[Mpls] RE: app fees law -- send all tenants that plan ahead out of

[Bill Cullen]

Greg Luce wrote:
The [State] standard is this:  a landlord "may not charge an applicant a
screening fee when the landlord knows or should have known that no rental
unit is available at that time or will be available within a reasonable
future time."  Thus, the landlord must KNOW that a unit will be available
within a reasonable future time.

Me:

I strongly disagree.  The state law is clearly written in the negative form
leaving open a reasonable person to forecast future vacancies.  For example,
I think everyone would agree that if I collected an application/fee on my
duplex, which has had the same tenants for 8+ years, that I would violate
state law.  In that case, I *should know* that no unit will come available.
However, my 100+ unit building has never gone a month without at least one
notice to vacate.  Therefore, it is reasonable to assume a future vacancy
and that assumption is clearly allowed by state law.  I would love to see
Greg argue that I *should know* that no unit is available in the future,
when for all of history one did come available!

So, for applicants that plan ahead MPLS has given landlords three options:
a) identify a vacant unit today and commit to keeping it vacant until
1-Feb-05 or b) Accept applications, but don't process them until a unit is
vacant -- leaving the applicant in limbo or c) recommend the tenant applies
at a building outside of MPLS.

Bill Cullen
Whittier Landlord.