2026-09-12 · Minnesota · Legislation · Reported — unconfirmed

What happened. Minnesota's HOA Bill of Rights is a negotiated document, and the trade association that did the negotiating has published its own account of what it took out.

The Community Associations Institute's Minnesota chapter set out its version in the Summer 2026 issue of its magazine, Minnesota Community Living, in a legislative overview by Elise Busse of CAI and Phaedra Howard of Hellmuth & Johnson, chair of the Minnesota Legislative Action Committee.¹

This is one interested party's account of a negotiation. It is worth reading precisely because the enacted text does not show what was removed.

The procedural complaint

CAI-MN states that the bipartisan working group's 41 recommendations “were adopted in a single vote rather than considered individually,” producing a bill the chapter describes as one that “would have been disastrous for community associations.”

The four things it says it removed or scaled back

• a pre-enforcement mandate requiring board members to personally engage owners before any enforcement action — removed;
• caps on recoverable legal fees, elimination of interest, restricted lien rights and delayed foreclosure — “significantly scaled back”;
• owner-driven revocation of rules and bylaws — eliminated;
• overly broad meeting-participation requirements — refined.

What CAI-MN still objects to in the enacted law

Added administrative requirements, changed collection procedures, expanded disclosure obligations, and constraints on fines.

The lobbying effort

The 2026 session convened 17 February 2026 with an evenly split House and a one-seat DFL Senate majority. CAI-MN's Legislative Action Committee held its inaugural Advocacy Day at the Capitol on 11 March 2026: more than 60 advocates, in-person meetings with 25 legislators, 46 more reached through a virtual call to action, and visits to nearly 50 legislative offices.

1. “2026 Legislative Overview,” Minnesota Community Living, Vol. 71 (Summer 2026), CAI Minnesota chapter, pp. 8–9 and 12–13 ↩
2. Laws 2026, ch. 82 (S.F. 1750), full session-law text — Minnesota Revisor of Statutes ↩
3. Minnesota Department of Commerce, CIC/HOA Ombudsperson presentation to a Minnesota House committee (23 Feb. 2026) ↩
4. Laws 2026, ch. 61 (S.F. 3622), full session-law text — Minnesota Revisor of Statutes ↩
5. “2026 Minnesota Legislative Session Report” — Community Associations Institute advocacy ↩