Mungall v. Garry: The Court of Appeals Misconstrues the 21-Day Clock in Minn. Stat. § 504B.178

By Paul Birnberg, paulrainerbirnberg@gmail.com

When a residential tenant moves out at the end of the lease and gives the landlord a delivery address the landlord has a three-week deadline under Minn. Stat. § 504B.178 to return or account for the security deposit. Most practitioners, including tenant advocates, have assumed that the three-week clock starts after both of the following two things have happened — the tenancy has terminated and the landlord has received the delivery address.

On June 17, in an unpublished case but one of first impression, Mungall v. Garry, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the landlords missed the deadline when they waited exactly three weeks (21 days) after receiving the tenant’s delivery address but 26 days after the termination of her tenancy.

As discussed at length here (with four appendices) I believe the court was wrong. Its construction of section 504B.178 leads to illogical results and flies in the face of the statute’s legislative history. The clock should not start until 21 days after both of the following have occurred: the tenancy terminated AND the tenant gave the landlord delivery instructions for return of the deposit.

The appendices are here: Appendix 1 , Appendix 2 , Appendix 3 , Appendix 4

Originally posted 7/22/2019