Start with the provision that surprises people on both sides of the lot line. A park owner sues to recover possession because a resident violated a new or amended park rule, and wins the contested question. The park owner still does not get the home off the lot.
Minn. Stat. § 327C.02, subd. 2a: “Notwithstanding section 504B.345, in an action to recover possession of land for violation of a new or amended rule, if the court finds that the rule is reasonable or is not a substantial modification, the court shall issue an order in favor of the plaintiff for costs. The court shall order the defendant to comply with the rule within ten days.” Possession comes later, if at all — only if the resident fails to comply after that period, and then only on a showing that the owner gave three days’ written notice and moved the court for a writ of recovery.
That “notwithstanding” is the model for how chapter 327C works. It does not build a parallel body of tenancy law. It sits on top of chapter 504B and overrides it where the text says so.
Does chapter 327C replace ordinary Minnesota landlord-tenant law?
No — and the statutes join the two chapters at the definitional level, not by displacement.
Minn. Stat. § 504B.001, subd. 12, defines “residential tenant” for all of chapter 504B as “a person who is occupying a dwelling in a residential building under a lease or contract, whether oral or written, that requires the payment of money or exchange of services, all other regular occupants of that dwelling unit, or a resident of a manufactured home park.” Subdivision 11 defines “residential building” to include “a manufactured home park,” and subdivision 6 names the Department of Health as the “inspector” for one. Park residents are inside chapter 504B by definition.
Search both chapters and the connections turn out to be finite. Chapter 504B names manufactured home parks in exactly seven places: the three definitional inclusions above, plus four carve-outs — §§ 504B.151, subd. 1(c); 504B.211, subd. 7 (which takes parks out of the tenant right-to-privacy and 24-hour notice-of-entry statute); 504B.216, subd. 1(e); and 504B.275. Chapter 327C, for its part, refers to chapter 504B five times, and three of those are incorporations: § 504B.178 governs park security deposits (§ 327C.03, subd. 4); noncompliance with the § 504B.161 habitability covenants is a defense to a nonpayment eviction (§ 327C.10, subd. 1); and the § 504B.291 right of redemption is available, capped at twice in 12 months (§ 327C.11, subd. 1). The fourth is the “notwithstanding” override above; the fifth is incidental.
None of those is a general displacement clause, and neither chapter contains one. Where chapter 504B is turned off for parks, a statute says so by name; where chapter 327C is silent, chapter 504B is still there. So a park resident locked out or cut off from utilities is a “residential tenant” who can use the expedited possession petition under § 504B.375, and a security deposit dispute runs on § 504B.178’s three-week clock. But the 24-hour notice before entry does not apply; § 327C.14, subd. 1, substitutes a narrower rule under which the owner “has no right of access to a manufactured home located within the park unless access is necessary to prevent damage to the park premises or to respond to an emergency.”
One definitional point before the substance. Section 327C.015, subd. 14: “‘Resident’ means an owner of a manufactured home who rents a lot in a manufactured home park and includes the members of the resident’s household.” A person renting the home itself is not a resident under this chapter. A park is, per § 327.14, subd. 3, land holding “two or more occupied manufactured homes,” except that § 327C.015, subd. 8, excludes “facilities which are open only during three or fewer seasons of the year.”
On what grounds can a park owner terminate a lot lease?
Seven, listed in § 327C.09, plus park closure or conversion under § 327C.095 — and nothing else. Subdivision 1 is categorical: “A park owner may recover possession of land upon which a manufactured home is situated only for a reason specified in this section or section 327C.095.” There is no no-cause termination and no end-of-term holdover ground of the kind § 504B.285, subd. 1, supplies for ordinary tenancies. The seven, in the statute’s order:
- Nonpayment of rent or utilities (subd. 2). Ten days’ written notice to the resident and to any party holding a security interest in the home known to the park owner, and “neither the resident nor the secured party cures the default within ten days of receiving the notice.” The lienholder gets a cure right.
