Strangers occupy Doug Beasley's retreat-like home, tucked in St. Paul's northwest corner, for much of the year.
"I love my neighborhood and I love being able to share that with other people," said the photographer, who uses Airbnb to rent his St. Anthony Park house when he's traveling the world for work or staying at his cabin.
Hundreds of Twin Cities residents use online companies like Airbnb and VRBO to temporarily fill spare rooms or empty homes. These "hosts" have been renting spaces for years without city regulations. That is about to change.
St. Paul and Minneapolis are studying rental rules and want to ensure hosts pay taxes and meet safety guidelines. The expected flood of visitors to Minnesota during next year's Super Bowl creates a deadline for cities to establish regulations.
"We want to make sure that we are facilitating tourism and doing it in a good way," said Donna Drummond, St. Paul's planning director.
St. Paul's proposed rules would limit the number of people allowed to stay in a home and how many apartments or condominiums people could rent out in a building. Property owners would have to follow zoning and licensing rules, pay sales and lodging taxes, have appropriate insurance and, in some cases, a fire certificate of occupancy.
Minneapolis staff plans to present regulations to council members within a few months, Deputy City Coordinator Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said. They have been meeting with St. Paul staff and are looking at similar issues, like tax payment and neighborhood nuisance concerns, she said.
Some Airbnb hosts are confused by St. Paul's planned limits on rental units, company spokesman Ben Breit said.