Ripples

Star Tribune Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:57:54 GMT
As rentals boom, cities strive to protect home values

With more than 100 homes in her New Prague neighborhood in foreclosure because of mortgage fraud, Kristin Guerrette said she and many neighbors worry that the empty houses surrounding them will be rented out and damage property values. "We just invested our life in a neighborhood that we thought was going to be homeowner-maintained, and not be saturated with a bunch of rental properties, and now we're sitting here in the middle of a giant mess of foreclosures," she said. As New Prague and other cities see more single-family homes changing over to renters because of the national housing market meltdown, many are enacting tougher rental policies. Since February, Minneapolis has decided to collect a $1,000 fee when a home is converted to rental. The Minneapolis fee will cover costs such as inspections.

[[keywords: Housing;Metro;]]