Minneapolis / Move in guide

Moving into a Minneapolis rental without costly surprises

By Homzora Team · September 26, 2026

Minnesota and Minneapolis have added many renter protections in recent years, and several of them apply at the very start of a tenancy: limits on deposits, rules on how applicants are screened, and clear disclosure of every required fee. This guide walks through moving into a Minneapolis rental in order, with a source for every rule.

Applying: screening rules

Minneapolis limits how landlords may screen applicants. Among other rules, misdemeanors older than three years may not be used to deny an application, questions about immigration status are restricted, and landlords may not refuse renters because they use a housing voucher or other public assistance.^[1] Minnesota also requires landlords to accept an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in place of a Social Security number on applications.^[2]

Ask for the screening criteria, the application fee and the total move in cost in writing before you pay anything. Never pay a fee or deposit to anyone who has not shown you the inside of the unit, and be cautious about any request for payment by gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency.

The deposit: the city's cap

In Minneapolis, a security deposit may not exceed one month's rent. If the landlord also requires more than one month's rent in advance, the deposit is capped at half of one month's rent, and the renter may pay it in up to three installments. A deposit of up to one and a half months' rent is allowed when the renter has a referral from a government agency or nonprofit.^[3] State law separately requires the deposit to be returned with 1 percent simple interest a year.^[4]

Pay by a method that leaves a record, such as a check or bank transfer, and get a written receipt showing the amount and what it covers.

Read the first page of the lease

Minnesota requires a Total Monthly Payment to appear on the first page of the lease, and all required fees to be disclosed in the lease.^[5] Check that figure against what you were quoted, and ask about any fee that appears later in the lease but not in the total.

Read every page and addendum, and ask for anything unclear to be explained in writing. Check the rent, the due date, the lease term and renewal terms, who pays each utility, parking, rules on pets and guests, and how repair requests are made. Any late fee must be written into the lease, including when it applies, and may not exceed 8 percent of the overdue rent.^[6] For a month to month tenancy, either side must give written notice at least one rental period in advance.^[7]

Is the rental licensed?

Minneapolis requires rental properties to be licensed and places them in tiers that determine how often they are inspected. Properties in Tier 1 are inspected every eight years, Tier 2 every five years and Tier 3, the tier for properties with the highest point totals, every year.^[8] Ask the landlord for the license and its tier. A Tier 3 property may still be a reasonable choice, but it is a signal to inspect especially carefully.

Heat and basic standards

Minnesota requires landlords to keep the home fit for its intended use and in reasonable repair, to comply with health, safety and rental licensing rules, and to provide heat of at least 68 degrees from October 1 through April 30. These duties cannot be waived in the lease.^[9] Test the heat during your viewing, even in summer, and check that it reaches every room.

Winter readiness

If you move in during warmer months, check the home's winter readiness before you sign, because problems are much harder to fix in January. Look at windows and storm windows for cracked glass, broken seals and drafts, and at doors for worn weather stripping. Ask when the heating system was last serviced, whether pipes have ever frozen, and who clears snow and ice from sidewalks, steps and parking areas. Ask for last winter's heating bills if you will pay for heat. A home that is comfortable in August can be expensive and uncomfortable in winter if these basics are neglected.

Radon

More than two in five Minnesota homes have radon at levels that pose a significant health risk, and the state's average levels are more than three times the national average. Testing is the only way to know a home's level, and the recommended action level is 4 picocuries per liter.^[10] Ask whether the building has been tested, especially for basement and garden level units, and whether it has a mitigation system.

Photograph everything at move in

Whatever move in form the landlord uses, your own record is essential. On the day you receive the keys, before any furniture arrives, photograph and film every room: walls, floors, ceilings, windows, storm windows, screens, blinds, doors, the inside and outside of each appliance, cabinets, closets, bathrooms and any basement or balcony. Take close ups of existing damage with a wider shot showing where it is. Email the photographs and a list of existing problems to the landlord, so there is a dated record that it received them. The evidence guide explains how to organize these records.

Set up utilities and services

Xcel Energy provides electricity in Minneapolis and CenterPoint Energy provides natural gas.^[11] The city bills for water, sewer, stormwater and solid waste. To start city utilities, renters need a copy of the lease, and opening a water account automatically signs you up for solid waste service.^[12] Ask the landlord which accounts must be in your name, and start them before move in day so the heat and power are on when you arrive.

Entry and privacy

Once you move in, a Minnesota landlord must give at least 24 hours' notice before entering and may enter only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., unless you agree otherwise or there is an emergency. A landlord that violates these rules can face penalties, including rent reduction and up to $500 per violation plus attorney fees.^[13]

Insurance before the keys

Many leases require renters insurance. Most standard policies do not cover flood damage, which is sold separately.^[14] Ask about coverage for frozen pipe damage and sewer backup, and buy renters coverage before move in day so your belongings are protected while they are being moved.

Parking and winter

If you will park on the street, learn the city's snow emergency rules before the first storm. Parking restrictions change over three days, starting at 9 p.m. on day one, and cars left in the wrong place are ticketed and towed.^[15] Ask whether the home includes off street parking or a garage, and sign up for the city's snow emergency alerts.^[15]

Pets and roommates

If you have a pet, get the pet terms in writing, including any pet rent and deposit, and check that the total deposit stays within the city's cap.^[3] If you are moving in with roommates, make sure every adult is named on the lease or approved in writing, and agree among yourselves how rent, utilities and the deposit refund will be divided.

