All Forum Posts by: Ian Fretheim

Hi Annie,

Tim looped me in here as we've been running airbnbs in mpls for a couple of years now. There are cleaners who state that they do turnovers, but our experience has been that they do not. We've hired by posting on our neighborhood forum and by hiring people we knew with evening hour jobs looking for a little extra income.

Some cleaners will be amenable to the turnover idea once they understand that it's a flat rate and not a full house cleaning. Nevertheless, it can take a minute to find your people.

I think your best bet would be to post on your neighborhood forum, or next door.

Ian

Hi Christian,

Very cool. What do you do with the info sheet? Do you forward it to the appraiser in advance (and when), or do you just leave it in a conspicuous place in the property?

Ian

Thanks for the feedback so far. We're still working through everything. I've gotten the permit card from our central library and am waiting for a call back on a deeper search. No answers just yet, though now something of a first tier game plan:

Find all the dates that I can- both for the property and it's conversion, as well as for Minneapolis zoning law enactment.

Retrieve all applicable documentation. Previous owner's rental licence history, property historical docs, etc.

Find my way into the right office to speak to the right person. One suggestion from a former public housing official was to collect and organize everything and take it to my city council member. The goal here is to make my case and ask them to go to bat for me as a constituent.

I'll update you all as I make progress. One thing is for sure, I'm learning.

Hello BP,

This is my first forum post and why not start off with a doozy?

I bought my first duplex in July of this year. I owner occupy. There were a few small TISH items, as well as some reno work we wanted to do prior to moving in. Anyway, we did our reno stuff, got moved in and settled and I began working on the TISH items. Finished those up prior to the grace period, had the inspector out, passed and cleared the TISH. Sweet.

Well, of course clearing the TISH was a prerequisite to obtaining my rental license. So I got my application and check together and sent it off as soon as I saw that I was clear to go. Week or two later I've got a letter in the mailbox containing my rental license application, check, and a notice informing me that my duplex was a single family residence.

Imagine my surprise. The property in total is 1440 sq. Each unit shares 720. We're up-down. The front door lets into the hallway/stairs that give to each apartment's individual entry. Water is not separate, but electricity and gas are. Here in Minneapolis trash is a city thing. Because we're running as an airbnb, I called to ask if I could save a few bucks each month by reducing to just one trash can. They said I could not because I had a duplex and each unit needed it's own collection. Of course.

So I took a look at my TISH- I'm registered as two units, but have a reference as 1 unit. I'm zoned R4 Multi Family Dwelling, but have a reference as 1 unit. The former owner, who of course sold it to me as a duplex, has a long history of rental licenses (1991) for this very property. All of that is clear as day in the city records. And it's referenced as 1 unit and there is not any record of permit for a SFR to Duplex conversion.

Speaking with Rental Licensing, all I can get is that the reference number is 1. Nothing else matters. Not the zone, not the registered units, not the building code. Nothing. Need to talk to zoning she says. How did the previous get rental license after rental license? Slipped through the cracks she says. Ok.

Get zoning on the line and come to find that this is not a Duplex. Couldn't be. Isn't even close. Minneapolis requires 5000 sq feet of property for a multifamily dwelling. I've got my little house on 2250.

I can apply for an Accessory Dwelling Unit permit- through zoning, getting a building permit and then I can be eligible for the rental licence. However, an ADU does not a duplex make. If I ever want to move out of here I cannot rent EITHER space without dismantling the other. Same goes for selling it unless I can find a buyer happy to take on this same thing.

So the big questions. Has anyone encountered this? What is the required disclosure on the part of the seller? Do I have legal legs to stand on? Do I have half a leg to stand on? Is there any advantage in this situation whatsoever?

-Ian