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Depósitos de seguridad en Minnesota: qué dice la ley

Mi arrendador se quedó con mi depósito

Ley estatal

Lo que dice la ley

Plazo para devolver o detallar

21 días

The statute says three weeks, not a day count, so write it as three weeks (21 calendar days) and the reader can check it against the text. Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd.

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3 measures the three weeks from termination of the tenancy — not from the day the tenant moved out, not from the day the keys went back, and not from the day the address arrived. Many secondary sites get this wrong. The landlord's duty is separately conditioned on receipt: it is owed only after the landlord has the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, which is the statute's phrase and is broader than a forwarding address. Send it in writing and keep proof of the date. A shorter five-day track applies instead when the tenant leaves because the building was condemned.

Multiplicador de daños legales

2×

Se exige estado detallado

Sí

Límite de reclamos menores

$20,000

Sección del código

Minn. Stat. § 504B.178

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No state agency adjudicates security deposit disputes in Minnesota; the remedy is a court action, normally conciliation court (small claims) in the county where the rental property sits (§ 504B.178, subd. 9).

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The Minnesota Attorney General's Office takes consumer complaints and publishes the official 'Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities' handbook, but does not represent individual tenants or decide deposit cases: (651) 296-3353 Twin Cities / (800) 657-3787 outside the Twin Cities, 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 600, St. Paul, MN 55101. City enforcement exists only for the local deposit caps: Minneapolis enforces § 244.2040 through Regulatory Services (rental licensing, administrative fines, criminal prosecution; a notice of violation is not required first), and Saint Paul's Department of Safety and Inspections investigates Chapter 193 complaints ([email protected]) with an appeal to a legislative hearing officer. HOME Line is a well-known Minnesota tenant hotline but is a nonprofit, not a government agency.

Deposit cap

No statewide cap. Minnesota law does not limit the size of a residential security deposit; nothing in Minn. Stat. ch. 504B sets one, and the Attorney General's handbook says so expressly. Two cities do cap it. MINNEAPOLIS (Code of Ordinances tit. 12, ch. 244, art.

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XVI, § 244.2040(b), effective June 1, 2020): no more than a single month's rent; if the lease requires the tenant to pay more than the first installment of rent plus the deposit before the end of the first month, the deposit may not exceed one-half of a single month's rent and the landlord may not refuse the tenant's request to pay it in installments over up to three months; the cap is one and a half months' rent for units placed through a referral from a non-profit service provider or government agency. SAINT PAUL (Legislative Code ch. 193, § 193.02, current version effective May 14, 2026): no more than a single month's rent as a security deposit and no more than a single month's rent as pre-paid rent, with an exception allowing one additional single month's rent where the applicant could have been denied under the screening guidelines. Minneapolis also requires a written notice of rights to be delivered contemporaneously with the deposit return or written statement (§ 244.2040(c)).

Local stacking

Minnesota's deposit-return rules (deadline, statement, penalty, interest) are entirely state law and apply statewide; the local ordinances found regulate the SIZE of the deposit and add local enforcement, not the 21-day return machinery. MINNEAPOLIS: Code of Ordinances tit. 12, ch. 244, art. XVI, § 244.2040 (Ord. No.

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2019-038, § 4, eff. June 1, 2020) caps the deposit at one month's rent (half a month plus an installment right if more than the first installment of rent is demanded up front; one and a half months for referral placements), expressly says the deposit itself remains governed by § 504B.178, and in subsection (c) requires the landlord to deliver a written notice of rights under state law and local ordinance at the same time it returns the deposit or sends the written statement. Enforcement is by rental license action, administrative fines under ch. 2, or criminal prosecution, with no notice of violation required. SAINT PAUL: Legislative Code ch. 193 caps the security deposit and pre-paid rent at one month's rent each, with a one-month add-on for applicants who could have been denied under the screening criteria. History matters here: Chapter 193 was created by Ord. 20-14 (2020), REPEALED by Ord. 21-21 (2021), and re-enacted in a renumbered form that the city says is effective May 14, 2026 - so the deposit cap sat at § 193.03 under the old ordinance and sits at § 193.02 today, and there was a period in between with no city cap. Chapter 193 creates a private right of action and a DSI complaint process but does not create its own deposit-return deadline or multiplier.

