Short-term rentals in Saint Paul, explained properly.

Sec. 379.03(c) says platform licenses and host licenses are non-transferable. Under Sec. 379.05(b)(4) the host license applicant must be an owner of the property to be rented.

Sec. 379.03(b) says a platform license and a host license expire one year from the date issued and must be renewed annually. The annual fee is set under chapter 310.09 of the Legislative Code and hasn't been reviewed yet.

Sec. 379.05(b) says the application for issuance or renewal goes to the director on the director's form and meets chapter 310 requirements. It must be accompanied by an affidavit of compliance attesting that each dwelling unit offered meets the chapter's safety requirements, must include all requested information including the exact location of each unit, and must give the full legal names and addresses of all corporate officers and persons holding a 25 percent or greater beneficial interest in the business. Under Sec. 379.04 the director and the police chief investigate each application or renewal. We haven't reviewed chapter 310, so the general license procedure and grounds for adverse action are not covered here.

Sec. 379.02(a) makes operating as a short-term rental platform without a valid platform license unlawful. Sec. 379.06 requires a platform to hold the license, to give the City electronically each quarter the total number of short-term rentals listed on the platform by zip code and the total number of nights rented by zip code, and to tell every host who registers of the host's responsibility to collect and remit all applicable local, state and federal taxes unless the platform does this on the host's behalf.

Sec. 379.01 defines a short-term rental as a dwelling unit, or a portion of a dwelling unit, rented for a period of less than thirty (30) days. It says no more than one rental of the dwelling unit or portion shall be permitted per day, and that use of a short-term rental dwelling unit for any commercial or social events is prohibited. A host is any owner or tenant who provides the dwelling unit or a portion of it for short-term rental use, but a host license applicant must be an owner (Sec. 379.05(b)(4)).

Sec. 379.01, in the definition of short-term rental, says use of a short-term rental dwelling unit for any commercial or social events is prohibited.

Sec. 379.07(b) requires hosts to provide local contact information to all guests during a stay, with a local contact available to respond to inquiries at the short-term rental during the length of the stay. Sec. 379.07(e)(2) requires posting contact information for the host or the responsible party in each unit, and Sec. 379.07(i) requires accurate name and contact information for the responsible party to be given to the department of safety and inspections. Under Sec. 379.07, hosts must provide documentation and a signed declaration of compliance within five business days of a request from the department.

Sec. 379.07(d) requires that all dwelling units have working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarm(s) in every bedroom and on all habitable floors and a properly maintained and charged fire extinguisher.

Sec. 379.07(e) requires the host to post in a conspicuous place within each dwelling unit used as a short-term rental: emergency contact information; contact information for the host or the responsible party; the street address; a floor plan indicating fire exits and escape routes; information about how a guest can contact the city department of safety and inspections to report concerns or complaints; and maximum occupancy limits.

Sec. 379.07(f) requires liability insurance appropriate to cover the short-term rental use in the aggregate of not less than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00), or that each short-term rental transaction be conducted through a short-term rental platform that provides equal or greater coverage.

Sec. 379.07(h) requires a short-term rental host registry that includes at a minimum a cumulative tally to date of the number of nights each listing is booked for the remaining months of the calendar year and documentation of the rent paid by guests and the number of guests for each night rented. Sec. 379.07(j) requires proof that the short-term rental license is included on any short-term rental advertisement. Sec. 379.07(a) says hosts must provide documentation and a signed declaration of compliance within five business days of a request from the department.

Sec. 379.07(g) requires hosts to remit all applicable local, state and federal taxes unless the short-term rental platform does this on the host's behalf, and Sec. 379.06(c) requires platforms to tell hosts of that responsibility. We haven't reviewed the City's lodging tax ordinance yet, so the City rate is not shown here and this page adds no combined total with the Minnesota state sales tax on the Minnesota page.

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.