Helping Apartment Residents Is What We Love

Apply online from any floor plan or community page with the Apply button. Each adult 18 or older applies separately.

Yes. Apply online and sign your lease electronically. Ask us for a video tour: they’re recorded, not live.

Your household’s gross monthly income should be at least 2.5 times the rent. For example, $1,500 rent needs $3,750 a month before taxes. Roommates’ incomes count together. Proof is recent pay stubs, a W-2 or benefit letters; a bank statement only counts alongside another proof.

That is a great question. At Norhart, we want to make sure that everyone gets a fair and equal opportunity to be accepted into our apartments which is why we run a criminal and financial background check on all of our residents. If you are interested in renting a unit from us, we encourage you to apply. We won't know whether or not we can accept you until after the background check.

Yes. We accept an ITIN, a student or work visa, or a permanent residency card. We review the application as we would for someone with no credit history yet.

Up to 2 people in a studio or 1-bedroom, 4 in a 2-bedroom and 6 in a 3-bedroom. Every adult 18 or older who will live there applies and signs the lease.

You have 24 hours to sign your lease. After that, we release the apartment.

Yes. Tell us which floor plan you want. We’ll note it and let you know when one opens.

A co-signer’s gross monthly income should be at least 5 times the rent.

Sometimes. When we allow it, breaking your lease early costs 3 months’ rent, and you give 60 days’ written notice. It isn’t always available, so ask us first. Military orders, domestic violence and some other situations have their own rules.

The transfer fee is $250, at every Norhart community.

$50 per adult applicant, plus an admin fee of $175 per applicant (co-signers too).

We sure do! We offer a wide variety of lease terms (both short and long) to make your stay with us affordable, fun, and enjoyable.

Ask us: we consider every request, and you can ask before you sign your lease. We’ll give you our Reasonable Accommodation form for your healthcare provider to fill out. If your need is obvious, just tell us, and we’ll fill out the form with you.

Yes. Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, you can end your lease early with qualifying military orders.

Yes. Write or text us in Spanish, and your message goes through a translator. / Sí. Escríbanos en español: su mensaje pasa por un traductor.

Pet rent is $55 a month per dog and $45 a month per cat. There’s a one-time, non-refundable pet fee of $450 per apartment, and no pet deposit. Dogs are registered with a DNA test: free for the first dog, $50 for a second. Not picking up after a pet can bring a fine of $300.

A service animal or an approved emotional support animal is an assistance animal, not a pet. An assistance animal doesn’t count toward the 3 pets allowed per apartment. An assistance animal has no pet fee, no pet rent and no deposit. An apartment with an assistance animal pays the one-time pet fee only if it also has a pet that isn’t an assistance animal. A resident is responsible for any damage their assistance animal causes. When it isn’t obvious that a dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two questions: is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff don’t ask for paperwork for a service animal, ask about the person’s disability, or ask the dog to show its task. An emotional support animal is approved through the Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Packet. A request for an emotional support animal needs Norhart’s Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Packet filled out by your healthcare provider. If you have a visible or obvious disability and ask us verbally, our staff can fill out the form, and we review whether the request is reasonable. Every dog must be registered with PooPrints through a DNA test, whatever its medical or emotional support status. An assistance dog’s DNA test has no extra fee.

Up to 3 pets per apartment, any mix of cats and dogs, with no weight limit. More than 3 pets needs our written approval.

We decide that case by case, so talk to the office first.

No. Small caged animals like these don’t count as pets.

No. We don’t allow visiting pets, for liability reasons.

Before you move, get renters insurance, set up electricity and pay what’s due. Then book a time with us to pick up your keys. We walk you through each step.

Yes. Every resident needs renters insurance before move-in, and we recommend at least $100,000 of coverage. One policy can cover everyone on the lease. Upload a copy again at each renewal.

No, there are no elevator reservations. You book a time to pick up your keys.

