The Tenants says "baaaaaa"

The tenant says “baaaa”

I went to see “Babe the Sheep Pig” at the Childrens' Theatre. Babe the pig saves himself from being Christmas dinner by learning to act as a sheep dog. And saving the sheep from being eaten by wolves.

My first day of Real Estate School we were told the public are “sheep” and we, the real estate professionals, are “wolves”. Now that I'm going to be a landlord, I've learned that Minnesota Landlord Tenant law takes the sheep/wolf concept to a whole other level.

Try out this quiz I made up to get up to speed on Minnesota Landlord Tenant Law. Answers are at the end of the quiz.

1) If the landlord enters the premise without giving prior notice, the tenant may:

a) Terminate the lease

b) Recover up to $100 per violation in court

c) Both A & B

2) The tenant owes rent and the landlord brings an eviction action. To “stay and pay” the tenant must pay the past due rent, plus interest, plus landlord paid court and service fees. How much does the tenant need to pay to cover the landlord's attorney fees?

a) $5

b) $100

c) Landlord's actual attorney fees

3) Not only does your deadbeat tenant leave in the middle of the night with rent unpaid, but he leaves his junk. What do you do with the tenant's stuff?

a) Sell it and apply the proceeds to the unpaid rent.

b) Store it, and return it to the tenant if he shows up to pay the past due rent.

c) Store it, and return it to the tenant when they reimburse you for storing their stuff – they don't have to pay you the back rent to get their stuff back.

4) Your tenant is found to posses illegal drugs or contraband valued at more than $100, which is seized from your property. After given notice, you have 15 days to evict the tenant. You're tenant does well in the drug trade and pays his rent on time so you don't evict him. Tenant gets caught again and the value of the controlled substances exceed $1,000.

The government can take your rental property.

a) True

b) False

5) You don't want to rent to kids. Can you discriminate against renting to families with children?

a) No. You can never discriminate based on “familial status”

b) Yes, only if its a “55+” building

c) It an owner-occupied house, duplex, triplex or fourplex.

d) Both B and C.

6) The tenant skips out and doesn't pay the last month's rent. You can apply his security deposit for the rent payment.

a) True

b) False

Answers to quiz:

1) B

2) A

3) C

4) A

5) D

6) A



How did you do? Are you ready to be a landlord? Any advise for me?