Woodbury, MN Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Section 6-204, general regulations under the housing and property maintenance code, spells out habitability standards beyond the base IPMC text adopted in section 6-202. 14 of the 2006 IPMC. Heat must be supplied from September 1 to May 31, giving Woodbury tenants a fixed seasonal window rather than a vague comfort standard. The owner of a licensed rental complex or non-residential property must provide and maintain effective illumination in exterior parking lots, vehicular access areas, yard areas, entrances, and walkways, targeting an average of one footcandle at the pavement while not exceeding four footcandles at any property line, balancing safety lighting against light spillover onto neighbors.

Clothes dryer venting systems must be independent of all other systems and exhaust directly outside, addressing a common fire and moisture hazard in multi-unit buildings. Every sleeping room must have at least one openable window or exterior door approved for emergency escape or rescue, and plumbing fixtures required by the building or plumbing codes must actually be available to occupants, not merely installed and disconnected. These standards sit alongside the licensing scheme in section 6-208, which conditions a rental license on the property being free from hazardous conditions, and section 6-206, which makes overcrowding, defined as more than one family occupying a single dwelling unit, a separate violation of the article regardless of physical condition.