Every apartment has its own at Encore, Gateway Green and Gateway Green Townhomes. At Mill Pond, Legacy Pointe, Birchview and Greystone, it depends on the floor plan: each apartment’s page says, and the others use the laundry rooms. Heritage Heights, Springwood and Northbrook have laundry on each floor.

No. We never allow subletting, or renting out your apartment short term on sites like Airbnb or VRBO.

The new roommate applies (an application fee of $50 and the screening). A lease change costs $50.

All of our buildings are smoke-free inside and on balconies, including vaping; it’s a fine of $200. Use the outdoor smoking areas.

No grills on balconies or patios. Use the grilling areas at Encore, Mill Pond, Legacy Pointe, Heritage Heights and the Gateway Green Townhomes.

Yes to nails for pictures and to mounting a TV (please don’t patch the screw holes when you move out). Wall stickers are fine if you take them off before you leave. No 3M or Command strips, since they pull off paint and drywall, and no over-the-door hooks. Painting, wallpaper, a satellite dish or new wiring need our written OK first.

No. Our communities aren’t age-restricted, and everyone is welcome.

Encore, Gateway Green Apartments, Mill Pond and Legacy Pointe have elevators. Heritage Heights, Birchview, Greystone, Northbrook and Springwood don’t.

Yes, briefly.

Yes. A motorcycle is treated like a car: it needs a parking permit and uses your apartment’s free outdoor spot. Parking another vehicle costs the same as for a car.

Unfortunately, due to health and safety concerns, we ask all of our residents to find another solution for storing their bicycles. All of our buildings (except for Encore) are equipped with a bike rack in the garage. For more information, please speak with a member of our friendly leasing staff.

Yes! Once you become a resident, we will give you instructions on scheduling a time to watch the big game in the community room or enjoy the latest Star Wars, Marvel, or Pixar movie in the movie room.

Each property is different. Encore has our best Fitness Center: it has treadmills and stationary bikes for cardio, and a large selection of dumbbells and cable machines for lifting.

Sign in to the resident portal and send a service request telling us what needs fixing in your apartment.

Heat is kept at 68°F or more from October 1 to April 30, as Minnesota law requires. No heat in winter counts as an after-hours emergency.

Yes. Report pests through a service request, and we schedule our pest-control company.

Flooring differs by building and layout, so ask us about the apartment you’re looking at. A steam mop is OK on plank or vinyl floors.

We print leases and lease documents, but not other pages.

Most of our communities provide Norhart internet. The most common plans are 120, 250 and 500 Mbps, but it depends on the property. Where we don’t provide it, you choose your own provider.

Book a tour on any community page, or call or text us. Tours run Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm. Evenings and weekends sometimes by appointment. We can usually fit you in with an hour’s notice. Every adult touring needs a valid photo ID.

No problem. Reply to your confirmation text or email, or call us, and we’ll find a new time. If the apartment is occupied, please be on time, since the resident was given notice.

Pay online in the resident portal, any time. A bank account (ACH) is free; a credit card adds 3.75% and a debit card $6.95 per payment. Autopay is available. Can’t sign in? Call the office and we’ll reset your access.

They’re in the resident portal, with your messages from us.

Your first month is prorated. For each day you live there, you pay your rent divided by the days in that month. Moving in after the 15th, you pay the prorated first month and the next month before move-in.

No. Rent is due on the 1st, and that date can’t move. If you need an accommodation, contact the office.

Ask your property manager. We try to fill those out within 2 days.

Every January we give each household a Certificate of Rent Paid for the rent paid the year before, by January 31 as Minnesota requires. You need it to claim Minnesota’s Renter’s Credit with your state income tax return. If you’ve moved out, we send it to the forwarding address you gave us, so please leave one.

Call our office at (651) 689-4830. We’re in the office Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm.

All of our communities are in Forest Lake, a lake town of about 21,000 people, 30 miles north of Minneapolis on I-35. There’s a Metro Transit Park & Ride on Highway 61, a beach and park downtown, and the Hardwood Creek Trail. The leasing office is at Encore, 1081 4th St SW Suite 400.