Penalty detail

Twice the withheld deposit as a total: the tenant recovers the portion wrongfully withheld and, on top of it, an equal amount as a penalty. Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd.

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4 sets the penalty at an amount equal to the portion of the deposit withheld and awards it in addition to the deposit itself, so a $700 wrongful withholding supports $1,400 in total, not $2,100. Bad-faith retention adds a separate award of up to $500 under subd. 7, which stacks on top of the doubling rather than replacing it.

County overlays

None found. Minnesota's overlays are municipal, not county: no Hennepin or Ramsey County ordinance regulating residential security deposits was located. The two city overlays are Minneapolis (Code of Ordinances § 244.2040) and Saint Paul (Legislative Code ch. 193). Other Minnesota cities were not surveyed.

Penalty statute

Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 4 (penalty equal to the amount withheld) - NOT the same subdivision as the return duty in subd. 3; Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 7 (punitive damages up to $500 per deposit for bad-faith retention); attorney fees only reciprocally under Minn. Stat. § 504B.172.

Deadline display

three weeks (21 calendar days)

Deadline statute

Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(a)(1) (three weeks after termination of the tenancy); subd. 3(a)(2) (five days if the tenant leaves because the building was condemned); subd. 3(b) (mailing rule)

Interest or escrow

Interest yes, escrow no. Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 2 requires simple noncompounded interest at one percent per annum, computed from the first day of the month following full payment of the deposit through the last day of the month in which the landlord in good faith complies with subd.

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3, or through the date judgment is entered in an action over the deposit, whichever is earlier. Any interest amount under $1 is excluded. There is no statutory requirement that the deposit be held in a separate, dedicated, or interest-bearing trust account: subd. 2 says only that the money is not held in a fiduciary capacity within the meaning of § 82.55, subd. 26, 'but shall be held by the landlord for the tenant.' Separate 60-day rule when the landlord's interest in the property ends by sale, assignment, death or receivership: the deposit plus interest must be transferred to the successor (with notice of the transferee's name and address) or returned to the tenant within 60 days, or when the successor must account for it, whichever comes first (subd. 5); the successor takes over the obligation, and a tenant who does not object within 20 days to the amount stated in a transfer notice is limited to that amount (subd. 6).

Limitations detail

Minnesota has no limitations clause inside § 504B.178, so the general statutes control and they probably split the claim. The deposit itself (a contract claim / a liability created by statute that is not a penalty) is six years under Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(1)-(2). But § 541.05, subd.

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1(2) expressly carves out claims 'arising upon a penalty or forfeiture', and Minn. Stat. § 541.07(2) puts an action 'upon a statute for a penalty or forfeiture' at TWO years. Subd. 4 calls its award a 'penalty' in so many words, and subd. 7 is punitive damages, so the safe reading is: two years to claim the penalty and the $500, six years to claim the deposit and interest. Treat two years as the practical outside limit until this is confirmed.

Small claims statute

Minn. Stat. § 491A.01, subd. 3a(a)(1) ($20,000 general conciliation court limit; $4,000 only for a consumer credit transaction, which a deposit claim is not). Venue: Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd.

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9 (county where the rental property is located, or at the tenant's option the county of the landlord's residence) and § 491A.01, subd. 9.

Itemized list statute

Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(a) (written statement); subd. 3(b)(1)-(2) (only permitted deductions); subd. 3(c) (landlord carries the burden of proof)

Limitations period years

Lee esto antes de confiar en los datos de arriba

Minnesota's residential security deposit law is Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, and the single most important thing about it is that the statute counts in WEEKS, not days. Subdivision 3 gives the landlord "three weeks after termination of the tenancy" - the Attorney General's official handbook calls that 21 days - to either return the deposit with interest or send a written statement showing the specific reason for withholding any part of it. That written statement is a statement of reasons; unlike some states, § 504B.178 does not spell out a line-item invoice or supporting receipts. Two conditions gate the clock: the tenancy has to have ended AND the landlord has to have received the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, so a tenant who has not given a forwarding address may not have started the clock at all. Mailing is what counts, not delivery - first class mail, postage prepaid, proper return address, correctly addressed to what the tenant supplied. If the tenant had to move because an inspector condemned the building, the deadline drops to five days. Deductions are limited to unpaid rent or other money owed under an agreement and to restoring the unit to its condition at the start of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted, and in court it is the landlord who must prove the reason for withholding.

