Renters: send us your lease's first page
A call-out from Madgett Law, LLC, the law firm that publishes Minnesota Junk Fees. It says who we are looking for and which documents we would like to see.
Who we are looking for
Minnesota renters whose lease was signed on or after January 1, 2024 — that is the date Minn. Stat. § 504B.120 reaches, set by Laws 2023, chapter 52, article 19, section 90 — and who pay a monthly charge that was not part of the rent figure in the listing they answered.
What we want to see
- The executed lease, including page one
- A screenshot or printout of the listing you answered, showing the advertised rent
- The move-in charge sheet or first invoice, showing any one-time fee
- One month of your ledger, portal history, or bank statement showing every recurring charge
- Your application receipt, if you paid a screening fee
Why
Section 504B.120 requires a landlord to “disclose all nonoptional fees in the lease agreement,” and says the sum of rent and all nonoptional fees “must be described as the Total Monthly Payment and be listed on the first page of the lease.” It also requires that a unit advertised for residential tenancy “disclose the nonoptional fees included with the total amount for rent in any advertisement or posting.” Madgett Law, LLC is a law firm evaluating whether Minnesota rental-fee practices can be challenged on behalf of the tenants who paid them, and the documents above are what that evaluation actually runs on.
What happens when you send it
A lawyer reads it. Most submissions will not become a case. Sending documents does not make you a client of Madgett Law, LLC, and no one has reviewed your situation until we tell you otherwise.
Read the law first
Your Apartment's "Total Monthly Payment" — including where a fee like this is lawful. It is worth ten minutes before you fill in a form.