Minnesota Month-to-Month Lease: One Rental Period, Received

By Steve Levine · Updated November 3, 2026

Short answer: A Minnesota month to month lease ends when either side gives written notice at least as long as the interval between rent due dates, capped at three months, under Minn. Stat. § 504B.135. For rent due on the first, the Minnesota Attorney General reads that as notice the other side receives by the last day of the month before your final month. A notice that arrives even one day late does not end the tenancy on time.

The receipt rule is the part that trips people up in Minnesota. It is not when you mail or text the notice that counts, but when the other side gets it. Miss the last day of the month and you are usually paying for another full month.

Minnesota Month to Month Lease Rules at a Glance

Rule	Minnesota	Statute
Notice to end a tenancy at will (either party)	Written; at least one rent interval, but no more than three months	§ 504B.135
Lease gives landlord a longer notice period than tenant	Tenant may use either period; landlord may not use a shorter one	§ 504B.147
Holding over after a lease ends without express agreement	Only a tenancy for the shortest rent interval is implied	§ 504B.141
Automatic renewal clauses (terms of 2+ months)	Landlord must send a written reminder 15 to 30 days before your notice deadline	§ 504B.145
Early renewal demands (leases over 10 months)	Not more than six months before expiration	§ 504B.144
Moving out in winter	Three days’ notice before vacating between Nov. 15 and Apr. 15, except at the end of a tenancy	§ 504B.155

How a Periodic Tenancy Starts in Minnesota

Minnesota’s statute uses the term “tenancy at will.” The Attorney General’s handbook, Landlords and Tenants: Rights and Responsibilities, calls the same arrangement a periodic lease: if your rental agreement says nothing about how long the tenancy lasts, it is periodic, and the rental period runs from one rent payment to the next.

The other common route is a lease that runs out. Under § 504B.141, when a tenant of urban real estate holds over after a lease expires without the landlord’s express agreement, no tenancy for any period longer than the shortest interval between rent payments under the old lease is implied. So a one-year lease with monthly rent does not quietly renew for another year. The AG handbook adds that if you keep paying and the landlord keeps accepting rent after expiration, the lease continues month to month.

Watch for automatic renewal clauses

Some leases say they renew for another term unless you give notice. Section 504B.145 limits these. For a lease with an original term of two months or more that renews for two months or more, the landlord can enforce the clause only after giving you written notice that directs your attention to it, served personally or by certified mail at least 15 but not more than 30 days before your deadline to give notice of intent to quit.

Notice to End a Minnesota Month to Month Lease

Section 504B.135 says a tenancy at will may be terminated by either party with written notice. The notice must be at least as long as the interval between the times rent is due, or three months, whichever is less. That works out to:

Monthly rent: one full month.
Weekly rent: one week, the interval between rent due dates.
Rent due every three months or less often: three months, the statutory cap.

The section applies the same period to both sides and adds nothing longer for long-time tenants.

Timing: received, not sent

The AG handbook explains that written notice must be received by the other party at least one full rental period before the last day of the tenancy, which is the day before the last rent payment is due. Its example: to leave at the end of June with rent due on the first, you must notify the landlord in writing on or before May 31. If the notice is mailed May 31 but arrives June 1, it is not effective to end the tenancy on June 30. The handbook says a notice that misses the deadline, even by a day, is void, and the tenancy continues as if no notice was given.

Hand delivery with a signed receipt, or mailing well ahead of the deadline, avoids the problem.

When your lease sets different notice periods

If your written agreement gives the landlord a longer notice period than you, § 504B.147 evens things out. You may use either your own notice period or the landlord’s period for a notice to quit or rent increase. The landlord may not give a notice to quit or a rent-increase notice shorter than the period the lease requires of you. These protections cannot be waived.

Rent Increases on a Periodic Tenancy

None of the state statutes reviewed here caps the amount of an increase. According to the AG handbook, under a periodic tenancy a landlord cannot raise the rent without proper written notice, which it describes as one rental period plus one day. For monthly rent due on the first, an increase starting July 1 needs written notice that you receive by May 31.

Some cities go further. Saint Paul’s rent stabilization page lists a standard allowable increase of 3% in a 12-month period without city approval, with exceptions landlords can apply for. The city notifies tenants by mail when a landlord applies for an exception. Read more in St. Paul tenant rights.

Worked Example: A Rent Increase in Saint Paul

Abdi rents a one-bedroom in Saint Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood for $1,300 a month, due on the first. His one-year lease ended in 2026, he kept paying, and his landlord kept accepting rent, so he is now month to month.

On May 20, 2027, he receives a letter raising rent to $1,339 starting July 1. That is exactly 3%, within the city’s standard allowance, and he received the letter before May 31, so it meets the AG’s one-rental-period-plus-a-day timing. If the letter had arrived on June 2, the July 1 date would not work.

Abdi decides to move instead. To be out at the end of June, his written notice must reach the landlord by May 31, 2027. He hands it over on May 28 and gets a signed copy. Our notice deadline calculator can check the receipt deadline for your rent day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my notice count from the day I mail it?

No. The AG handbook says the effective date of a notice is the date it is received. A letter mailed on the last day of the month that arrives the next day is too late for that month.

My lease says I must give 60 days’ notice but my landlord only has to give 30. Is that allowed?

Section 504B.147 lets you use either period, and bars the landlord from using a period shorter than yours. Any lease clause waiving that rule is void.

Can I move out in January without telling my landlord?

Under § 504B.155, a tenant who vacates a building with pipes that can freeze between November 15 and April 15 without giving three days’ notice commits a misdemeanor, except when the tenancy is ending. Proper termination notice under § 504B.135 avoids that problem.

My lease renewed automatically for another year. Am I stuck?

Possibly not. Under § 504B.145, the landlord can enforce an automatic renewal only after giving you written notice of the clause 15 to 30 days before your deadline to give notice of intent to quit.

Before you move, check the Minnesota security deposit law for your refund deadline, and compare other states on our month-to-month lease laws by state hub. This page is general information, not legal advice; for help with a notice or an eviction case, use LawHelpMN or LSC’s get legal help finder.

Sources

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