The penalty lives in a different subdivision from the deadline, and it is not a treble-damages statute. Subdivision 4 - not subdivision 3 - makes a landlord who misses the written statement, fails to transfer the deposit on a sale, or fails to offer and complete the initial and move-out inspections required by § 504B.182 liable for "damages in an amount equal to the portion of the deposit withheld ... as a penalty, in addition to the portion of the deposit wrongfully withheld." In plain arithmetic that is up to double: the money back, plus the same amount again. Subdivision 7 adds punitive damages capped at $500 per deposit for bad-faith retention, and it hands the tenant real leverage: once the landlord has broken subdivision 3 or 5, bad faith is PRESUMED unless the deposit is returned within two weeks after the tenant commences an action to recover it. Interest is a flat statutory 1% simple noncompounded per year (amounts under $1 are ignored), and there is no requirement that Minnesota landlords hold deposits in a separate or escrowed account. There is also no attorney-fee award for a deposit claim: fees exist only reciprocally under § 504B.172, when the lease itself gives fees to the landlord. Nothing in § 504B.178 can be waived by a lease.

Venue is conciliation court - Minnesota's small claims court - in the county where the rental property is located, or at the tenant's option the county where the landlord lives (§ 504B.178, subd. 9). The conciliation court limit is $20,000 (§ 491A.01, subd. 3a); the lower $4,000 figure in the same subdivision is only for consumer credit transactions and does not apply to a deposit claim. No Minnesota agency decides deposit disputes. The Attorney General's Office takes complaints and publishes the official landlord-tenant handbook but does not adjudicate or represent individual tenants. Minnesota sets no cap at all on the size of a deposit; the caps are municipal. Minneapolis (§ 244.2040) limits it to one month's rent - or half a month, payable in installments over up to three months, if the landlord demands more than the first installment of rent up front - and separately requires the landlord to hand over a written notice of rights at the same moment it returns the deposit or sends the withholding statement. Saint Paul's Chapter 193 caps both the deposit and pre-paid rent at one month's rent each; that chapter was created in 2020, repealed in 2021, and re-enacted in a renumbered form the city says takes effect May 14, 2026, with the deposit cap moving from § 193.03 to § 193.02.

One timing warning that is not in § 504B.178 itself: the section contains no limitations clause, so the general statutes apply, and they appear to split the claim. The deposit and interest are a six-year claim under § 541.05, subd. 1, but that subdivision expressly excludes claims "arising upon a penalty or forfeiture," and § 541.07(2) sets two years for an action "upon a statute for a penalty or forfeiture." Subdivision 4 calls its award a penalty and subdivision 7 is punitive damages, so a tenant who waits more than two years may keep the deposit claim and lose the doubling. Until that is confirmed, treat two years as the working deadline.

