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• Minneapolis has a similar program run by their police department that is highly recommended <br /> and required in cases where there have been problems with a property owner. <br /> • Maple Grove requires crime free housing if the landlord owns more than one rental unit. <br /> • Coon Rapids and Shakopee report that owners grumble about having to take the class but then <br /> consistently give the class rave reviews after completing it. Most of them eventually concede <br /> that they're glad they took it. <br /> Other Crime Prevention programs? <br /> • Most of the cities that were surveyed offer crime free lease addendums on their websites that <br /> landlords can voluntarily choose to use. <br /> o A crime free lease addendum gives a landlord the right to evict a tenant who repeatedly <br /> engages in criminal activity who ever engages in certain types of criminal activity. <br /> o Shakopee, Maple Grove, Bloomington, West Saint Paul, and Columbia Heights require <br /> crime-free lease language which they specify in their municipal codes. <br /> • Many cities encourage landlords to run criminal background checks on potential tenants so they <br /> are better prepared to deal with issues that might arise even if they do decide to rent to <br /> someone with a criminal past. <br /> o Columbia Heights, Anoka, Maple Grove, Bloomington, and Shakopee require <br /> background checks for tenants <br /> o Coon Rapids actually requires a background check for the owner of the rental property <br /> and their property manager/agent and has restrictions on who can be a landlord. <br /> Why did Chanhassan get rid of their rental licensing program? <br /> • Somewhat political <br /> • Council felt that it took up too much staff time <br /> • Inspections were very frequent, semi-annually for some properties, and there was a resident <br /> backlash against the intrusiveness. <br /> • The city kept all the codes on the books and still enforce them on a complaint-based basis, they <br /> just don't do inspections anymore. <br /> How is Forest Lake (similar sized city) managing without rental licensing? <br /> • Forest Lake doesn't have a ton of rental properties that cause problems but there are a handful <br /> of repeat offenders <br /> • City has very limited tools for dealing with problem properties <br /> • Only real option is to declare a building to be a hazardous building if it gets really bad which <br /> involves both the City Council and the courts system <br /> • The City currently only has the authority to walk on the property, no ability to inspect interiors <br /> • The neighbors of problem properties call the city to complain a lot but the community doesn't <br /> seem to care very much. <br />