Say the words "Truth in Sale of Housing" to a seller in St. Paul and a seller in Minneapolis, and they will describe two different processes. Both cities require the same report before a home can be shown. Only one of them can hold your closing hostage over an uncapped wire in the basement.
That distinction rarely comes up until a seller is already mid-transaction, comparing notes with a friend across the river who sold last spring with almost none of the friction. If you're listing a home in Minneapolis this fall, understanding what TISH actually obligates you to do, and when, is the difference between a clean pre-listing checklist and a closing table surprise.
What a TISH evaluator is actually looking for
A Truth in Sale of Housing evaluation is not a home inspection in the way most buyers understand the term. It does not assess resale value, cosmetic condition, or how well the kitchen was updated. A licensed evaluator walks the property looking specifically for risks to life and health, then files a disclosure report with the city.
In Minneapolis, the items that show up most often on evaluation checklists include:
- A missing check valve with atmospheric valve on a boiler, which requires a permit to install
- A missing or broken pressure relief valve on a boiler, also permit-required
- An improper furnace or boiler flue
- A missing or broken temperature and pressure relief valve on a water heater
- Open junction boxes with missing covers, or wires that are uncapped and left outside the box
None of these are exotic. Most are the kind of thing a homeowner walks past for years without noticing, because they don't affect how the house feels to live in. They affect how the house scores on a checklist that didn't exist when a lot of these systems were installed.
The split that catches people off guard
This is where the two cities diverge, and it's the part most generic seller guides gloss over because they're written for a national audience that has never heard of TISH at all.
In Minneapolis, the evaluation is a repair gate. If the evaluator flags something, the seller has to address it, or the buyer has to formally agree to take it on, before the deal is finished. There's a paper trail, permits, and a re-inspection at the end.
In St. Paul, the report exists almost entirely for disclosure. The only item St. Paul actually requires to be fixed in a single-family home is a working hard-wired smoke detector. Everything else the evaluator notes gets disclosed to the buyer, not remediated by the seller.
| Minneapolis | St. Paul | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose of report | Disclosure plus required repairs | Disclosure only |
| What must be fixed | Any flagged safety hazard | Hard-wired smoke alarm, if missing or inoperable |
| Report validity | 2 years or one sale | 1 year |
| Path if repairs aren't done | Buyer signs Acknowledgement of Responsibility, has 90 days after closing | Not applicable in the same way, since repairs beyond the smoke alarm aren't mandatory |
| Who licenses evaluators | City of Minneapolis | City of St. Paul (separate licensing, does not accept out-of-city credentials) |
A seller who assumes their Minneapolis home will move through TISH the way a friend's St. Paul listing did is planning around the wrong set of rules.
The clock starts before you think it does
Minneapolis requires a full TISH report before a property can be shown to buyers at all. That means the evaluation has to happen early enough to be filed, reviewed, and displayed at the property before your first open house, not scheduled loosely sometime during the listing period.
Once the report exists, it has to be posted where buyers can see it during every showing. It stays valid for two years or until the property sells, whichever comes first. If your home sits on the market longer than that window, or a deal falls through and you relist well past two years, you're back to square one with a new evaluation.
Since 2020, every Minneapolis TISH report has also included an Energy Disclosure section, scoring the home's energy performance and noting opportunities for improvement. That part carries no repair obligation. Sellers are not required to act on the score. But it does mean buyers see an energy rating alongside the safety findings before they ever make an offer, which is worth knowing if you're deciding what to fix versus what to let stand.
When repairs aren't finished by closing
Here is the part that actually shapes negotiation.
If a Minneapolis seller can't or doesn't want to complete required repairs before closing, the buyer can agree to take them over. That agreement gets formalized through a signed Acknowledgement of Responsibility, filed with the city within one day of closing. From there, the buyer has 90 days to pull any necessary permits and complete the work.
Repairs that required a permit get re-inspected, either by the original evaluator or a city inspector depending on the type of work, and getting that final sign-off typically means an added fee on top of the original evaluation cost. Once everything checks out, the city issues a Certificate of Completion.
This is a real mechanism, not a formality, and it changes how a repair item functions at the negotiating table. A buyer who's willing to assume a flagged repair is effectively absorbing risk and paperwork the seller would otherwise have to manage. That's leverage in either direction. A seller who fixes the easy items ahead of time, like a missing backflow preventer on an outdoor faucet or a dead smoke alarm, removes talking points before a buyer ever gets to use them.
What this means for your listing strategy
The instinct for a lot of sellers is to treat TISH as a box to check right before listing, the same way they'd order professional photos or schedule a lockbox install. In Minneapolis, that's a mistake. The evaluation should happen early enough that if something needs a permit, you have time to get it fixed before your first showing rather than negotiating it away during the offer stage.
Evaluators in Minneapolis set their own prices, so it's worth calling a few before booking, the same way you'd compare quotes for any other pre-listing service. The report itself is public once filed. Any buyer curious about a property's history can look up whether it has a current TISH report on file with the city.
For sellers weighing whether it's worth fixing something before the evaluator arrives versus disclosing it and letting a buyer decide, the honest answer depends on the item. A junction box cover is a five-minute fix. A boiler flue that needs a licensed contractor and a permit is a different conversation, and one worth having with your agent before you set a list date, not after the first showing gets scheduled around a report that isn't ready yet.
Frequently asked questions
Does a TISH evaluation replace a buyer's home inspection? No. A TISH evaluation checks for safety hazards and code issues the city has flagged for disclosure. A buyer's inspection is a separate, optional process the buyer arranges and pays for after an offer is accepted, and it typically covers the overall condition of the home far more broadly than TISH does.
Can I sell my Minneapolis home as-is and skip the TISH report entirely? No. The evaluation itself is still required even for an as-is sale. What changes is who handles the repairs. A buyer purchasing as-is can agree to take over any required fixes through the Acknowledgement of Responsibility process rather than requiring the seller to complete them first.
What happens if my home doesn't sell before the report expires? A Minneapolis TISH report is valid for two years or until the property sells, whichever comes first. If your listing drags past that window, or a sale falls through and you relist well beyond two years later, you'll need a new evaluation before showing the home again.
If you're weighing a listing timeline against what a TISH evaluation might turn up, that's exactly the kind of local detail worth talking through before you set a date. Rathmanner Real Estate Team works these mechanics into every Minneapolis listing plan, so repairs get handled on your terms instead of a buyer's. Reach out for a free home valuation and we'll map out what your specific property needs before it ever goes on the market.
