Federal Fair Housing Act baseline plus Minnesota-specific additions under Minn. Stat. § 363A.09 (Minnesota Human Rights Act).
Minnesota is a source-of-income protected state. Landlords statewide must consider applicants paying with Section 8 vouchers, other federal/state housing subsidies, child support, social security, or any other lawful source of income.
Federal classes apply uniformly. The classes shaded green below are Minnesota-specific additions under Minn. Stat. § 363A.09 (Minnesota Human Rights Act).
HF 16 (2023) added gender identity as standalone class.
The single fact a Minnesota landlord most needs: you cannot refuse an applicant just because they pay with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. Minnesota protects source of income statewide through its "public assistance status" class, so a flat "no vouchers" screening rule is unlawful here, no matter which county the rental sits in. This puts Minnesota among the more protective states — many neighboring states leave voucher holders with no protection at all, which is exactly why this rule trips up out-of-state owners and new investors.
The governing law is Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, the Minnesota Human Rights Act, enforced by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. It layers several state-only protected classes on top of the seven federal categories under the federal Fair Housing Act. With average rent around $978, a single rejected applicant can turn a routine vacancy into a costly complaint, so it pays to know exactly who the law covers before you advertise.
Minnesota's fair-housing protections live in Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, the Minnesota Human Rights Act. It mirrors the federal Fair Housing Act's seven classes — race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability — and then extends well beyond them. Complaints are investigated by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which can take charges from renters who believe they were screened out, steered, or advertised away from a unit because of a protected characteristic.
For a small landlord, the practical takeaway is that the rules you must follow are broader than the federal baseline. A screening policy that would survive scrutiny in a federal-only state can still violate Minnesota law. Knowing which extra classes apply is the difference between a clean denial and a state human-rights charge.
On top of the federal seven, the Minnesota Human Rights Act protects several additional characteristics in housing:
Note that even under federal law, HUD's 2021 post-Bostock reading treats "sex" as including sexual orientation and gender identity. Minnesota does not rely on that interpretation: it names these classes outright, so protection here does not depend on a shifting federal guidance posture. Marital status and creed are genuinely state-specific additions with no direct federal equivalent in housing.
Minnesota recently sharpened its protections. HF 16 (2023) added gender identity as a standalone protected class under the Human Rights Act, rather than leaving it implied within "sex" or "sexual orientation." For landlords, the effect is clarity: gender identity is now its own enumerated category, and there is no ambiguity about whether it is covered in housing.
Practically, that means screening notes, tenant interactions, and any preference expressed in an ad must be neutral on a tenant's gender identity. The standalone listing also makes enforcement cleaner for the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, because a complainant no longer has to argue the characteristic into an existing category.
The mistakes that generate complaints in Minnesota are rarely overt. The most common is a voucher screen: posting "no Section 8" or quietly setting it aside because of how rent is paid. Because public assistance status is protected statewide, that single line in an ad can become the entire case against you.
Other traps include income-multiple rules ("must earn 3x rent") applied without counting the voucher portion, marital-status questions like asking whether co-applicants are married, and ad language that signals a preference — "perfect for a single professional" or "Christian household." Creed and marital status are both protected here, so phrasing matters. The safe practice is to apply identical, written, income-and-history criteria to every applicant and to keep advertising strictly about the unit, not the ideal tenant.
Fair-housing complaint rates correlate with overall tenant-protection enforcement. View landlord risk and tenant-law profile by city:
This page is based on Minn. Stat. § 363A.09 (the Minnesota Human Rights Act), enforced by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, alongside the federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3604). Last reviewed June 2026. This is general informational content for landlords and renters, not legal advice; consult a qualified attorney or the Minnesota Department of Human Rights for guidance on a specific situation.
No. Minnesota protects source of income statewide through the "public assistance status" class in the Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. § 363A.09). A landlord cannot refuse an applicant simply because they would pay rent with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. A blanket "no vouchers" policy or ad is unlawful anywhere in the state.
Minnesota covers the seven federal Fair Housing Act classes — race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability — plus at least five more under state law: sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, public assistance status, and creed. That makes Minnesota's list meaningfully broader than the federal baseline.
Yes. Both are explicitly protected under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Gender identity was made a standalone protected class by HF 16 (2023). Minnesota names these classes directly, so protection does not depend on HUD's 2021 post-Bostock reading of federal "sex" — it is fixed in state statute.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights investigates discrimination complaints under Minn. Stat. § 363A.09. Because the federal Fair Housing Act also applies, violations can additionally expose a landlord to federal civil penalties and damages. The most reliable protection is consistent, written screening criteria applied equally to every applicant.
Federal authority: 42 U.S.C. § 3604; 24 C.F.R. Part 100. State authority: Minn. Stat. § 363A.09 (Minnesota Human Rights Act). Last updated July 14, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice. Fair-housing determinations are highly fact-specific; consult a licensed Minnesota attorney before making a screening, denial, or eviction decision.
