Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Minnesota

Eviction witholding security deposit

My landlord whom with I have a 6 month lease has refused to offer to fully repair a garage door remote control and claims that the lease that we signed had a disclaimer that another garage space would be provided due to ''renovation plans'' in the near future and has refused to provide a garage door remote that works, the door opens manually and with a wall switch most of the time. The final straw was about on one of the coldest days of the year, I came home to find that the heat was 57 degrees Fahrenheit in the home, I called the landlord and he called back stating that he would look into it and hung up on me. It took him over 1 hour to get the furnace to work and it took over 4 hours 11:00pm to get the apartment warmed up again. Shortly after this event, I wrote the landlord a letter terminating the lease and informed him that I was placing a stop payment on the current month's rent and was planning on moving out as soon as I am able . After demanding the rent and giving final notice, he has filed to evict as I was unable to give him a definite date of leaving. I told him due to his failure to provide heat and repair the door the security deposit would cover the last month's rent. Is this a legitmate retaliation defense?


Asked on 2/26/07, 7:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

David Anderson Anderson Business Law LLC

Re: Eviction witholding security deposit

Nope- you're toast.

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Answered on 2/26/07, 9:00 pm


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