St. Paul, Minnesota: Residential Rent Stabilization

Landlords can exceed the cap through a city reasonable-return process or a just-cause vacancy allowance of CPI plus 8%, and buildings first granted a certificate of occupancy after December 31, 2004 are permanently exempt following a June 2025 amendment. The cap otherwise follows a unit even when tenants change, and exempt units require written notice to prospective tenants.

What is in force

In force today. Adopted by voters at the November 2, 2021 general election under Minnesota's general-election exception to the state rent control ban, effective May 1, 2022, and codified as Saint Paul Legislative Code Chapter 193A. Council amendments restructured the chapter effective January 1, 2023, and a May 2025 amendment (Ordinance 25-29, effective June 13, 2025) made the new-construction exemption permanent.

The rent increase limit

Rent increases are limited to 3% in any 12-month period. A landlord may exceed 3% only through the city's reasonable-return process (effective only on final determination) or under an exemption. After a just-cause vacancy the landlord may raise rent up to 8% plus inflation (CPI). The city administers requests in tiers — up to 3% needs no approval, and the city's published process handles larger requests through self-certification and staff determination — with appeals available within 45 days.

What housing is covered

Residential rental units citywide. Excluded by definition: government-owned or managed units, stays under 30 days, place-of-worship accommodations, and licensed care settings. Exempt: rents paid under the state Housing Support program, income-restricted or subsidized affordable housing, and properties whose first certificate of occupancy issued after December 31, 2004 — including conversions — an exemption the June 2025 amendment made permanent. Landlords of exempt units must tell prospective tenants the unit is exempt before the lease is final.

What happens on vacancy

No vacancy decontrol: the 3% limit follows the unit through tenant changes. If the landlord shows the city a just-cause vacancy (a ten-item list including nonpayment, lease violations, and owner move-in), the one-time increase may reach 8% plus CPI.

Eviction and termination rules

The ordinance is not an eviction restriction — its just-cause list governs only when a landlord may take the larger vacancy increase. Anti-retaliation rules restate state law.

Registration and filings

Chapter 193A imposes no registration or rent-registry duty; the operative duties are the exemption notice to prospective tenants and filings landlords make when they request an above-cap increase.

Other requirements

Rent must go down when utilities shift to tenants under shared-meter rules, pass-through charges are excluded from the definition of rent, and lease clauses waiving the chapter are void. Capital improvements of $250 or more per unit may be amortized over at least 36 months in reasonable-return calculations. Violations can draw administrative fines or prosecution under the city code's general penalty provisions.

Notes and caveats

• The new-construction exemption is now permanent — as adopted, the post-2004 exemption was structured as a 20-year window; Ordinance 25-29 (effective June 13, 2025) removed the time limit, so any building or conversion first granted a certificate of occupancy after December 31, 2004 stays exempt.
• The approval tiers are city process — the 3%/self-certification/staff-determination tiers describe how the city currently administers above-cap requests, as published on its program pages; the ordinance itself sets the 3% limit, the reasonable-return standard, and the appeal window.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, St. Paul, Minnesota: Residential Rent Stabilization (verified August 13, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/minnesota/st-paul/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified).

Citations

• Saint Paul Legislative Code § 193A.04 (3% limit) (verified 2026) Official source
• Saint Paul Legislative Code § 193A.05 (vacancy; just cause) (b) (verified 2026) Official source
• Saint Paul Legislative Code § 193A.08 (exemptions; notice to prospective tenants) (a) (verified 2026) Official source
• Minn. Stat. § 471.9996, subd. 2 (general-election pathway) subd. 2 (verified 2026) Official source

This page records local law. Statewide rules — deposits, notice periods, late fees, entry, evictions — live on the Minnesota hub, and the state-level position on local rent regulation appears there with its own citations and verification date.