1998 Minnesota Statutes

     504A.211 Defenses. 

    Subdivision 1.    Notice to quit.  (a) It is a defense 
 to an action brought under section 504A.205, subdivision 1 or 2, 
 after the landlord has given notice to quit, for a renter to 
 prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the termination by 
 the landlord was intended in whole or in part as a penalty for: 

    (1) the renter's good faith attempt to secure or enforce 
 rights under an oral or written lease or contract, under the 
 laws of the state or any of its governmental subdivisions, or 
 under the laws of the United States; or 

    (2) the renter's good faith report to a governmental 
 authority of the landlord's violation of a health, safety, 
 housing or building code or ordinance. 

    (b) If the notice to quit was served within 90 days of the 
 date of an act that was performed by the renter under paragraph 
 (a), clause (1) or (2), the burden of proving that the notice to 
 quit was not served in whole or in part for a retaliatory 
 purpose is on the landlord.  

    Subd. 2.    Nonpayment of rent.  It is a defense to an 
 action brought under section 504A.205, subdivision 2, clause 
 (3), for the renter to establish by a preponderance of the 
 evidence that the landlord increased the renter's rent or 
 decreased the services as a penalty in whole or in part for a 
 lawful act of the renter as described in subdivision 1, 
 paragraph (a), clause (1) or (2), providing that the renter pays 
 to the court or to the landlord the amount of rent due and 
 payable under the renter's original lease.  

    HIST: 1998 c 253 s 21