Welcome to HOME Line’s online appendix for How to be the Smartest Renter on Your Block. Below are links to a number of resources, handbooks, and laws that readers are directed to throughout the book.
Links to Minnesota Statutes and notable/important court cases are available here.
Chapter 1: Shopping for an Apartment
- ApartmentRatings.com: An example of a website that provides apartment reviews.
- HOME Line’s Landlords in the News blog: We do our best to collect noteworthy media regarding landlords in Minnesota and post them on this blog.
- Minnesota Court Information System: This allows you to search basic Minnesota court records to look up what types of cases (civil and criminal) a landlord or management company has been involved in. To search civil cases, Choose “Civil, Family & Probate Case Records” (All of tenant-landlordlaw is considered civil law). Then choose to search by party (you can search for an individuals name or a business name) You can also look up criminal records by: Choosing “Criminal/Traffic/Petty Case Records” and then searching by party.
Chapter 11: Evictions & Expungements
- Minnesota Secretary of State’s Business Name Inquiry: This tool allows you to search for registered businesses and corporations in Minnesota. If a landlord is doing business under what is known as an “assumed trade name,” he or she must properly register that name with the Secretary of State’s office to be able file or defend any claim in civil court in Minnesota, including an eviction.
Chapter 17: Subsidized Housing
This chapter provides a glimpse at some complex rules and laws surrounding affordable, government-subsidized housing programs. Below are links to the most relevant handbooks and rules for some of the programs outlined in Chapter 18. Please note that in the first edition of the book, published March 2011, several endnotes in this chapter were in error. The below information and links are corrected.
- Public Housing: 24 U.S.C. § 966 as well as your local Housing Authority Administrative Plan (for example, here is St. Paul PHA’s plan). Your local HRA can provide you with a copy of their plan.
- Project-based Section 8: HUD Handbook 4350.3: Occupancy Requirements for Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs
- Tenant-based Section 8 Vouchers: Housing Choice Voucher Program Guidebook (7420.10g)
- USDA Rural Development Housing: HB-2-3560 MFH Asset Management Handbook
- Section 42 “Tax Credit” Housing: Guide for Completing Form 8823 and Minnesota Housing Financing Agency Housing Tax Credit Program Compliance Manual
Chapter 19: Renters Credit
- Minnesota Department of Revenue information about the renters refund: This state department is responsible for administering the renters credit program. Questions about getting a refund can be directed here, as well as information about receiving a Rent Paid Affidavit (RPA) if you are unable to obtain a Certificate of Rent Paid (CRP) from your landlord.
Chapter 20: Tenant Organizing
- We refer to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Business Name Inquiry tool in this chapter to allow renters to find the best party to sue when they need to initiate legal action against a landlord/management company.
- We also refer to the resources for Chapter 18: Subsidized Housing as many of these programs provide additional rights and responsibilities relating to organizing. See above resources. Most importantly, here are the relevant laws for tenant organizing rights for a number of programs:
- Public Housing: 24 U.S.C. § 964
- Project-based Section 8: 24 U.S.C. § 245
- USDA/Rural Development: 7 U.S.C. § 3560.157 (f)
Note:
Links to external websites are for informational purposes only. The information on external websites is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Acknowledgment of these websites does not constitute endorsement by HOME Line.