Coon Rapids, MN Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Section 12-903(1) sets the general rule: no person may operate a rental dwelling or rental dwelling unit in the City without a license covering each building where a rental dwelling or unit is located. Narrow exceptions exist under Section 12-903(2) for property sold on a recorded contract for deed where the vendee occupies it, for a home where the owner or a qualifying relative lives alongside two or fewer tenants sharing all living space, for a documented 'snowbird' rental under 120 consecutive days while the owner lives out of state, and reduced fees for a dwelling owned by an active-duty service member.

The application under Section 12-903(3) must list the owner's name, address, phone, email and date of birth, plus a local manager's information if the owner lives outside the Twin Cities metro area, and the owner must notify the City Manager in writing within 30 days of any information changes. Section 12-903(6) ties licensing to inspection: rental dwellings with four or more units are inspected on a one-to-four-year schedule and smaller dwellings on a one-to-three-year schedule, both set by the City Manager, and a license cannot issue without an accompanying rental dwelling inspection certificate and its fee.

Section 12-903(7) requires a written tenant application sufficient to run criminal background and credit checks, a written lease, and a Minnesota Crime Free Housing Lease Addendum for every tenant, all kept in the licensee's files and shown to the City on request. Section 12-904 separately bans short-term rentals of any dwelling for less than 30 consecutive days in a residential zoning district outright, reserving short stays for properly zoned hotels and motels. Section 12-905 requires a criminal background investigation on the listed owner, paid for by the applicant, though renewals skip that investigation and fee absent City discretion otherwise.