I let a friend live in my home without making a lease or getting a deposit. He has stopped paying me and does not actually live here any more.

You don't have a written agreement with him.  Okay, so let's say you have a tenancy at will.  Is this a home you own? In other words, you are not renting an apartment, correct?

The Minnesota Attorney General's office offers an online handbook on landlord tenant matters.  See this hyperlink and some excerpts below, including one called "Abandoned Property":  http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Minnesota/handhead.html#top

Periodic Tenancy Leases
If there is nothing mentioned about the length of the tenancy in the rental agreement (which may be written or oral), the lease is a periodic one. This means the rental period runs from one rent payment to the next. Minn. Stat. §504.06 (1992). For example, if the rent is due once a month, on the first day of every month, the rental period runs from that day through the day before the next rent payment. In this case, that would be on the last day of each month.

A periodic tenancy is automatically renewed each rental period until it is ended by either the landlord or the tenant. The person ending the tenancy must give the other "proper notice." The length of notice and what form it must take will be stated in the lease. Minn. Stat. §504.06 (1992). If the lease does not state a notice requirement, state law requires written notice be given on full rental period plus one day before the tenancy's end. Minn. Stat. §504.06 (1992); Oesterreicher v. Robertson, 187 Minn. 497, 245 N.W. 825 (1932). For example, a tenant with a month-to-month tenancy who wishes to leave at the end of June would have to give written notice no later than May 31.

UNLAWFUL DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY

Storage of Personal Property
When the sheriff performs the eviction, the tenant's remaining property must either be stored on the premises or placed in storage in a bonded warehouse or other suitable storage place. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. 2 (1992).

In cases where the tenant's property will be stored on the premises, the landlord must prepare an inventory that is signed and dated in the presence of a peace officer. A copy of the inventory must be mailed to the tenant at the tenant's last known address, or to an address provided by the tenant. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. (2)(b) (1992). The inventory must include the following:

1. A listing of the items of personal property, and a description of the condition of that property. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. (2)(b)(1) (1992).
2. The date, the signature of the landlord, and the name and telephone number of the person authorized to release the property. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. (2)(b)(2) (1992).
3. The name and badge number of the peace officer. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. (2)(b)(3) (1992).

The officer must keep a copy of the inventory. The landlord is responsible for the proper removal, storage and care of the defendant's personal property and is liable for damages to, or loss of, the tenant's personal property if the landlord fails to exercise care in regard to that property.

The landlord should notify the tenant of the date and approximate time the officer is scheduled to remove the tenant and his or her personal property from the premises. The notice should be sent by first class mail. The landlord should also make a good faith effort to notify the tenant by telephone, explicitly informing the tenant that the tenant and the tenant's property will be removed from the premises if the tenant has not vacated by the time specified in the notice. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. (2)(b) (1992).

According to Minnesota law, this provision may not be waived or modified by any oral or written lease or other agreement. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. 3 (1992).

To Get the Property Back
In cases where the tenant's personal property is stored on the premises, the tenant need only contact the landlord in writing to demand return of the property.

In cases where the tenant's property is stored away from the premises (at a bonded warehouse or other suitable storage place) the landlord has a lien (legal claim) on the tenant's personal property for the reasonable costs of removing, transporting, and storing the property. The landlord can enforce this lien by keeping the property until the landlord's expenses are paid. Minn. Stat. §566.17, subd. (2)(b) (1992).

Regardless of whether the tenant's property is stored on or away from the premises, the tenant, to get the property back, does not have to pay any unpaid rent, security deposit, or late charges. The landlord can sue the tenant in court for these items. Tenants who lose Unlawful Detainer actions, however, do have to pay court costs.

Also, a landlord cannot cart away or keep a tenant's belongings for nonpayment of rent or other charges. If a tenant finds that the landlord has taken the tenant's things, the tenant can get them back by demanding, in writing, that they be returned. The landlord has 24 hours to return them (48 hours if they are somewhere other than the apartment). If they aren't returned, the landlord may be sued in conciliation court where he or she may be ordered not only to give the property back, but to pay the tenant punitive damages of up to $300 in addition to actual damages (cost of storage, hauling, physical damage, replacement, etc.) and reasonable attorney's fees. Minn. Stat. §504.24, subd. 2 (1992).