Not For Rent: Homeowners Battle Minn. City’s Restrictions On Rental Property

Cities and property rights groups across Minnesota are watching a court case challenging the constitutionality of a first-in-the-nation rental crackdown. The Winona, Minn., ordinance prohibits homeowners from renting their property in the college community.

Three homeowners went before the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Dec. 12 to challenge the law.

"To me it's getting beyond what elected officials are supposed to do -- starting to dictate who can rent, who can't rent, who can do this, who can do that," said Ted Dzierzbicki, a plaintiff whose house is across the street from Winona State University. "They're not the kind of laws that benefit and protect people. It's more to do with somebody having a bug about something and trying to get a law towards it."

More