Category: Minnesota
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Zoning for Affordability in Minnesota: Is a Law Allowing More Units Doomed?
A new law to boost starter-home construction in Minnesota is “on life support” now, media reports say. Its backers are scrambling to save it as the lawmaking session concludes this month. Starter homes seem to be an endangered species. In the early 1980s, four in every ten new homes created were within the reach of…
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A Minnesota First: Twin Cities Suburb Requires Removal of Race-Based Deed Restrictions
Mounds View, Minnesota is making history with its new ordinance requiring home sellers to remove race-based deed restrictions before selling. Mounds View adopted its new ordinance on July 23, 2024. It’s official. Mounds View, a Minneapolis – St. Paul suburb, will now require the removal of racially restrictive covenants from deeds. Racial covenants (a.k.a. race-based…
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Risky Business? Minnesota Home Buyers Skip the Mortgage, Preferring Contracts for Deed
Land contract financing, a.k.a. the contract for deed, is a go-to method of home buying in Minnesota — especially in urban neighborhoods. These contracts allow homeowners to sell directly to buyers, bypassing the scrutiny of a mortgage lender. Each year, thousands of Minnesota buyers use them to finance their home purchases. Federal lawmakers across the…
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St. Paul Steps Up: City Begins Discharging Racial Exclusions From Deeds
A racial covenant is language in a real estate deed that puts homes off-limits to certain buyers. It could say the deed may not be conveyed to particular social groups, such as Black, Asian, or Jewish people. Recently, St. Paul leadership joined a coalition to remove racial exclusions from Minnesota property deeds. Aptly, it’s called…
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Minnesota Probate: Transfers of Real Property
Probate is the legal process of settling a person’s estate after he or she has died, including distributing the decedent’s property to those entitled to receive it. Regardless of whether the decedent left a will, all property (real and personal) owned by the decedent individually or as a tenant in common is subject to probate.…
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Guide to Affidavit of Trustee Documents in Minnesota
The affidavit of trustee for real property transactions is codified at Minn. Stat. § 501C.1014. It contains sworn statements made by a trustee regarding the trust which they are representing and their authority to enter into the transaction affecting the real property described in the affidavit.
