The preliminary results of St. Paul, Minnesota's, strictest-in-the-nation rent control law have not been good. Developers have fled, while applications for new building permits and property values have both collapsed. Now, a pair of landlords are suing the city, claiming the law is unconstitutional.
Late last week, the owners of two St. Paul apartments—Woodstone Limited Partnership and Lofts at Farmers Market, LLC—filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota claiming that the "draconian" nature of the law and the burdensome process for securing exemptions from it amount to a taking of their property without compensation or due process.
