Short-Term Rentals in Hennepin County, MN: Minneapolis Rules

Because Hennepin County has no unincorporated territory, there is no county short-term rental ordinance -- every rule comes from the specific city. Minneapolis, by far the county's largest rental market, runs the most fully documented program: a license or registration (depending on whether the host lives on-site), a safety inspection, proof of insurance, and a violation-point system that can trigger City Council review at renewal. A buyer planning to operate a short-term rental anywhere else in the county's roughly 45 cities needs to check that specific city's own ordinance -- Minneapolis's rules do not apply even a few blocks away in Golden Valley, St. Louis Park, or Richfield.

This page covers what's specific to Hennepin County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Minneapolis: registration for owner-occupied hosts, a full license for everyone else

Minneapolis splits short-term rental hosts into two tracks based on owner-occupancy. A homestead host -- someone renting out a room or unit in the home they actually live in -- applies for a short-term rental registration, a lighter-weight process built around proving primary residency. A host renting out a unit they do not live in (a whole second property, an investment condo, a unit in a duplex the owner doesn't occupy) needs a full short-term rental license instead, which carries more extensive requirements. Both tracks are administered by the city's Short-Term Rental Office, and both require the property to already hold a valid certificate of occupancy before an application can be approved -- a genuine gap-check for anyone eyeing a fixer-upper or a property with deferred maintenance as a rental play.

The application itself asks for proof of ownership or a legal right to operate the unit (a lease with the owner's written permission, for a subletting arrangement), for primary-residency documentation if applying as a homestead host, for the name and 24/7-reachable phone number and email of a local contact person responsible for responding to complaints, and for proof of liability insurance covering the short-term rental use specifically (a standard homeowner's policy often excludes it). The city runs a safety inspection as part of the process, checking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, egress, and general property maintenance. Once approved, the resulting registration or license number must be displayed both in the online listing itself (Airbnb, VRBO, or any other platform) and physically inside the unit -- a listing without a visible license number is a common enforcement flag.

Renewal, violation points, and a 2025 tightening proposal

Minneapolis STR registrations and licenses are not one-time approvals -- they must be renewed annually, and renewal is conditioned on the property staying in compliance with safety, insurance, and maintenance standards throughout the year, not just at initial application. The city tracks violations against a property using a point system; as of an October 2025 proposed ordinance change, a property that accumulates 40 or more violation points (a Tier 3 designation) would be required to go before the full City Council for approval at each renewal, rather than renewing administratively -- a meaningfully higher bar for a property with a documented history of complaints (noise, parking, occupancy, trash) reaching a city council hearing rather than a routine desk renewal. A buyer evaluating an existing short-term rental as a purchase should ask the seller for the property's current violation-point history and registration/license status before closing, since that history transfers in practical terms even though the paperwork itself does not.

None of this is countywide. Hennepin County itself has no zoning or licensing authority here -- the STR rules described above are Minneapolis's alone, adopted under the city's own licensing and zoning code (Titles 13 and 9 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances). Every other city in the county -- Bloomington, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Plymouth, St. Louis Park, Richfield, Edina, and the rest -- sets its own separate short-term rental rules, which can differ sharply from Minneapolis's on licensing structure, caps on the number of licenses issued, owner-occupancy requirements, or whether short-term rentals are allowed in a given zoning district at all. For land or property outside Minneapolis, confirm the specific city's current short-term rental ordinance directly with that city's licensing or zoning department before assuming Minneapolis's rules -- or lack of restriction -- carries over.

Short-Term Rentals in Hennepin County, Minnesota

Minneapolis: registration for owner-occupied hosts, a full license for everyone else

Renewal, violation points, and a 2025 tightening proposal

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