- Violations of law (subd. 3). Failure to comply with a local ordinance, state law, or state rule relating to manufactured homes within the time that law provides, or if none is provided, “within a reasonable time after the resident has received written notice of noncompliance.”
- Rule violations (subd. 4). Failure to comply within 30 days after written notice — the 30-day requirement expressly inapplicable to nonpayment of rent. The notice “must specify the date, approximate time, and nature of the alleged rule violation.” Loud noise is a rule violation; after written notice for two prior incidents it becomes a violation of subdivision 5.
- Endangerment or substantial annoyance (subd. 5). Conduct that endangers other residents or park personnel, causes substantial damage to the premises, or substantially annoys other residents, after 30 days’ written notice to vacate — “except the park owner may require the resident to vacate immediately if the resident violates this subdivision a second or subsequent time after receipt of the notice.” The notice must specify time, date, and nature, and the owner “need not produce evidence of a criminal conviction, even if the alleged misconduct constitutes a criminal offense.”
- Repeated serious violations (subd. 6). Written notice of the violations, plus a written warning that any future serious violation will be treated as cause for eviction, plus a serious violation within six months of the warning.
- Material misstatement in the application (subd. 7). A misstatement that induced approval, where “the park owner discovers and acts upon the misstatement within one year of the time the resident began paying rent.”
- Improvements (subd. 8). Plans for improvements that substantially benefit resident health and safety or that a government agency ordered, necessitating removal of the home. Ninety days’ written notice, which must “include … a statement identifying how the improvements will substantially benefit the health and safety of the residents.” If another lot is available, relocation must be allowed unless the home is incompatible by size or local ordinance.
Notice may be given personally, by mail to the last known mailing address, or by delivery to the home; certified mail is effective even if refused (§ 327C.02, subd. 3). And even after judgment the home may not have to go at once: § 327C.11, subd. 3, stays a non-conditional writ “for a reasonable period not to exceed seven days,” and subd. 4 allows a conditional writ — the household stops residing in the park within seven days, but the home stays 60 days for an in-park sale.
What can a park charge?
Rent, and a short list of specifically authorized items. Section 327C.03, subd. 1: “Except as provided in this section and section 327C.04, no fee other than the periodic rental payment shall be charged … for the right to obtain or retain a lot.”
Rent must be uniform throughout the park under subd. 3, except that a higher rent may be charged for a larger or better-located lot or for special services or facilities. A reasonable delinquent-rent fee is allowed if the rental agreement provides for it, enforceable as part of the rent. Subdivision 3 then forbids any fee based on six things: the number of persons residing or staying in the home, the number or age of children residing or staying in the home, the number of guests staying in the home, the size of the home, temporary vacancy of the home, and the type of personal property used or located in it. Pets may be charged for, but “the fee may not exceed $4 per pet per month.”
A security deposit may not exceed two months’ rent, and § 504B.178 applies to it (subd. 4). Maintenance the park performs after written notice may be billed at reasonable cost “plus a fee of up to $10” (subd. 5). The $15 annual relocation-trust-fund assessment may be passed through as a lump sum or “a fee of no more than $1.25 per month” (subd. 6). On an in-park sale the owner may charge “a fee of up to $25 for processing a prospective buyer’s tenancy application” and nothing else for allowing the sale (§ 327C.07, subd. 1).
Rent increases have their own section: 60 days’ written notice or the increase is invalid; an increase whose purpose is to pay a civil or criminal penalty imposed on the owner is invalid; and “[a] park owner may impose only two rent increases on a resident in any 12-month period” (§ 327C.06).
Can the park change the rules after you move in?
Only on 60 days’ written notice, and only if the change clears two tests.
