How To Avoid Accidental Tenants

A local property owner recently called to ask whether I knew if it was possible for someone to stay in her short-term rental for less than 30 days and have all the rights of a tenant who’d signed a lease.

It turns out, they do. In this instance, the guest quit paying after a week. It turns out Minnesota law defines a tenant as someone who is “occupying a dwelling in a residential building under a lease or contract, whether oral or written, that requires the payment of money or exchange of services, all other regular occupants of that dwelling unit, or a resident of a manufactured home park.”

That’s a broad definition. Under this, a short-term tenant would qualify for tenancy. So how do you determine whether they are a tenant or not?

Turns out Minnesota courts have boiled it down to whether or not the person staying at the property has a permanent address elsewhere. If not, and they aren’t staying with friends or family for free, they are tenants. As such, a traditional landlord/tenant relationship was inadvertently created.

This means to get rid of them, even if they’ve been there less than 30 days and quit paying after the first week, they have to be evicted.

If you have are a Twin Cities duplex owner doing any kind of short-term (Airbnb, VRBO, etc) rental, be sure to find out if your prospective gift has a permanent address.  Crazy, I know.