What’s changing with St. Paul’s new rent control policy and tenant protections

What will change under the rent control measure passed by the St Paul City Council on Wednesday The ordinance now fully exempts residential buildings constructed after It also includes new tenant protections which require the mayor s signature and take effect a year later Among those protections for tenants Protection deposits will be limited to the equivalent of a single month s rent unless the tenant s application might otherwise be denied because of criminal history credit history or rental history A landlord must make their screening criteria readily available to any prospective tenant A prospective tenant could not be rejected because of a conviction for a crime that is no longer illegal in Minnesota a petty misdemeanor a gross misdemeanor older than three years and the bulk felony convictions For certain crimes such as first-degree assault arson or murder a landlord can look back years Landlords cannot reject tenants based solely on their credit points insufficient credit history or insufficient rental history Landlords will not be allowed to consider pending evictions evictions more than three years old and evictions that have not resulted in an order to vacate Evictions for nonpayment of rent will require days advance written notice to the tenant specifying the total amount due as well as their right to seek legal help and a phone number and web address for legal and financial assistance If affordable housing is sold the new landlord may not terminate or fail to renew a tenant s rental agreement without just cause raise rent or rescreen existing tenants during a three-month period of time known as the tenant protection period without providing relocation assistance Within days of the transfer of ownership a new landlord must give written notice to tenants in an affordable unit that the property is under new ownership and explain whether the new landlord will require them to be rescreened whether they will be terminated without cause and whether there is an increase in rent Related Articles St Paul City Council ends rent control for housing built after As St Paul prepares to rewrite rent control last-minute amendments loom St Paul Council appointee to League of MN Cities missed of meetings Letters Let s not make it harder to learn Walz wrote A private school principal responds St Paul elections mayoral candidates citations question Ward race