Section 327C.02, subd. 2: “A rule adopted or amended after the resident initially enters into a rental agreement may be enforced against that resident only if the new or amended rule is reasonable and is not a substantial modification of the original agreement.” Both terms are defined. A “reasonable rule” under § 327C.015, subd. 12, must satisfy four criteria: serve one of the listed purposes (resident convenience, safety, or welfare, park appearance, efficient operation, preservation of the premises, or fair distribution of services); be reasonably related to that purpose; not be retaliatory or unjustifiably discriminatory; and be explicit enough to fairly inform the resident what to do or not do. “Substantial modification” under subd. 17 has three prongs — significantly diminishing or eliminating a material park-owner obligation; significantly diminishing or eliminating a material resident right, privilege, or freedom of action; or involving a significant new expense for a resident.
Subdivision 2 then classifies several changes by hand. A security deposit increase is a substantial modification. A § 327C.06-compliant rent increase is not, and is not a “rule” at all. Neither is a change necessitated by government action, or a rule requiring residents to keep homes, sheds, and appurtenances in good repair and safe condition.
Four rules are presumed unreasonable under § 327C.05, subd. 2, unless the owner proves reasonableness by clear and convincing evidence: barring a “for sale” sign on a resident’s home; requiring purchase of goods or services from a particular vendor, including the owner; requiring use of a particular dealer or broker in an in-park sale; and requiring that more than one occupant have an ownership interest in the home.
What happens when the park closes?
Twelve months of notice, a public hearing, and a statutory relocation fund — plus a floor on when anyone can be made to leave.
Section 327C.095, subd. 1(a), requires the park owner, at least 12 months before conversion or closure, to prepare a closure statement and give a copy to the commissioners of health and the housing finance agency, the local planning agency, and a resident of each affected home. It must carry, in type no smaller than 14 point: “YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION FROM THE MINNESOTA MANUFACTURED HOME RELOCATION TRUST FUND ADMINISTERED BY THE MINNESOTA HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY.” And: “A resident may not be required to vacate until 90 days after the conclusion of the public hearing required under subdivision 4.” Subdivisions 3 and 4 route the statement to the local governing body, require a hearing within 90 days, and require appointment of a neutral third party to act “as a paymaster and arbitrator.”
Under subd. 13(a), an owner required to relocate is entitled to actual relocation costs for a move within a 50-mile radius, “up to a maximum of $7,000 for a single-section and $12,500 for a multisection manufactured home.” Where relocation fails because of the home’s age or condition or because no park within 25 miles will take it, subd. 13(e) allows the owner to tender title and collect an appraised amount instead, capped at $8,000 and $14,500, with floors of $2,000 and $4,000. Subdivision 12(b) lists six situations in which no payment is owed.
The sale side has its own notices. A purchaser intending to close or convert within a year must say so in writing beforehand, triggering 45 days’ written notice to a resident of each home and a right for a representative acting on behalf of residents to match the cash price and material terms (subd. 6). Violating subdivisions 6 or 7 gives residents “a right to any remedy provided in section 8.31” (subd. 9).
One textual caution: subdivision 1 sets the notice at 12 months, but subdivision 5, on conversion to a common interest community, refers to “[t]he nine-month notice required by this section.” The chapter is inconsistent on its face there, and this article does not resolve it.
What are the remedies, and what defenses exist?
Enforcement runs through Minnesota’s consumer-protection machinery. Section 327C.15: “Any violation of sections 327C.015 to 327C.14 is a violation of a law referred to in section 8.31, subdivision 1.” Section 8.31, subd. 3a, in turn lets “any person injured by a violation of any of the laws referred to in subdivision 1” bring a civil action for damages, costs and disbursements including costs of investigation, reasonable attorney’s fees, and equitable relief. Whether a particular claim qualifies is its own question — the private attorney general statute carries a public-benefit requirement litigated on its own terms.
Section 327C.10 supplies four defenses to an eviction: that the sum claimed due contains a charge violating § 327C.03 or that the owner failed to comply with § 504B.161; that a rent increase was noticed or imposed in violation of § 327C.06; that the rule allegedly violated is unreasonable; and that the owner violated § 327C.12.