If the unit is not ready on move in day

Walk through before you carry anything inside. If the home is not clean, the heat does not work, an appliance is broken or the previous tenant's belongings remain, photograph the problem and tell the landlord in writing that day. If a repair problem continues, Minnesota gives tenants formal tools. After written notice, and after waiting 14 days or until the repair deadline in any code violation order, a tenant may deposit rent with the court in a rent escrow action, and the court holds a hearing within 10 to 14 days and can order repairs or reduce the rent.^[16] The inspection guide explains that process in detail.

Your right to organize

Since January 1, 2025, Minnesota tenants have had the right to form and run a tenant association.^[17] If your building has one, it can be a useful source of information about how the landlord handles repairs, renewals and winter issues, and a way to raise building wide problems together.

Keep your paperwork together

Create one folder, on paper and backed up digitally, for everything from the start of the tenancy: the application receipt, the lease and addenda, the page showing the Total Monthly Payment, the deposit receipt, the rental license details, move in photographs, utility account details and every written message with the landlord. Name files by date so they sort in order. When a question comes up months later, such as a disputed deduction or the date of a repair request, that folder is what settles it.

Your first week

Test the heat, the smoke alarms and the carbon monoxide alarms, and report problems in writing.
Find the water shut off valve and the electrical panel.
Sign up for snow emergency alerts.
Save the landlord's contact details and notice address.
Keep your lease, receipts and photographs together.

Where to get help

HOME Line offers free, confidential tenant advice by phone at 612 728 5767 in the Twin Cities, or 866 866 3546 statewide, with service in Spanish, Somali and Hmong.^[18] The City of Minneapolis answers renter questions through 311 at 612 673 3000.^[1]

Your completion record

Screening criteria and fee in writing
Deposit within the city cap
Total Monthly Payment on page one
Rental license and tier
Heat tested
Move in photographs sent
Utilities started
Snow emergency parking plan

Keep this record with your lease. Use the planning tools to test your move in costs, and see the inspection guide for what to check in each room.

Sources and official resources

Use the planning tools · All Minneapolis guides

Comparing possible destinations? Read Minneapolis vs. Chicago Cost Of Living for metropolitan price comparisons, illustrative budgets and the limits of the underlying data.

Put your moving payments on a calendar

Build a fallback for a changed arrival or delivery time without assuming it will be needed. Obtain written information about rescheduling before reserving services, and identify which belongings must remain with you. Treat an emergency allowance as money retained, not a fee automatically owed to anyone.

A dated cash schedule is more useful than one large total

Use the following worksheet after collecting the actual written payment requirements for your home. It is an illustrative planning exercise shared across Homzora editions, not a survey of local prices, a recommended deposit or a statement that every listed charge is permitted. Confirm applicable rules separately. The point is to see what leaves your account before the next reliable income arrives.

Begin with money that is available for the move after setting aside your other commitments. Do not include an expected deposit refund, an unconfirmed reimbursement or a future sale of furniture as though it has already cleared. Enter a future receipt on its expected date and test a second version in which it arrives later. This distinction matters even when your total monthly income looks sufficient.

Hypothetical moving cash schedule starting with $5,000
Timing	Assumed transaction	Cash movement	Balance
Before payments	Available moving funds	$5,000 opening funds	$5,000
Fourteen days before entry	Deposit and moving reservation	$1,000 plus $100 paid	$3,900
Two days before entry	Initial rent and utility allowance	$1,500 plus $200 paid	$2,200
Entry day	Remaining moving balance	$300 paid	$1,900
Three days after entry	Essential household purchases	$200 paid	$1,700
Seven days after entry	Assumed income receipt	$900 received	$2,600

The assumed payments total $3,300. The $100 moving reservation is part of the $400 moving bill, so the delivery day balance is $300, not another $400. The assumed $1,000 deposit uses cash even if it may later be returned. Whether the $200 utility allowance contains a refundable deposit, a fee or both must be established from the real provider documents. These amounts deliberately separate a payment schedule from a final expense calculation.

Find the lowest balance before committing

In this example, the lowest balance is $1,700 before the assumed income arrives. If you want to retain $300 for unexpected needs, the remaining headroom at that point is $1,400. The reserve is still part of your money; do not subtract it as an expense and then count it again as a bill. Keep a separate column showing how much of the balance is committed or deliberately retained.

If opening funds were only $3,000 with every other assumption unchanged, the balance would reach negative $300 before the income receipt. Keeping a $300 reserve would require another $600 available by then, or equivalent agreed reductions or timing changes. A positive balance after payday would not solve the earlier shortage. Do not assume a provider will delay payment unless that change has been confirmed.

Make every row traceable

For your own version, add the payee, written amount, due date, payment reference and refund conditions. Record what a reservation payment will be applied toward. When an estimate changes, preserve the old version and explain which row changed. For a shared household, separate the person who pays the provider from the people who reimburse that person. Otherwise the same expense can appear several times or a funding gap can be hidden inside an informal promise.

Before sending money, verify the property, the person authorized to receive payment and the instructions through a contact method you have independently checked. A payment request arriving in an existing email conversation is not enough by itself to prove that new account details are genuine. Keep evidence of what you agreed and of the payment you actually made.

Connect the budget to the existing guide

Use the local sources and lease questions elsewhere in this guide to establish the actual terms, then enter the confirmed figures into this worksheet. Add storage, extra travel, overlapping housing payments, insurance or other services only when they apply to your move. Existing optional provider links can help you request quotes, but a quote is useful only when its scope matches the arrangement you intend to buy. Recheck the schedule after the first ordinary week in the home.