Minnesota Statutes

Minn. Stat. § 500.20 (2026)

Defeasible Estates

✓ current as of May 2026

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Subdivision 1.Nominal conditions and limitations.

When any covenants, conditions, restrictions or extensions thereof annexed to a grant, devise or conveyance of land are, or shall become, merely nominal, and of no actual and substantial benefit to the party or parties to whom or in whose favor they are to be performed, they may be wholly disregarded; and a failure to perform the same shall in no case operate as a basis of forfeiture of the lands subject thereto.

Subd. 2.

MS 1980 [Repealed, 1982 c 500 s 5]

Subd. 2a.Restriction of duration of condition.

Except for any right to reenter or to repossess as provided in subdivision 3, all private covenants, conditions, or restrictions created by which the title or use of real property is affected, cease to be valid and operative 30 years after the date of the deed, or other instrument, or the date of the probate of the will, creating them, and may be disregarded.

This subdivision does not apply to covenants, conditions, or restrictions:

(1) that were created before August 1, 1959, under which a person who owns or has an interest in real property against which the covenants, conditions, or restrictions have been filed claims a benefit of the covenant, condition, or restriction if the person records in the office of the county recorder or files in the office of the registrar of titles in the county in which the real estate affected is located, on or before March 30, 1989, a notice sworn to by the claimant or the claimant's agent or attorney: setting forth the name of the claimant; describing the real estate affected; describing the deed, instrument, or will creating the covenant, condition, or restriction; and stating that the covenant, condition, or restriction is not nominal and may not be disregarded under subdivision 1;

(2) that are created by the declaration, bylaws, floor plans, or condominium plat of a condominium created before August 1, 1980, under chapter 515, or created on or after August 1, 1980, under chapter 515A or 515B, or by any amendments of the declaration, bylaws, floor plans, or condominium plat;

(3) that are created by the articles of incorporation, bylaws, or proprietary leases of a cooperative association formed under chapter 308A;

(4) that are created by a declaration or other instrument that authorizes and empowers a corporation of which the qualification for being a stockholder or member is ownership of certain parcels of real estate, to hold title to common real estate for the benefit of the parcels;

(5) that are created by a deed, declaration, reservation, or other instrument by which one or more portions of a building, set of connecting or adjacent buildings, or complex or project of related buildings and structures share support, structural components, ingress and egress, or utility access with another portion or portions;

(6) that were created after July 31, 1959, under which a person who owns or has an interest in real estate against which covenants, conditions, or restrictions have been filed claims a benefit of the covenants, conditions, or restrictions if the person records in the office of the county recorder or files in the office of the registrar of titles in the county in which the real estate affected is located during the period commencing on the 28th anniversary of the date of the deed or instrument, or the date of the probate of the will, creating them and ending on the 30th anniversary, a notice as described in clause (1);

(7) that are created by a declaration or bylaws of a common interest community created under or governed by chapter 515B, or by any amendments thereto; or

(8) that are created by a declaration or other instrument required by a government entity related to affordable housing.

A notice filed in accordance with clause (1) or (6) delays application of this subdivision to the covenants, conditions, or restrictions for a period ending on the later of seven years after the date of filing of the notice, or until final judgment is entered in an action to determine the validity of the covenants, conditions, or restrictions, provided in the case of an action the summons and complaint must be served and a notice of lis pendens must be recorded in the office of the county recorder or filed in the office of the registrar of titles in each county in which the real estate affected is located within seven years after the date of recording or filing of the notice under clause (1) or (6).

County recorders and registrars of titles shall accept for recording or filing a notice conforming with this subdivision and charge a fee corresponding with the fee charged for filing a notice of lis pendens of similar length. The notice may be discharged in the same manner as a notice of lis pendens and when discharged, together with the information included with it, ceases to constitute either actual or constructive notice.

Subd. 3.Time to assert power of termination.

Hereafter any right to reenter or to repossess land on account of breach made in a condition subsequent shall be barred unless such right is asserted by entry or action within six years after the happening of the breach upon which such right is predicated.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 9 cases, 1957–2001 · leading case: Wichelman v. Messner, 83 N.W.2d 800 (Minn. 1957).

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Wichelman v. Messner, 83 N.W.2d 800 (Minn. 1957). · cites it 10× “023 also assists the operation of § 500.20 by requiring notice filed thereunder to state affirmatively why such conditions have not become nominal.”

Andrews v. Benson, 476 N.W.2d 194 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 58× “The trial court granted summary judgment, holding that the statutory right to termination of protective covenants in 30 years had vested upon creation of the covenants in 1957 and that the covenants were not extended by the repeal of Minn.Stat. § 500.20, the 30-year law, in 1982.”

Braaten v. Jarvi, 347 N.W.2d 279 (Minn. Ct. App. 1984). · cites it 18× “Following trial on April 27, 1983, the trial court concluded that the rights created by the agreement constitute an easement appurtenant which is unaffected by Minn. Stat. § 500.20 , subd. 2 (1980, repealed 1982).”

Haugen v. Peterson, 400 N.W.2d 723 (Minn. 1987). · cites it 8× “Did the repeal of Minn.Stat. § 500.20, subd. 2 (1980) revive the effect of a restrictive covenant? II.”

Twp. of Sterling v. Griffin, 244 N.W.2d 129 (Minn. 1976). · cites it 2× “there has been recorded in the office of the register of deeds or filed in the office of the registrar of titles in the county in which the real estate affected is situated, a notice sworn to by the claimant or his agent or attorney setting forth the name of the claimant, a…”

Ravenna Twp. v. Grunseth, 314 N.W.2d 214 (Minn. 1981). · cites it 2× “has been recorded in the office of the county recorder or filed in the office of the registrar of titles in the county in which the real estate affected is situated, a notice sworn to by the claimant or his agent or attorney setting forth the name of the claimant, a description…”

Piche v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 621, 634 N.W.2d 193 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “The school district argued alternatively’ that (1) the statute of limitations on defea-sible estates, Minn.Stat. § 500.20, subd. 2a (2000), bars recovery; (2) the district court made improper factual findings; and (3) a writ of mandamus was an improper remedy.”

Haugen v. Peterson, 390 N.W.2d 795 (Minn. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 12× “The trial court also found that the Indian Hills Protective Covenants had been automatically repealed by operation of Minn.Stat. § 500.20, subd. 2 (1980, repealed 1982 Minn.”

Edling v. Stanford Twp., 381 N.W.2d 881 (Minn. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 2× “500, § 5), provides: All covenants, conditions, or restrictions hereafter created by any other means, by which the title or use of real property is affected, shall cease to be valid and operative 30 years after the date of the deed * * * creating them; and after such period of…”

— Minn. Stat. § 500.20(1) — 2 cases

Wichelman v. Messner, 83 N.W.2d 800 (Minn. 1957). “023 also assists the operation of § 500.20 by requiring notice filed thereunder to state affirmatively why such conditions have not become nominal.”

Andrews v. Benson, 476 N.W.2d 194 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991). “The trial court granted summary judgment, holding that the statutory right to termination of protective covenants in 30 years had vested upon creation of the covenants in 1957 and that the covenants were not extended by the repeal of Minn.Stat. § 500.20, the 30-year law, in 1982.”

— Minn. Stat. § 500.20(2) — 1 case

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