Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Minnesota

I am a Minnesota Landlord owning only one rental property (a single family house) that has single-meter and two units (one tenant in each). One of the tenants filed a claim against me stating that I violated 504B.215, specifically �Past copies of utility bills must be provided for the preceding two years or from the time the current landlord acquired the building, whichever is most recent.� I was not aware of this statute requirement.
504B.215 further states �c) A failure by the landlord to comply with this subdivision is a violation of 504B.221.� 504B.221 (Unlawful Termination of Utilities) states �the tenant may recover from the landlord treble damages or $500, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees.�
504B.221 further states �The tenant may recover only actual damages under this section if the landlord after receiving notice of the interruption from the tenant and within a reasonable period of time after the interruption has reinstated or made a good faith effort to reinstate the service or has taken other remedial action�. The City made a mistake of not notifying me before they shut off the water. I immediately called the City to have the issue corrected and personally delivered 3 gallons of clean water to each tenant.
In this case, even if I violated 504B.215, with the language in the last paragraph and my good faith effort, is the tenant still allowed to recover only actual damages under 504B.221?
What would be the tenant�s �damages� under 504B.215? (Before the start of the lease, I did not have discussions with my tenants regarding the utility charges to expect and caused them to have unexpected utility charges � the actual utility charges are typical compared to other comparable households in the neighborhood/city)
If my tenant does not have any proven �damages� under 504B.215, does it mean her attorney will not get the attorney fees outlined in 504B.221?
Thank you to all who help me with this question!!
Amy

Asked on 5/09/14, 8:08 pm

David Anderson Anderson Business Law LLC

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0 attorneys agreed

WHat does your written lease provide regarding water and utilities?

Has the tenant brought action in District Court?

If so have they retained an attorney?

Have you provided the utility bill copies?

Answers to the above will affect your liability and the potential for atty fees being awarded.

I have been a LL > 30 years.

Answered on 5/10/14, 4:19 am

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