1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to landlord and tenant; regulating the 
  1.3             defense of retaliatory eviction; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 2000, section 504B.285, subdivision 2.  
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 504B.285, 
  1.7   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 2.  [RETALIATION DEFENSE.] It is a defense to an 
  1.9   action for recovery of premises following the alleged 
  1.10  termination of a tenancy by notice to quit for the defendant to 
  1.11  prove by a fair preponderance of the evidence that: 
  1.12     (1) the alleged termination was intended in whole or part 
  1.13  as a penalty for the defendant's good faith attempt to secure or 
  1.14  enforce rights under a lease or contract, oral or written, under 
  1.15  the laws of the state or any of its governmental subdivisions, 
  1.16  or of the United States; or 
  1.17     (2) the alleged termination was intended in whole or part 
  1.18  as a penalty for the defendant's good faith report to a 
  1.19  governmental authority of the plaintiff's violation of a health, 
  1.20  safety, housing, or building code or ordinance.  
  1.21     If the notice to quit was served within 90 days 180 days of 
  1.22  the date of an act of the tenant coming within the terms of 
  1.23  clause (1) or (2) the burden of proving that the notice to quit 
  1.24  was not served in whole or part for a retaliatory purpose shall 
  1.25  rest with the plaintiff.