Minnesota gives HOAs 90 days to decide an architectural application
Minnesota gives HOAs 90 days to decide an architectural application
2026-09-12 · Minnesota · Legislation
What happened. Section 6 of Laws 2026, ch. 82 adds a new subsection (e) to Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-107, imposing Minnesota's first statutory deadline on architectural review. Effective 1 January 2027.1
A written procedure, adopted as a rule
“An association with authority under the declaration to approve or disapprove a request by a unit owner… to make alterations to the owner's unit must establish, by rule or regulation, a fair, reasonable, and expeditious procedure for making any decision on the proposed alteration. The association must provide the procedure to a unit owner who requests an alteration.”
Two duties there: adopt the procedure, and hand it to the applicant. Most Minnesota associations have guidelines about what is approvable; far fewer have a written procedure about how a decision is made.
The clock
“Unless the declaration, bylaws, or rules and regulations provide for a different period, the board or a committee appointed by the board must make a decision within 90 days after submission of an application that contains all the information required or any additional information or changes to the proposal requested by the association's board.”
The 90 days runs from a complete application — and restarts, in effect, from the submission of any additional information the board requests. That is a meaningful qualification, and it is also the obvious pressure point.
The decision itself
“A decision must be in writing, must be made in accordance with the standards of conduct for directors… and must be reasonable.”
Three requirements stacked: a written output, the § 515B.3-103 director standard of care, and a reasonableness standard matching the one Chapter 82 applies to rules generally.
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Related Minnesota HOA Topics
- Laws 2026, ch. 82 (S.F. 1750), full session-law text — Minnesota Revisor of Statutes ↩
- “New Laws 2026: Chapter 82” — Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services ↩
- Warner v. Pines of North Oaks Home Owners’ Ass’n, No. A25-1129 (Minn. Ct. App. 17 Feb. 2026) (nonprecedential) — slip opinion ↩
- S.F. 3418 bill status (would have voided size, materials, style and fencing covenants; never heard) — Minnesota Revisor of Statutes ↩
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