The POWER 30: Kevin J. Dunlevy

Dunlevy Law, P.A

Downtown seems empty. Shoppers don’t come because the stores are gone. Residential foreclosures and evictions are up. Commercial buildings lack tenants, and a commercial foreclosure wave is starting.

This is our urban landscape as we move from a pandemic society to an endemic society. It requires legislative and judicial attention, which it is getting, said Minneapolis real estate lawyer Kevin Dunlevy. “This is a burden society has to bear,” he said.

Dunlevy is the legislative co-chair of the Real Estate Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association. He is joined by Jennifer Carey of Duluth.

Several people have told him there is the equivalent of four to six IDS centers of empty commercial space in Minneapolis, Dunlevy said.

“A lot of leases are coming to an end and landlords can’t pay their mortgages,” he said. “It looks like there’s going to be a reckoning.”

A pending bill is aimed at corporate ownership of single-family rental properties. HF685 was heard last session but died in committee.  Now it’s back. It would prevent corporations from buying single family dwellings to rent out. It will make life difficult for “mom and pop” landlords who will lose the protections of a corporate shield as provided by the Business Corporations Act and which is the purpose of the act, Dunlevy said.

“I wouldn’t let any client rent out property,” Dunlevy said.

Two other bills pending involve transfer on death deeds and would enable transferees to keep insurance on the property. There also is a bill addressed to buyers on a contract for deed that would protect them against predatory contracts.

A third bill addresses the use of a “private transfer fee” as used by a Florida Company MV Realty and other vendors who pay a homeowner a fee in return for which they receive a listing agreement for the property that translates into payment to the company if the property is sold. MV Realty has caught the attention of Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith and others at the Capitol.