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TALLEN and BAERTSCHI <br />Attorneys at Law <br />STEVEN M. TALLEN PAUL D. BAERTSCHI <br />steve(a)tablawmn.com 920 2nd Avenue South paul@tablawmn.com <br />Suite 1540 <br />Paralegal: Marijo Witte MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55402-2224 <br />mwittena inteera.net 612-349-3900 <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Jeremy Barnhart, Orono Community Development Director <br />FROM: Steven M. Tallen, Orono Prosecuting Attorney <br />DATE: January 10, 2018 <br />RE: Short Term Rental Licensing Issues <br />Mr. Barnhart: <br />You have provided me with three proposed ordinances addressing short term rental licensing that <br />you have been directed to prepare for consideration by the Orono City Council. I will address <br />my concerns with each proposed ordinance in turn, starting with what you have labeled as <br />Exhibit A. <br />Exhibit A allows short term rental, but requires a license to do so. On page two under the section <br />labeled Section 26 -82 -License Standards, these are my concerns: (a) regulation. Number one <br />requires that the owner "ensure" that the occupants and guests of a rental unit do not create <br />unreasonable noise or disturbances, engage in disorderly conduct or violate the provisions of the <br />Orono City Code or State law pertaining to noise, etc. It is probable a violation of the due <br />process provisions of the Minnesota and the United States Constitutions to make an owner <br />responsible for criminal behavior of a tenant. Certainly if the owner was participating in the <br />disturbance, they could be prosecuted, but if an owner rents their house to someone for 30 days, <br />the owner leaves the State for some reason, and the renter then violates a law, we would not be <br />able to hold the owner criminally responsible for that behavior. Perhaps an owner could be held <br />civilly responsible, meaning they could face some sort of civil penalty if their tenants disturb the <br />peace, etc. Any such provision would require that the owner have a right to a hearing probably <br />before the city council or an administrative law judge before any such penalty could be imposed. <br />Likewise, requiring the owner to remove an occupant or guests necessary to abate the <br />disturbance might very well run afoul of the landlord -tenant law which would require an <br />unlawful detainer eviction action rather than the owner summarily evicting someone who is <br />renting under some sort of lease. <br />Number three requires that the owner provide a 24 hour emergency contact available to respond <br />within 60 minutes to complaints. I do not see an issue with requiring the owner to provide an <br />