Roseville, MN Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Roseville handles rental complaints through the licensing rules for multifamily rental dwellings (MRDs), which the city defines as buildings with five or more units. Section 1201.45(i) is the complaint-based inspection clause. On receipt of a creditable third-party complaint, or a complaint by residents with reasonable concerns, the city can require an inspection. The section prints no complaint form, filing deadline or response time, so the trigger is the city's judgment that the complaint is creditable or the concerns reasonable. A complaint-based inspection can reach additional units, and afterward the city can require a license category criteria inspection using the same standards as the license renewal inspection.

The routine inspection system sits alongside it. Under section 1201.45(a), the fire department inspects each MRD on an initial or renewal application, and a minimum of one-third of all rental dwelling units must be inspected. Units with noted violations get a follow-up inspection to verify corrections. Section 1201.46(6) says the fire department notifies the applicant of the inspection date approximately 30 calendar days before the inspection, and a notice of licensing approval or denial with the inspection report follows.

Owners also keep their own complaint record. Section 1201.45(e) requires every owner of a licensed rental dwelling to maintain an occupancy register that includes a list of complaints and requests for repair by dwelling unit occupants and a similar list of all corrections made in response. The register must be available for city review on request. Section 1201.45(k) makes licensees responsible for the acts or omissions of their managers, operators and local agents.

Where complaints go unresolved, section 1201.46(4) addresses chronic code violations that are not resolved in a timely manner: the City Council can pursue any and all remedies under Minn. Stat. §§ 504B.395 through 504B.471 in addition to other legal or equitable relief. A separate tenant complaint channel, section 1201.111, lets a tenant of a housing unit file a notice of violation with the city if a new owner has not given the notices required after a sale of an affordable housing building. The city is not required to act on that notice, and filing it does not prevent the tenant from pursuing any other remedy under law.