Many parts of Minnesota have strict rules on short term rentals or sublets of under 30 days, such as agreements signed by property owners who use services like Airbnb and VRBO to rent out homes and properties to vacationers. Now, anticipating the Superbowl coming to the area in 2018, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are considering new rules to enforce regulations on sublets that will be illegal if they don’t conform to the rules.
Recent news reports show City Council members in Minneapolis reviewing current policy and working together to plan more restrictions on short term rentals, such as licensing requirements and zoning criteria. The city of St. Paul is also proposing occupancy limits that will help deal with some of the problems with short term rentals in the city. Currently, St.Paul has no regulations on these rentals; as Donna Drummond, St. Paul’s planning director, says “We want to make sure that we are facilitating tourism and doing it in a good way.”
Increasing Awareness Of Short Term Rental Headaches
In the past, the Twin Cities have been fairly lax on short-term rentals. Residents have been using services like Airbnb to make money with their properties. However, public officials in Minneapolis are waking up to the idea that unregulated short term rentals can have a negative effect on neighborhood and community life. Issues can include things like noise, parking problems, litter, and a general disregard for the property and the surrounding neighborhood.
As the Twin Cities continues to work with drafts of new sublet regulations, landlords can use available digital tools to make sure that tenants aren’t violating their leases by putting illegal sublets up on sites like Airbnb. If a lease prohibits one of these agreements, it is not legal, and landlords need to be able to figure out whether their tenants are conforming to the rules they have agreed upon, even if the city in question hasn’t yet enacted common-sense subletting laws. Look for evidence of illegal sublets in Minneapolis to act to protect financial investment in a property.