Section 327C.12 is the retaliation provision, and its burden structure is worth stating exactly. A park owner may not increase rent, decrease services, alter an agreement, or seek or threaten to recover possession as a penalty for three protected activities: a good-faith complaint to the owner or a government agency or official, a good-faith attempt to exercise rights or remedies under state or federal law, and participating in a resident association. If the challenged action began within 90 days after the protected activity, “the burden of proving otherwise shall be on the park owner.” If later, the resident must first make a prima facie case, and then the owner must prove otherwise.
Finally, § 327C.02, subd. 4: “Any attempt to waive or circumscribe any privilege or right guaranteed by law to a resident or a park owner is void.”
Madgett Law, LLC
Madgett Law, LLC advises Minnesota manufactured-home park residents and park owners on lot-lease terminations, rule changes and fee disputes, in-park sales, retaliation claims, and the obligations that attach when a park is sold, converted, or closed. If you have received a notice from a park, send us a message or call 612-470-6529.
Sources: Minn. Stat. § 327C.015, subd. 1 (scope of the chapter’s definitions); subd. 3 (closure statement); subd. 6 (lot); subd. 7 (manufactured home, by reference to § 327B.01, subd. 13); subd. 8 (manufactured home park, by reference to § 327.14, subd. 3, excluding three-or-fewer-season facilities); subd. 9 (park owner); subd. 12(1)–(4) (four criteria of a “reasonable rule”); subd. 13 (representative acting on behalf of residents); subd. 14 (resident — owner of the home who rents a lot); subd. 15 (resident association); subd. 16 (rule); subd. 17(a)–(c) (three prongs of “substantial modification”). Minn. Stat. § 327C.02, subd. 1 (written rental agreement; five required contents); subd. 2 (60 days’ notice of a rule change; reasonable-and-not-a-substantial-modification test; security deposit increase is a substantial modification; rent increase, government-action change, and repair rules are not); subd. 2a (notwithstanding § 504B.345; order for costs and ten days to comply; writ only after three days’ written notice and a motion); subd. 3 (three methods of service of notice); subd. 4 (waiver void); subd. 5 (verbatim ten-point notice to prospective residents). Minn. Stat. § 327C.025 (copy of the signed agreement with evacuation or shelter plan). Minn. Stat. § 327C.03, subd. 1 (no fee other than periodic rent for the right to obtain or retain a lot); subd. 2 (installation and removal contracts); subd. 3 (uniform rent; permitted differentials; delinquent-rent fee; six prohibited fee bases; $4 per pet per month); subd. 4 (security deposit capped at two months’ rent; § 504B.178 applies); subd. 5(1)–(3) (maintenance charges, $10 fee, 30-day payment deadline); subd. 6 ($15 trust fund assessment; $1.25 monthly pass-through, separately itemized). Minn. Stat. § 327C.04, subds. 1–3, 5, 6 (utility billing, metering, permissible rates, commodity-rate cap, 13-month rent freeze after water metering). Minn. Stat. § 327C.05, subd. 1 (unreasonable rules prohibited); subd. 2(1)–(4) (four presumptively unreasonable rules; clear and convincing evidence); subd. 3 (other unreasonable rules). Minn. Stat. § 327C.06, subds. 