Unable to remove tenant on a month to month lease in MN

[Ben S.]

So I have found a very ugly side to being a landlord in MN I believe.  It appears that per the law if a tenant gives a complaint they have just bought themselves 6 months of eviction or non-renewal of lease free time. 

I currently have a tenant that couldn't understand that if they put a space heater near the thermostat that will turn off the heat so after setting the thermostat to 78 and it not being able to heat because of space heaters they called the cops.  I found out that now they have called the cops I'm not allowed to not renew the month-to-month lease for the next 6 months in MN.  This is beyond crazy and I'm extremely frustrated at this complete failure of the MN justice system.  BTW, I have resolved the heat issue and I keep her unit at 72-78 at all times to keep trying to keep her happy.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to move forward?  This specific tenant is only out to attack me and has turned another tenant in the same building against me.  They are also trying to go after me for issues not related to them in the building.

This is the law that causes this issue: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/sta...

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, and I think you should consult one.

"A residential tenant may not be evicted, nor may the residential tenant's obligations under a lease be increased or the services decreased, if the eviction or increase of obligations or decrease of services is intended as a penalty for the residential tenant's or housing-related neighborhood organization's complaint of a violation."

If I'm interpreting this correctly, you have to prove that the tenant is in violation of the lease in some way. If you can do that, and the eviction isn't simply retaliatory for the complaint, you should be ok.

"The burden of proving otherwise is on the landlord if the eviction or increase of obligations or decrease of services occurs within 90 days after filing the complaint, unless the court finds that the complaint was not made in good faith. After 90 days the burden of proof is on the residential tenant." 

So I don't see a 6 month limitation here. It just says that if you file the eviction within 90 days of the complaint, you have to be the one to prove the tenant violated the lease. 

Also, not renewing a lease isn't the same as an eviction. I don't see anything in the language barring you from deciding not to renew a M-T-M lease.