Establish a biennial Health and Safety Inspection standard for rental properties throughout Minnesota.

 

To raise the baseline quality of residential rental housing across the entire state by implementing a protective,

biennial health and safety inspection standard. This guarantees that all Minnesota renters, regardless of their

demographics, live in safe and habitable conditions. This bill safeguards public health and helps prevent avoidable

issues such as mold, insect, or rodent infestations.

 

 

Rental inspection standards in Minnesota are currently uncoordinated and fragmented. Many properties outside major urban

centers are inspected only reactively—when a tenant files a complaint—or on lengthy cycles of five to eight years. This

reactive approach fails to protect our most vulnerable residents from hidden hazards like infestations, faulty wiring,

or carbon monoxide risks. This bill introduces a proactive, health and safety-focused standard that prioritizes renters'

health, supported by a dedicated, sustainable funding source (a small increase to the property transfer tax) to ensure

the program can be implemented without increasing local property taxes or rent costs for tenants.

The expense of preventative maintenance is ultimately lower than the cost of emergency repairs. Addressing issues like

mold or faulty wiring proactively is a business practice that saves landlords money over time.

According to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 504B, the landlord is responsible for making sure a unit is fit to live in,

kept in reasonable repair, and kept in compliance with state and local health and safety laws. My bill does not replace

this; rather, it ensures this by having a qualified inspector proactively seek out problems and confirm their non-need,

rather than wait for a complaint or possible injury.

 

 

"Rental Property" means any residential building containing one or more dwelling units rented or offered for rent,

excluding owner-occupied duplexes and properties subject to direct federal inspection.

"Qualified Health Inspector" means a state-certified professional trained in residential environmental and health safety

standards and authorized by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

"Biennial Inspection" means a comprehensive and thorough health and safety inspection conducted at least once every two

(2) years.

"Healthy Housing Fund" means the dedicated, non-lapsing account established to receive and distribute earnings from the

increased Health and Safety Property Transfer Tax.

 

 

To fully fund the Statewide Healthy Housing Inspection Program, a special Health and Safety Property Transfer Tax is

imposed on the sale of all real property in Minnesota.

The tax rate shall be $0.05% of the net consideration paid for the real property. This is a minimal, one-time charge on

the seller at the time of transfer.

All revenue from this tax will be deposited into the Healthy Housing Fund. There are funds and grants already put in

place in Minnesota, so this fund adds a separate state-level initiative. This is appropriated to the Minnesota

Department of Health (MDH) to cover all costs related to training, certification, and deployment of Qualified Health

Inspectors statewide. However, the MDH could also contract with local, already certified inspectors as well.

 

 

The Minnesota Department of Health is granted the authority to enforce this act, including issuing Notices of Violation

and conducting re-inspections. There are already laws in place requiring landlords to respond to and correct health and

safety violations, so these penalties are just add-ons or acts to add another wall to protect tenants.

If a Landlord fails to correct a critical health or safety violation within the specified timeframe, determined by the

Minnesota Department of Health:

The MDH may issue a Stop Rental Order, legally prohibiting the Landlord from collecting rent until the violation is

corrected.

The Landlord shall be subject to an Administrative Fine of up to $375 per day for each day the property remains

non-compliant after the deadline. All fine revenue is deposited into the Healthy Housing Fund.

 

 

July 1st, 2026.