Consumer · Right to Cancel
Right to Cancel a Purchase in Minnesota
How long you have to cancel a door-to-door purchase in Minnesota, the longer windows for timeshares and other categories, and why there is no general three-day right to return a car. Cited to the statute.
When the cooling-off right applies in Minnesota
The door-to-door window, the categories with their own clocks, and the purchases that are not covered.
| When it applies | What it means |
|---|---|
| Three business days after the sale | The buyer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after the day the sale occurs, under Minn. Stat. § 325G.07. The clock runs from when the sale happens, not from when you sign, removing any backdating argument. |
| Home improvements are named in the statute | The definition covers goods, services, or improvements to real property, so a roofing, siding, or window contract signed on your porch is unambiguously inside the Act, under § 325G.06. |
| More than 25 dollars, off the seller's premises | The right reaches a personal solicitation of more than 25 dollars made at any place other than the seller's place of business, so hotel and fairground sales are covered. Exactly 25 dollars is outside. |
| Ten-day refund, no fee for work done | The seller must refund within ten days, under § 325G.09. If it does not demand the goods within twenty days, they become yours. If the seller performed services, it is entitled to no compensation. |
| When there is no right | What it means |
|---|---|
| Insurance, securities, real property, auctions | Sales of insurance, securities, or real property, and sales by public auction, are excluded, along with anything sold for agricultural purposes. |
| A car sold away from your home | A motor vehicle sale is excluded only where your agreement is made away from your residence. A car sold at your home is still covered, a surgical carve-out. |
| Buyer-initiated visits with a handwritten waiver | A repair or negotiation visit you asked for is excluded only where you furnish a separate dated, signed, handwritten waiver, and additional goods sold during a repair visit remain covered. |
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps to cancel a covered purchase in Minnesota. This is consumer information, not legal advice.
- Know a home improvement contract is covered
Minnesota names improvements to real property in the statute, so a roofing or siding contract signed at your door carries the three-day right. Do not let a contractor tell you otherwise.
- Cancel in writing within the window
Send written cancellation to the seller by midnight of the third business day after the sale occurred. Mailed notice counts on deposit.
- Do not pay for work already done
If the seller performed services before you cancel, it is entitled to no compensation under § 325G.09 subd. 6. You owe nothing for that work.
- Seek damages and fees if refused
Minnesota gives a private action for damages plus attorney fees under § 325G.11. File a complaint with the Minnesota Attorney General, Consumer Division.
If a seller refuses a timely, valid cancellation, a state consumer-protection office can take your complaint and enforce the cooling-off rules.
→ Minnesota Attorney General · File a ComplaintThis is general consumer information, not legal advice. The category, the notice, and the deadline all matter, so confirm your right against the statute and use the complaint route if a valid cancellation is refused.
What Minnesota buyers get wrong about cancelling
Minnesota removes two of the arguments sellers use to dodge a cooling-off right. First, the clock runs from when the sale occurs, not from when you sign, under Minn. Stat. § 325G.07, so a backdated signature cannot shorten your window. Second, Minnesota names improvements to real property right in the definition, so a roofing, siding, or window contract signed on your porch is unambiguously covered, not something a contractor can argue out of. The right reaches sales of more than 25 dollars made at any place other than the seller's place of business, so hotel and fairground sales are covered too. Minnesota's motor-vehicle exclusion is surgical: a car sold at your home is still cancellable, and only a vehicle sold away from your residence drops out. If the seller already did some of the work and you cancel, it gets nothing. And Minnesota writes a clean private action into the chapter, with damages, costs, and attorney fees under § 325G.11. A separate club-membership statute was overhauled in 2024 and 2025 to add an at-any-time, no-fee termination right, so anything written about Minnesota gym memberships must reflect the new text.
Common questions
Does Minnesota's three days start when I signed or when the sale happened?
When the sale occurs. Section 325G.07 keys the clock on the day the home solicitation sale occurs, not the signing date, which removes any argument about a backdated signature.
Is a roofing or siding contract signed at my door covered?
Yes. Minnesota names improvements to real property in the definition, so a roofing or siding contract signed away from the seller's premises is squarely inside the Act.
I bought a car from someone who came to my house. Can I cancel?
Yes. The motor-vehicle exclusion applies only where your agreement is made away from your residence, so a car sold at your home is still cancellable.
Do I owe for the work already done in Minnesota?
No. Under § 325G.09 subd. 6, if the seller performed services before cancellation it is entitled to no compensation.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.