To protect renters and ensure safe and quality living conditions, the City assigns a tier to every rental building. We explain the three tiers and how they affect your license fee.
Find out:
We're working on updating tiering to make it work better for everyone. Help us shape its future, share your experiences with renting.
| Tiers | What it means | Routine inspection |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Presumed to be well-maintained; meets housing code. | Every eight years |
| Tier 1D | We designate properties that have not had a routine inspection in over five years as Tier 1D. D stands for by default. | Every eight years |
| Tier 2 | Presumed to be well-maintained; one or more documented issues may have an urgent impact on renter safety and habitability. | Every five years |
| Tier 3 | Presumed to not be well-maintained; several documented issues may have an urgent impact on renter safety and habitability. | Every year |
We look at the building's condition and property management to score 11 items. Each item has a point value. A property with no issues will be Tier 1.
| Tiers | Total score |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 0 to 19 |
| Tier 2 | 20 to 39 |
| Tier 3 | 40 and over |
We review the last two years of records of issues reported to the City and what we find during inspections. Because we want to protect renters, we assign more points to violations that affect them the most.
We look at how long it takes the owner to meet standards. Because we want to protect City resources, we assign more points for:
The property owner score counts toward deciding the fee level, but not the inspection cycle. If we spend more time addressing issues, your fee level may be higher than your tier level.
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We're working on updating tiering so that it:
We're working toward implementing changes in Jan. 2028. Currently, we're gathering feedback from community on high-level ideas for changes.
You can share your insights and experiences with renting. We'll use community input to help refine preliminary ideas for updates. The survey is open now through Oct. 15.
An owner who thinks a score is wrong can appeal. Owners can contact Regulatory Services to ask for an administrative review. You must pay the rental license before a review can begin.
Owners must say what they think is wrong with their score. The tier will change only if a mistake was made.
Jordan Hooks
Rental Licenses Operations Analyst
Regulatory Services
Address
Public Service Building
505 Fourth Ave. S., Room 510
Minneapolis, MN 55415
