515B.2-118(b).
• Twenty percent of the votes compels a special meeting. § 515B.3-108(a).
• Ask for records in writing and cite the 25-cent alternative for requests under 100 pages. § 515B.3-118.
• If you are fined after January 1, 2027, request the hearing within 30 days. The attorney-fee shift depends on it. 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 82, § 3.

Boundary and shared-ownership questions that outrun the association’s authority — where a common element ends and a unit begins, or what happens when co-owners cannot agree — are handled through other mechanisms, including partition. And an association is not a landlord: the entry rules that govern residential tenancies under Minn. Stat. § 504B.211 are separate from the association’s access right under § 515B.3-107(c).

Madgett Law, LLC advises Minnesota homeowners and unit owners in disputes with common interest community associations — records demands, fine and hearing challenges, meeting and election disputes, amendment and rental-restriction fights, alteration approvals, and defense of assessment and fine collection. We also counsel owners on how the 2026 amendments to chapter 515B change the leverage in a dispute that is pending now but will be governed by the new rules after January 1, 2027. Call 612-470-6529 or send us a message.

Sources: Minn. Stat. § 515B.1-102 (applicability — subsection (a) June 1, 1994 base rule; (b)(1) chapter 515A condominiums; (b)(2) enumerated sections applying to chapter 515 condominiums and the clause providing that those sections prevail over pre-August 1, 1999 declarations and bylaws; (b)(3) exclusion of pre-June 1, 1994 cooperatives and planned communities and of 1994–2006 planned communities of more than two but fewer than 13 units, except §§ 515B.1-116(a), (c), (d), (e), 515B.4-107, 515B.4-108; (d) election to be subject to the chapter; (e)(2) detached single-family/agricultural exemption; (g) §§ 515B.1-106 and 515B.2-118(a)(5), (a)(7), (d) applying to all common interest communities); § 515B.2-118 (amendment of declaration — (a) 67 percent default; (a)(3) unanimous-consent list; (a)(5) secured-party deemed consent; (a)(7) unit owner deemed consent on certified-mail notice; (b) two-year limit on challenges; (c) recording; (d) court petition to reduce the required percentage, including the 90-day hearing date, 15-day service, and the seven findings); § 515B.2-119(a) (80 percent of owners and 80 percent of first mortgagees to terminate); § 515B.3-102(a)(11), (c) (current fine power, notice-and-hearing proviso, and required contents of a fine or damage-assessment notice), (d) (compliance with §§ 500.215, 500.216, 500.217); § 515B.3-103(g) (open board meetings; notice; the three closure grounds; failure to give notice does not invalidate the meeting); § 515B.3-106(c) (annual report contents); § 515B.3-107(c) (association access into units); § 515B.3-108 (annual meeting and minimum agenda; special meeting on petition of owners holding 20 percent of votes; 21–30 day and 7–30 day notice; contents of notice); § 515B.3-109(a), (b) (20 percent association quorum; greater-than-50-percent board quorum); § 515B.3-110 (voting and proxies — one vote per unit; provisions restricting the vote or quorum for nonpayment or alleged violations are void; proxy authority; 15–45 day electronic/mail ballot period, quorum requirement, 30-day results notice, no combination with a meeting vote; class-voting limits; association-owned units); § 515B.3-118 (association records; closed-meeting exception; paper or electronic copies; fee ceiling of actual costs including staff time, or 25 cents per page for 100 or fewer black-and-white letter or legal pages); § 515B.4-116(a), (b), (d) (claim for appropriate relief; prevailing-party attorney fees; punitive damages for willful failure; nonexclusive remedies); § 645.02 (acts without a specified effective date take effect August 1 following final enactment); § 500.215, subd. 1(a) (flag display provisions void and unenforceable); § 500.216, subds. 1(c), 2, 3 (definition of “homeowners association document” reaching communities not subject to chapter 515B; applicability; roof-mounted solar energy systems); § 500.217(a), (b) (licensed family and group family child care; no fee, assessment, or other cost; permitted indemnification and waivers); § 45.0137, subds. 2, 4, 5 (common interest community ombudsperson established within the Department of Commerce; duties including plain-language explanations and informal mediation, with exceptions for pending proceedings, ongoing ADR, or an active § 609.748 order; bar on legal advice and on formal determinations or orders; enacted 1Sp2025 c 4 art 7 s 2) — all at revisor.mn.gov. Act of May 12, 2026, ch. 82 (S.F. 1750), signed May 12, 2026: § 2 (§ 515B.2-119 termination; 67 percent with deemed agreement for detached single-family communities with no common elements and no dwelling-maintenance obligation; effective January 1, 2027 for terminations initiated on or after that date); § 3 (§ 515B.3-102 — reasonableness of rules and 21-day notice before adopting, amending, or revoking a rule; $100 fine cap and its three exceptions; 30-day hearing request; right to be advised by an attorney or designated representative; attorney fees only on a held hearing and a final resolution upholding; 30-day delivery of the explained resolution; published fine schedule; 8 percent interest cap; late fee capped at the greater of $20 or 5 percent; mandatory acceptance of payments; payment application order; payment plan consideration; grievance right and the ombudsperson referral; effective January 1, 2027); § 4 (§ 515B.3-103 — all board meetings open; advance availability of the agenda and contracts; right to speak before action on an agenda item and prohibition on fining for it; maintenance/operations meeting carve-out; conflict-of-interest standards; three written competitive bids above $50,000 and disclosure of affiliated bids in the minutes; bid-selection criteria; six exceptions to bidding; six-year bid records available under § 515B.3-118; three-year staggered director terms; property manager contract limits; effective January 1, 2027); § 5 (§ 515B.3-106 annual report — deductible disclosure and the loss-assessment notice); § 6 (§ 515B.3-107(e) 90-day written, reasonable alteration decision; (f) parking); § 7 (§ 515B.3-115(k) collection policy — three notifications, one by certified mail, and the § 580.021 notice by mail and certified mail); § 10 (new § 515B.3-125 legal fees notice and its three exceptions); § 12 (§ 515B.4-107 resale — fine list, collection policy, three-year reserve study, loss-assessment and purchaser-advisory language); § 13 (§ 515B.4-116(e) anti-retaliation and its foreclosure carve-out; (f) Safe at Home); § 14 (new § 515B.5-101 barring local governments from requiring a homeowners association, effective January 1, 2027 for communities created on or after that date); § 15 (application to communities created before, on, or after enactment) — at revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/Session+Law/Chapter/82/. Act of April 29, 2026, ch. 61 (S.F. 3622), signed April 29, 2026 (clarifying, technical, and conforming changes to chapter 515B; § 1 amending § 515B.1-102, including the new (e)(6) exemption and new (k); no effective-date clause, so August 1, 2026 under § 645.02) — at revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/Session+Law/Chapter/61/. This article is general legal information about Minnesota law. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney–client relationship, and no particular outcome is promised or implied.