In November 2021, voters in St. Paul, Minnesota passed one of the most stringent rent control measures in the country. The St. Paul city council recently announced plans to revise it yet again.
Toning it down
The original rent control measure put in place a 3 percent cap on annual rent increases with no exception for apartments that became vacant and with no adjustment for inflation. The only concession to landlords was a clause that allowed them to receive a “reasonable” rate of return on their investment.
In the years since the measure’s passage, the mayor and city council have proposed, and in some cases implemented, modifications to the measure. For example, when requests for building permits plunged in the wake of the measure, the city revised it to exempt new properties for the first 20 years after they received their certificates of occupancy. The measure has also been modified to allow the rent on a unit to rise by up to 8 percent plus inflation if the unit became vacant for a “just cause”.
While the proposed revisions to the rent control measure have not been released, a modification that has been proposed by St. Paul’s mayor is to exempt any properties built after 2024 from the rent control ordinance. This would replace the current 20-year exemption.
Looking out for tenants
Along with the changes to the rent control ordinance, the city council plans to introduce a new set of tenant protections. Items mentioned in the announcement include providing tenants with more notice in the event that the property is to be sold or when tenants are facing eviction for non-payment of rent. The new measure may also impose new limits on the size of the security deposit that may be charged on a property.
The new ordinances will have their first readings before the city council on April 2, 2025.
