Minnesota · Minn. Stat. §559.21Minnesota contract for deed cancellation: the notice, the cure amounts and the 60- and 90-day periods

If a buyer defaults on a Minnesota contract for deed signed on or after August 1, 1985, the seller may terminate it only by serving a notice that names the defaults and states that the contract will terminate 60 days after service – or the different period subdivision 4 allows or requires – unless before then the buyer cures the defaults, makes all payments due through the payment date, pays the cost of serving the notice (if the seller gave notice of the actual cost by certified mail at least ten days before termination), pays 2% of the amount in default other than a final balloon payment, taxes, assessments or assumed mortgages, and pays an attorney-fee amount – $1,000 for contracts for deed signed on or after August 1, 2024 (Minn. Stat. §559.21, subd. 2a). The notice requirement applies notwithstanding any contrary contract terms; a contract for deed signed by an investor seller needs 90 days' notice, while earnest money contracts, purchase agreements and exercised options may be terminated on 30 days' notice unless they provide longer, or cancelled under §559.217 (subd. 4(a)). Notice is served like a district court summons, or by three weeks' publication – with 90 days to comply – for a party who can't be found in the state (subd. 4(a)–(b)).