Short-term rentals in Stillwater, explained properly.

Sec. 6-413(c) says a license is nontransferable and that if the ownership of the rental dwelling or rental dwelling unit changes, a new license is required.

Sec. 6-413(d) sets a three-year term that expires on March 31 of the third year. Sec. 6-413(e) says renewal applications comply with all of the requirements of a new application. The renewal filing deadline was not read for this page.

Sec. 6-413(a)(2): the application is not considered complete until a satisfactory City inspection report signed by the Fire Department and Building Department has been submitted. A property owner or manager is required to be on site during the scheduled inspection and may cancel or reschedule no less than 24 hours before the scheduled time, or a reinspection fee applies. Sec. 6-418 separately lets the Building Official, Building Inspector, Fire Department personnel and police officers inspect as reasonably necessary to enforce the article, and an inspector may seek an administrative search warrant if entry is refused. The reinspection fee amount was not read.

Sec. 6-413(b): background investigations are consistent with Minn. Stat. ch. 299C. The City may request additional information about all owners (or the officers, managers or directors of a business-entity owner) and may conduct additional investigations. The fee amount was not read.

Sec. 6-413(a)(1) lists the categories of contact person. The residence or 60-minute response condition is written in the manager category (letter b). The City Clerk must be notified in writing of any change to the names given on the application.

Sec. 6-413(f): the applicant designates in the application the person or persons who will have possession of the register and must promptly notify the City Clerk or designee of any change in that person's identity, address or telephone numbers.

Sec. 6-413(g) covers the posted certificate and Sec. 6-416(7) covers online listings.

Sec. 6-411 defines short-term rental in this way. A rental dwelling is any dwelling used for residential occupancy by one or more persons who are not the owner; a rental dwelling unit is any room or space in a rental dwelling designed or used for residential occupancy by persons who are not the owner.

Sec. 6-416(2). If the license is discontinued, revoked, suspended, terminated or lapses, it may not be reapproved without meeting the parking requirements. The Chapter 28 parking requirements were not fetched, so the number of spaces is not stated here.

Sec. 6-416(3).

Sec. 6-416(4).

Sec. 6-416(6) says the number of allowed guests is determined by standards set by Fire and Building Code. The Fire Code and Building Code figures were not read, so no guest count is shown here.

Sec. 6-416(5) lists Chapter 8 (animals), Chapter 10 (public nuisance), Chapter 18 Article III (parking violations), Chapter 24 (building and construction) and Chapter 24 Article V (State Fire Code). Sec. 6-417 makes licensees and owners responsible for the acts or omissions of any manager.

Sec. 6-422. The lodging tax rate was not read for this page, so no combined State and City total is shown. State sales tax is covered on the Minnesota layer of this page.

Sec. 6-421. Fine and jail amounts were not read for this page.

Sec. 6-420 says the Council may hold a license hearing depending on the circumstances, nature and severity of the violation. Sec. 6-419 lets the Building Official summarily condemn or close a rental that is a nuisance, fire hazard or other unsafe condition giving rise to an emergency.

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.