Contact the Attorney General’s Office

The Attorney General’s Office is remodeling its current office space and for everyone’s safety during this time, we are temporarily discontinuing the practice of in-person meetings with consumers and attempting to limit incoming mail. We are still committed to serving you in the best and most timely way possible. If you would like to speak with an analyst, we ask that you please call us. If you need help with a consumer problem and would like this Office to contact an organization on your behalf, we ask you to file a complaint using the Online Consumer Assistance Request Form. Thank you for your understanding.

Contacting the Attorney General’s Office by Telephone

We welcome your calls! We are often able to answer questions on the phone, point you in the right direction, or talk through a problem to help determine if you should file a written complaint with our Office. You may call the Attorney General's Office at:

Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
Tel: (651) 296-3353 (Twin Cities Calling Area) or (800) 657-3787 (Outside the Twin Cities)
(800) 627-3529 (Minnesota Relay)

Representatives are available to take calls during the hours listed below. 

Please note that despite every effort to promptly answer calls, there are occasional times when we experience extra heavy call volumes, which can result in a brief wait to speak to an analyst.  We often experience lower call volumes between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., so calling during these times may reduce the chance of any wait time.

Filing a Consumer Complaint

We want to hear from you. The Attorney General’s Office welcomes complaints from citizens on a large variety of matters.  If you have experienced a problem, we want to hear from you!  Depending on your concern, you should send us either the Consumer Assistance Request Form or the Fraud Report Form (see form descriptions below).

Asking for Help

Fill out the Consumer Assistance Request Form if you need help with a consumer problem and would like the Attorney General’s Office to contact the organization on your behalf.

When we receive your Consumer Assistance Request Form stating your complaint, we will review it and determine what assistance we may be able to provide to you.  In some cases, we may be able to help resolve a problem by contacting an organization for you. In other cases, we may also assist you in locating other government agencies that can best address the problem. 

If you have been victimized by a crime, you should contact your local police or sheriff’s department and county attorney.  The Minnesota Legislature has given these agencies the authority to investigate and prosecute criminal matters.

Information we receive from citizens helps us to identify potential violations of Minnesota law and new problems occurring in the marketplace.  In some cases, information from citizens may help us build lawsuits against companies that we determine have violated our state’s laws.  In other cases, your information may help us inform the public about emerging scams or problem areas. If you have experienced a consumer problem that doesn’t seem right, we would like to hear about it.  Even if we have already started a lawsuit, reports from consumers may provide important evidence for our case.

If you have questions about whether you should send us a report about a particular business or would like our assistance in filling out our Consumer Assistance Request Form or Fraud Report Form, or have questions about which form to use, you may call our Office at (651) 296-3353 (Twin Cities Calling Area) or (800) 657-3787 (Outside the Twin Cities).

For more information see our flyer How to Assert Your Rights as a Consumer.

Best Way To Contact the Office for Help

We appreciate hearing from citizens, and we want to serve you in the best and most timely way we can.  With this goal in mind, we offer these suggestions:

Consumer Complaints:

If you need help with a consumer problem and would like the Attorney General’s Office to contact the organization on your behalf, we ask that you download a copy of our Consumer Assistance Request Form.

You may return either form by mail to the Office at the following address:

Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
445 Minnesota Street, Suite 600
St. Paul, MN 55101-2131

Please be sure to include with your form any pertinent materials you think will help us to understand the problem.

Questions:

If you have a question you think we may be able to answer, we recommend that you call our Office at (651) 296-3353 (Twin Cities Calling Area) or (800) 657-3787 (Outside the Twin Cities).  This is often the quickest way for you to get your question answered. In many cases, we are able to quickly answer your question or point you in the right direction after listening to your concerns over the phone.  In other cases, we may be able to help you find another agency that can best address your question.  In some cases, usually involving complex issues, we may ask you to fill out a Consumer Assistance Request Form or write to us with more information so that we can better assess and respond to your question or problem.

Written Correspondence:

If you wish to write us a letter, please send your letter (and any pertinent materials) to:

Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
445 Minnesota Street, Suite 600
St. Paul, MN 55101

Please note that our Office is not authorized under Minnesota law to provide legal advice to or act on behalf of private individuals or organizations in private, individual legal matters—such as preparing a will, defending against a criminal or driving charge, handling a child support matter or divorce, adjudicating a landlord-tenant problem, or filing a personal lawsuit.  If you need help finding a private attorney to represent you in such a matter, see our flyer Hiring an Attorney for information.

As noted above, you may find that the quickest way to get your question answered or to see if we can help is to call our Office at (651) 296-3353 (Twin Cities Calling Area) or (800) 657-3787 (Outside the Twin Cities) where analysts are available to take your call.

Free Translation Services

When you contact our Office, tell us if you want an interpreter, and we will get an interpreter on the telephone. This is a free service to you.