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The first test of the city of Coon Rapids’ rental licensing ordinance has come before the Coon Rapids City Council.

And the issue is likely to end up in Anoka County District Court after the council upheld a staff decision to deny landlord Alan Williams, a Coon Rapids resident, a rental license for one of the five rental properties he owns in the city.

At issue is a provision in the revamped rental license ordinance that “requires that all rental and renewal applications be accompanied by a copy of the form written rental application that will be used to screen all potential tenants and a copy of the form lease agreement that will be used for all tenants.”

The purpose of this is to ensure that the written rental application includes sufficient information so that the landlord can conduct appropriate criminal background and credit checks on prospective tenants, according to city code.

Housing and Zoning Inspector Michelle Posch said that Williams and his wife Denise were sent a rental renewal application Oct. 6 for their property on Robinson Drive for a license which was due to expire Nov. 1.

Williams immediately sent in the required fee and e-mailed the renter’s application and lease with the crime free, drug free addendum showing that he had completed the crime free multi-housing training, according to Posch.

But instead of what Posch called “blank copies” of the lease document and rental application, Williams’ copy of the lease was blanked out entirely with only the title left and a copy of the renters’ application was changed to a symbol that was not recognizable, Posch said.

“Staff is requiring blank copies of those documents,” she said. “It is not necessary to know who the renters are, but that they have a viable lease and are being screened.”

“By blanking out everything, but the title on the lease and renters application the city is not able to determine if Mr. Williams has a viable lease and is screening his tenants.

“The city is not asking for detailed information, only the form that is used.”

For that reason, staff denied the rental license and Williams, as of Nov. 1, could no longer rent the property.

According to Williams, the form in which he submitted the two documents was “blank.”

“Our lease is blanked out due to the proprietary and intellectual nature of the lease,” Williams said.

In addition, he said that the lease is a private confidential document between a tenant and landlord and if the lease is required by the city, then it ceases to be confidential information.

Williams was one of the landlords that worked with the city in drafting the new rental licensing ordinance and told the council that he had raised his concerns about the lease and rental agreements requirements at that time.

“We request a review of the code which forces private business documentation be provided to the city,” Williams wrote in his appeal of the staff decision to deny the rental license.

Asked by Mayor Tim Howe if he would submit copies of his rental and lease documents to the city as required under the ordinance, Williams said no.

“We will be prepared to request a writ of mandamus from district court...to gain a rental license, request loss of rental income and filing fees,” he said.

According to City Attorney Stoney Hiljus, a writ of mandamus is a court order which tells a government unit to do something, in this case renew the rental license.

A judge would make a decision on whether to issue a writ of mandamus following a court order, Hiljus said.

The council voted to reject Williams’ appeal and uphold the staff denial of the rental license by a 5-1 margin. Councilmember Bruce Sanders voted no  and Councilmember Denise Klint was not at the meeting.

In his view, there was a proprietary issue with the requirement that the landlord must submit rental and lease agreements to the city, Sanders said.

But the other council members agreed with staff that the reason for requiring the documents was to make sure that landlords were screening their tenants adequately.

What Williams submitted did not provide that information, they concluded.

Councilmember Paul Johnson appreciated Williams’ involvement in the rental licensing ordinance process and his candor, but said the form in which he returned the document was not “blank” but “gibberish.”

This was the first of the Williams’ five rental licenses to be up for renewal with the city under the new ordinance.

The ordinance, according to Hiljus “updates rental licensing to meet contemporary standards and to adequately meet the challenges created by the current housing market.”

The premise is simple - reward well managed rental properties in the city and crack down on those that are poorly managed, he said.

This is the first appeal that has gone to the council on provisions of the rental licensing ordinance.

Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it