If you’re apartment hunting in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, or anywhere else in the state, you might assume some blanket law guarantees your right to keep a dog or cat. It doesn’t. Whether you can have pets in apartments in Minnesota comes down almost entirely to what your landlord decides to write into the lease, not a statewide mandate protecting pet owners.
That said, Minnesota law isn’t silent on the topic. It limits how pet deposits work, carves out strong protections for service animals and emotional support animals, and blocks cities from banning specific dog breeds, even though your landlord can still restrict breeds in a private lease. Knowing where those lines fall can save you from a denied application, an illegal fee, or a fight you didn’t need to have.
Can a Landlord Ban Pets in Minnesota
Minnesota gives landlords wide latitude when it comes to pets. Landlords have the right to set pet policies, including not allowing pets at all. No state statute forces a private landlord to accept dogs, cats, or any other companion animal in a standard rental unit, and a “no pets” clause in a lease is generally enforceable as written.
There are two narrow exceptions. The first covers service animals and emotional support animals, which aren’t legally treated as pets in the first place. A no-pet policy doesn’t apply to service and emotional support animals because they aren’t considered pets, which means a landlord with a policy prohibiting pets has to make an exception for them. You’ll find the specifics of that exception further down…