Short-term rentals in Nisswa, explained properly.

Sec. 8-1(e)(7) says the short-term rental license is not transferrable upon any change in ownership of the licensed property, or otherwise. A buyer needs their own license. Licenses revoked under Sec. 8-1 are not reissued for one year from the date of revocation.

A bedroom is a room designed or used for sleeping, or a room or area with at least 70 square feet reached from the living area or its hallway. Licensees cannot advertise more bedrooms than the license shows or more guests than the occupancy limit on the license. Travel trailers, tents, yurts, fish houses and other temporary structures cannot be used as rental units, and a parcel can have no more than two short-term rental units.

The owner of the short-term rental is expected to enforce the quiet hours, and failure to do so may result in enforcement action under Sec. 8-1. Parking cannot restrict access by emergency vehicles or the traveling public, cannot impede the property owner's ingress or egress, and cannot encroach on neighboring properties.

The owner or authorized agent keeps their contact information on file with the county and gives each renter the contact information in writing. The contact must be available whenever the property is rented, and the information is posted for the public on the Crow Wing County website. The license application asks for the agent's name, address, telephone number and email address.

A rental must be connected to an approved subsurface sewage treatment system or served by central sanitary sewer. Septic systems need a certificate of compliance issued within the past five years on a new system, or a compliance inspection within the past three years, with an updated certificate of septic testing at least once every three years afterward for the number of bedrooms on the application. Holding tanks are allowed in listed cases: a state-licensed designer finds no suitable drainfield location, tanks are sized for the bedrooms, a high-level alarm that notifies the owner is installed, a water meter is installed before the license is issued, and each renewal includes a pumping contract and the previous year's pumping records. Garbage, refuse and recycling must be stored in enclosed containers, with enough containers and service for the occupants.

Sec. 8-1(d) says no initial or renewal application is accepted if the property has past-due property taxes, no license is issued while there are pending permits or open enforcements on the property, and no license is issued if the property had three substantiated violations in the calendar year before the application. The application also asks for the owner's name, date of birth, mailing address, email and telephone number (the CEO or designee applies for a business or corporate owner), the physical address and parcel number, and an authorized agent available 24 hours a day.

Sec. 8-1(f) says Crow Wing County investigates all complaints and alleged violations, and the owner or agent must address substantiated violations as directed. If three substantiated complaints or violations occur at a rental within one year, the license may be subject to revocation. Anyone who fails to comply with a county directive or violates the article may face misdemeanor prosecution, forfeiture of the license, or both. Intentionally false reports of a violation are themselves a violation, with penalties of $100.00 for a first offense, $150.00 for a second and $1,000.00 for a third or later offense. A revoked license is not reissued for one year. Who enforces is described two ways in the code: Sec. 20-534 puts all enforcement in the county's jurisdiction, while Sec. 8-1(h) says a city that has the county administer the ordinance agrees to be the responsible party for enforcement under its agreement with the county. Both sections are cited here.

Sec. 8-1(g) says appeals from any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the county are first made to the county administrator, and appeals of the administrator's decision are brought in the district court of Crow Wing County.

The Department of Revenue guide says residential short-term rentals (a home, a portion of a home, or any other property used as a temporary place to stay or live) are a form of lodging and related services, and that charges for them are subject to the general rate sales tax and any applicable local and lodging taxes. Revenue Notice 17-06 (published in the State Register on September 25, 2017) says state and local taxes are due on lodging if the lease or rental is for less than 30 days, or for 30 days or more if there is no enforceable written lease agreement that requires the customer to give prior notice of their intention to terminate the lease. The lodging guide's table for tips and service charges lists the state general rate sales tax as 6.875%. Sales of lodging that are isolated and occasional and not made in the normal course of business are exempt from sales tax under Minnesota Statutes section 297A.67, subdivision 23, as the notice states, and the guide adds that the income tax rule for renting out a home for 14 days or less does not carry over to sales tax. The guide says some cities administer their own lodging taxes and the state rate calculator leaves out special local taxes, so city taxes are shown on each place's page and this page does not total state and local taxes. The guide was last updated May 15, 2024.

Revenue Notice 17-06 says that if the residential property is in Minnesota, the owner must register as a retailer to collect, report and remit sales tax and applicable local taxes when both of these apply: the owner regularly furnishes lodging directly to a customer in the normal course of business (for the purpose of profit or producing income), and the customer makes the reservation with and pays the owner. The owner is not required to register or collect when the owner uses an accommodations intermediary to facilitate all sales of lodging at the property, or when the owner's rental is an isolated incident not made in the normal course of business. When an owner who regularly rents directly also uses an intermediary, both have liabilities: the owner collects on sales made without an intermediary, and the intermediary collects on the sales it facilitated. The guide says the owner must keep documentation of who facilitated each sale and was responsible for remitting the tax. It describes an isolated sale as one that happens once and an occasional sale as infrequent and not recurring with some degree of regularity.

Revenue Notice 17-06 says an accommodations intermediary that facilitates the sale of the short-term rental of residential property located in Minnesota must register as a retailer to collect, report and remit the taxes on the full sales price of lodging and related services, whether the intermediary or the renter is in Minnesota or not. Facilitating the sale includes collecting receipts from the customer and transmitting them to the owner, directly or through third parties, whether or not the intermediary deducts fees from those receipts. It does not include mere advertising that directs the customer to contact the owner to reserve and purchase. The full sales price includes all amounts the intermediary charges the customer. Statute section 297A.61, subdivision 47 defines the term accommodations intermediary, as the notice cites. The notice is dated September 2017 and the guide May 15, 2024.

Section 157.16, subdivision 1 says a license is required annually for every person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of conducting a food and beverage service establishment, youth camp, hotel, motel, lodging establishment, public pool or resort. Section 157.15 defines a hotel or motel as a building, structure, enclosure or any part of one used as, maintained as, advertised as or held out to be a place where sleeping accommodations are furnished to the public for periods of less than one week; a lodging establishment as sleeping accommodations furnished to the public as regular roomers for periods of one week or more with five or more beds to let to the public (or the health-care lodging described in the definition); and a resort as a place on or near a lake, stream, skiing or hunting area or other recreational area, held out to the public for recreation stays and having for rent five or more cottages, rooms or enclosures. The Department of Health's rules and guidance were not read, so whether a particular rental needs a state license should be confirmed with the Minnesota Department of Health. City licensing and registration are separate and are shown on each place's page.