1–3 (60 days’ notice; penalty-funding prohibition; two increases per 12 months). Minn. Stat. § 327C.07, subd. 1 ($25 application-processing fee cap); subd. 2(1)–(9) (conditions on denying a prospective buyer); subd. 5 (90-day vacancy for an in-park sale). Minn. Stat. § 327C.08 (rent owed by a repossessing secured party). Minn. Stat. § 327C.09, subd. 1 (cause required; only reasons in this section or § 327C.095); subd. 2 (ten days’ notice to resident and known secured party; either may cure); subd. 3 (violations of law; reasonable time after written notice); subd. 4 (30 days to comply with a rule; nonpayment excepted; required notice contents; loud noise); subd. 5 (endangerment or substantial annoyance; 30 days’ notice to vacate; immediate on repeat; required notice contents; no conviction required); subd. 6 (repeated serious violations; written notice plus written warning plus violation within six months); subd. 7 (material misstatement; one year from when the resident began paying rent); subd. 8 (improvements; 90 days’ notice; statement of health and safety benefit; relocation to a compatible lot). Minn. Stat. § 327C.095, subd. 1(a)–(b) (12-month closure statement and recipients; 14-point trust fund language; no required vacating until 90 days after the hearing concludes; relocation within the park); subd. 3 (submission and ten days’ hearing notice); subd. 4(a), (c) (public hearing within 90 days; neutral third party as paymaster and arbitrator); subd. 5 (conversion to a common interest community; internal reference to a “nine-month notice”); subd. 6(a) (45-day notice and resident representative’s right to match); subd. 9 (§ 8.31 remedy for violations of subds. 6 or 7); subd. 12(b)(1)–(6) (six situations in which no payment is owed); subd. 12(c) ($15 assessment); subd. 13(a) ($7,000 single-section and $12,500 multisection caps; 50-mile radius); subd. 13(e) (tender of title; $8,000 and $14,500 caps; $2,000 and $4,000 floors; 25-mile radius); subd. 15 (preemption of local relocation and buyout ordinances). Minn. Stat. § 327C.096 (notice when a park is advertised or listed for sale). Minn. Stat. § 327C.097, subds. 2–4 (unsolicited-offer notice; exclusions). Minn. Stat. § 327C.10, subds. 1–4 (four defenses to eviction). Minn. Stat. § 327C.11, subd. 1 (§ 504B.291 redemption available, twice per 12 months absent payment of the park owner’s actual reasonable attorney’s fees); subd. 3 (writ stayed up to seven days); subd. 4 (conditional writ; 60 days for an in-park sale; three conditions; absolute on day 61). Minn. Stat. § 327C.12 (retaliation; three protected activities; 90-day burden shift). Minn. Stat. § 327C.13 (freedom of expression; time, place, and manner). Minn. Stat. § 327C.14, subds. 1–2 (access to the home only to prevent damage or respond to an emergency; access to the lot for enumerated purposes). Minn. Stat. § 327C.15 (violations of §§ 327C.015 to 327C.14 are violations of a law referred to in § 8.31, subd. 1). Minn. Stat. § 327C.16, subd. 1(c)(3) (chapter 504B listed among continuing-education subjects). Minn. Stat. § 8.31, subd. 1 (designated laws); subd. 3a (private remedies; damages, costs of investigation, reasonable attorney’s fees, equitable relief). Minn. Stat. § 504B.001, subd. 6 (Department of Health as inspector for a park); subd. 11 (residential building includes a manufactured home park); subd. 12 (residential tenant includes a resident of a manufactured home park). Minn. Stat. § 504B.151, subd. 1(c) (park carve-out). Minn. Stat. § 504B.211, subd. 7 (park carve-out from the right-to-privacy and notice-of-entry statute). Minn. Stat. § 504B.216, subd. 1(e) (shared-metered residential building excludes a park). Minn. Stat. § 504B.275 (park residents excluded from the attorney general’s statement). Minn. Stat. § 504B.161 (habitability covenants, incorporated by § 327C.10, subd. 1). Minn. Stat. § 504B.178 (security deposits, incorporated by § 327C.03, subd. 4). Minn. Stat. § 504B.285, subd. 1 (holdover grounds in ordinary tenancies, for contrast). Minn. Stat. § 504B.291 (redemption, incorporated by § 327C.11, subd. 1). Minn. Stat. § 327.14, subd. 3 (definition of manufactured home park). Minn. Stat. § 327B.01, subd. 13 (definition of manufactured home).
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. Statutes change; verify the current text before relying on any provision discussed here.