• Familiarize yourself with your lease agreement. Understand the terms and rules outlined.
• The City is limited in our ability to address concerns regarding management practices, lease agreements, fees, charges, or housing discrimination. Contact should be made with one of the organizations listed below.
• For questions or concerns regarding management practices, lease agreements, fees, charges, or housing discrimination you will need to contact a third party for assistance. See the resources tab below for a few agencies that assist with tenant rights and concerns.

• Report your maintenance concern(s) to management as soon as possible. Do not delay the reporting.
• Report any maintenance issues as outlined in your lease agreement. If there is a phone number to call, document the date and time of the call for your records.
• The City enforces MN building codes, rental license ordinance, and property maintenance codes. If you have made a written report to management and your concern has not been repaired, contact the City. To report a maintenance concern, contact the Community Development Department at 763-569-3330.
• A staff from the Community Development Department will contact the Property Manager and/or Site Manager for additional information and follow up. A site visit may be required and a correction order may be sent.
• If you have filed a maintenance report and the repair has not been made, rather than withholding rent, you can pay your rent to the MN Courts, this process is called a rent escrow. Rent escrows are used to bring a claim that would require the landlord to make needed repairs or to comply with the lease agreement.

• Volunteer Lawyers Network (VLN): 612-752-6677
• Legal Aid: 612-334-5970
• MN Dept. of Human Rights: 651-539-1100
• MN State Attorney General's Office: 651-296-3353
• U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): 612-370-3000
• Trash haulers and Recycling information, go to www.HRG-recycling.com
• HOME Line Tenant Hotline:  612-728-5767
  • Form letters are available on their website at https://homelinemn.org
  • Repair Request
  • Response for invoice for Repairs
  • Privacy Violation
  • Retaliation Notice 
• Attorney General's Office
  • Several resources that can be accessed at https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Publications.asp
    • Landlords and Tenants Rights and Responsibilities
    • Rental Listing Scams
    • Moving into an Apartment
    • Vacating your Apartment
    • Home Buyer's Handbook

• Minnesota Judicial Branch: Information on how MN courts operate and forms to file for rent escrow, MN laws, or general information about the court process go to: https://www.mncourts.gov

• MN Laws:  To find Minnesota laws and general information about the process of how laws are passed go to: https://www. revisor.mn.gov/

• LawHelpMN.org: This website has answers to legal questions on a variety of rental housing issues in Minnesota. Go to: https://www. lawhelpmn.org/ or contact 651-228-9105.

• Attorney General's office has information on MN Statutes and outlines tenant/landlord rights and responsibilities. For more information go to https://www.ag.state.mn.us/

• Legal aid specializes in providing professional civil (not criminal) legal help to Minnesotans who cannot afford the services of a private civil attorney. For more information go to https://mylegalaid.org/ or contact Legal Aid at (612) 332-1441.

What to do

If you think you are a victim of discrimination:

• Write down what happened to you if you think it was unfair.
• Write down the dates when the unfair treatment happened.
• Write down the names of other people that were there.
• Write down what the people who were there said.

Do not wait!

Sometimes it is hard to say what is discrimination and what is not discrimination - every situation is different. But if you think you are a victim of discrimination, do not wait. Contact the Minnesota Department of Human Rights immediately. You have one year after the discrimination happened to file a complaint.

Phone: 651-539-1100 (TTY 651-296-1283)

Minnesota Department of Human Rights Freeman Building

625 Robert Street North Saint Paul, MN 55155

Email address:  info.MDHR@state.mn.us

The City has many methods of getting information to residents and businesses. Whether you call city staff, visit city offices, attend meetings, visit the website, listen, watch or read- our goal is to keep you informed about important community issues. A few sources for your City News are listed below.

City Website

Visit www.ci.brooklyn-center.mn.us where you can find answers to frequently Asked questions; make suggestions or request certain types of services through Notify the City, and receive email or text messages of current news, meetings, events and more through Be Notified. You can also obtain construction permits, register for recreation classes and pay your water bill online. Use key words to Search the site and Site Tools to translate pages in multiple languages, enlarge font size, share the page and more.

City Watch

The City newsletter brings you city news, notifications and information; and provides answers to consumer questions.

City Council Meetings

City Council regular session meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 7 pm.

Informal Open Forum is held at 6:45 pm before Council meetings for persons who wish to address the City Council about issues not scheduled on the agenda.

City Council Work Sessions are held immediately following the regular session City Council meetings.

Call City Hall to verify meeting dates (763) 569-3300.

Sun  Post- Official City Newspaper

The Brooklyn Center Sun Post is designated as the City's official newspaper to publish the City's legal notices, ordinances, financial information, public hearing notices, and other official information. the Sun Post newspaper is delivered to most residences at no charge or by voluntary subscription. If you would like the newspaper delivered to your home, please all MN Sun Publications at (952) 392- 6850. Find local news on their website, www.mnsun.com.

CCX Media

Provides local news, programs and the community journal highlighting businesses for the Northwest Suburbs. Find more local news on their website, ccxmedia.org.

Star Tribune Paper- North Metro Section

Offers news and events for North Metro communities. Register online for an email newsletter at www.startribune.com.

City Commissions

Resident volunteers serve on the following advisory commissions: Financial, Housing, Park and Recreation, and Planning Commissions. Other commissions that appoint citizen representatives include Charter, Northwest Suburbs Cable Communications, and Watershed. If you would like to apply for a commission, please visit the City website or contact the City Clerk at (763) 569-3300.

We invite you to connect with us through social media and our website. Sign-up to receive notices, "Like" and or "Follow" our page(s):

City of Brooklyn Center - facebook.com/BrooklynCenterMN

Fire Department - facebook.com/BrooklynCenterFD

Police Department - facebook.com/BrooklynCenterPolice

Brooklyn Center Liquor - facebook.com/BrooklynCenterliquor

Centerbrook Golf Course - facebook.com/centerbrookgolf

Recreation - facebook.com/BrooklynCenterRec