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Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(a) (2025) — Deadline: three weeks after termination of the tenancy AND after receipt of the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(a) (2025) — The alternative to returning the money is a written statement of the specific reason for withholding (no itemized cost breakdown is spelled out)
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(a)(2) (2025) — Five-day deadline instead of three weeks when the tenant leaves because the building was legally condemned
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(b) (2025) — Mailing rule: postmark, not receipt, controls; and the only two permitted grounds for withholding
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 3(c) (2025) — Burden of proof for withholding is on the landlord
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 4 (2025) — PENALTY SUBDIVISION (not subd. 3): a penalty equal to the portion withheld, on top of returning the portion wrongfully withheld - i.e. up to 2x, not 3x
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 4(1), (4) (2025) — What triggers the subd. 4 penalty: no written statement within three weeks, or failing to offer/complete the § 504B.182 inspections
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 7 (2025) — Bad-faith retention: punitive damages up to $500 per deposit, in addition to subd. 4 damages
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 7 (2025) — Bad faith is presumed once the landlord has broken subd. 3 or 5, unless the deposit comes back within two weeks after suit is started
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 2 (2025) — Interest: 1% simple noncompounded per year; amounts under $1 excluded; runs to compliance or judgment
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 5 (2025) — Sale or other termination of the landlord's interest: transfer or return within 60 days
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 9 (2025) — Venue: conciliation court in the county where the property is, or the county of the landlord's residence
Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 10 (2025) — Anti-waiver: no lease can waive any part of the section
Minn. Stat. § 504B.182, subd. 1 (2025) — Initial inspection: landlord must offer it at the start of the tenancy or within 14 days of occupancy (failure feeds the § 504B.178 subd. 4 penalty)
Minn. Stat. § 504B.182, subd. 2 (2025) — Move-out inspection: written notice of the option and the right to be present; inspection no earlier than five days before the end
Minn. Stat. § 491A.01, subd. 3a(a) (2025) — Conciliation court (small claims) limit: $20,000 general, $4,000 only for consumer credit transactions
Minn. Stat. § 491A.01, subd. 9 (2025) — Conciliation court has jurisdiction over landlord-tenant damages claims under ch. 504B in the county where the property is located
Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(1)-(2) (2025) — Six years for contract claims and for statutory liabilities - but expressly NOT for penalties
Minn. Stat. § 541.07(2) (2025) — Two years for an action 'upon a statute for a penalty or forfeiture' - the risk window for the subd. 4 penalty and the $500
Minn. Stat. § 504B.172 (2025) — No statutory attorney fees for a deposit claim; fees are reciprocal only if the lease gives them to the landlord
Minn. Stat. § 504B.175, subd. 2, 4 (2025) — Prelease (holding) deposits are a separate animal: seven-day return and a penalty of the deposit plus one-half as a penalty
Minn. Att'y Gen., Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities, ch. 3 (Ending the Tenancy) — Official state translation of 'three weeks' into 21 days, and the forwarding-address condition
Minn. Att'y Gen., Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities, ch. 3 — AG's plain-language statement of the subd. 4 penalty: the withheld amount back PLUS an equal penalty
Minn. Att'y Gen., Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities, ch. 1 (Entering into the Agreement) — No statewide deposit cap; official source also supplies the Minneapolis ordinance citation (tit. 12, art. XVI, § 244.2040)
Minn. Att'y Gen., File a Complaint — Complaint channel (not an adjudicator): (651) 296-3353 Twin Cities / (800) 657-3787 outside
Minneapolis, Minn., Code of Ordinances tit. 12, ch. 244, art. XVI, § 244.2040(b) (Ord. No. 2019-038, § 4, eff. June 1, 2020) — Minneapolis one-month deposit cap, half-month + installment rule, 1.5-month referral exception. Municode's human-readable page (library.municode.com/mn/minneapolis, node MICOOR_TIT12HO_CH244MACO_ARTXVIREDWLI_244.2040SEDE) is a JavaScript shell that serves no text to a fetcher; this is Municode's own content API for the same node, supplement 72
Minneapolis, Minn., Code of Ordinances § 244.2040(c) — Minneapolis extra duty: a written notice of rights must go out at the same time as the deposit return or the § 504B.178 written statement
City of Minneapolis, Renter Rights - Security deposits — City's own plain-language statement of the cap, the 50% rule, and the state 21-day return
Saint Paul, Minn., Legislative Code ch. 193, § 193.02(a) (version 2026-05-14) — Saint Paul one-month cap on the deposit and a separate one-month cap on pre-paid rent; note the section RENUMBERED from § 193.03 to § 193.02
Saint Paul, Minn., Ord. creating ch. 193 (2026), recitals — History trap: the 2020 chapter 193 was repealed by Ord. 21-21 before the current ordinance re-created it
City of Saint Paul, Dept. of Safety and Inspections - Tenant Protections — Effective date of the current Saint Paul ordinance and the DSI complaint channel
Saint Paul, Minn., Ord. 20-14, § 193.03 (2020) - superseded — The original 2020 numbering, kept for letters that cite the older section number

Última verificación: 2026-09-07

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