Roseville, MN Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Chapter 313 of the Roseville City Code, Short-Term Rental Licenses, is built around non-owner-occupied property rather than around a host's primary residence. Section 313.01 states the purpose: to keep non-owner-occupied short-term rentals of dwelling units from becoming a nuisance to the surrounding neighborhood or an influence that fosters blight and deterioration. Section 313.02 then defines a short-term rental as a non-owner-occupied dwelling unit rented for a period of 30 consecutive days or less. A homeowner who lives in the home therefore falls outside the definition, and Section 313.08 reinforces that by exempting individual sleeping rooms within an otherwise owner-occupied residence and rentals when the owner is present for the duration of the rental. Accessory dwelling units are exempt only when they are not detached from the principal dwelling unit, and lodging establishments licensed under chapter 311 are exempt as well.

The phrase primary homestead owner appears in Section 313.10(c). If the city posts a unit as illegal for occupancy after an unpaid administrative fine, the unit cannot be occupied by anyone other than the primary homestead owner and that person's immediate family until the fine has been paid, a short-term rental license is obtained or the city is satisfied the unit will not be used as a short-term rental, and any abatement, written compliance order, or action under chapters 405 and 906 is complete. In Roseville the primary-residence idea is therefore the fallback occupancy for an unlicensed rental, not a condition of getting a license.

A license application under Section 313.03 asks for the owner's contact details, an optional local agent in one of seven named metro counties, the street address, the unit type, the number of bedrooms, and a certification of maximum occupancy. Properties that convert to short-term rental after the ordinance took effect must be licensed before the conversion under Section 313.06(a).