City guide
What South St. Paul asks of a seller before a sale closes — and what it doesn’t. Every line below cites the city, county or state page it came from, so you can check it yourself.
All sources last checked between 2026-08-18 and 2026-10-22. South St. Paul is in Dakota County, Minnesota.
This is a reference document, not legal advice, and city rules change. Confirm anything you are relying on with South St. Paul before you act on it.
Required · South St. Paul
South St. Paul's point-of-sale requirement is its Time-of-Sale Housing Inspection Program, established by City ordinance; the City's page does not use the term Truth in Sale of Housing. It applies to single-family, two-family and multiple-family dwellings in South St. Paul. Before selling, the homeowner chooses a City-licensed housing evaluator and schedules an inspection, and inspection costs are determined by the individual evaluators. The evaluator follows the City's inspection guidelines, provides a copy of the completed report to the homeowner and has 10 days to file it with the City. The homeowner must make the Time-of-Sale evaluation report available when showing the property. This is not disclosure only: any item the report marks Hazardous must be corrected before the new homeowner takes possession, subject to any City-approved buyer arrangements, and after re-inspection a letter confirming the corrections is sent to the homeowner and is typically required at closing.
Source: https://www.southstpaulmn.gov/126/Time-of-Sale · checked 2026-10-22
Required in some cases · South St. Paul
If your South St. Paul Time-of-Sale evaluation report marks any item Hazardous, it must be corrected before the new homeowner takes possession, subject to any City-approved buyer arrangements, and a City-licensed housing evaluator must re-inspect the property after the corrections are complete. The City then sends the homeowner a letter confirming that hazardous items have been corrected, and that letter is typically required at closing.
Source: https://www.southstpaulmn.gov/126/Time-of-Sale · checked 2026-10-21
Required in some cases · South St. Paul
A South St. Paul rental license is nontransferable, so when a licensed rental property or rental dwelling unit changes ownership the new owner must apply for a new license (City Code Sec. 106-234). The new application must be accompanied by a satisfactory city approved inspector's report (valid 36 months) or an alternative inspection report (valid 12 months), the new owner is subject to a background investigation with a fee set by city council resolution, and the applicable license fees must be paid before the license is issued.
Source: https://www.southstpaulmn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1935/Ordinance-1300---Rental-Ordinance-with-no-markups--6-3-2016 · checked 2026-10-21
Required · Minnesota
Minnesota's seller disclosure law, Minn. Stat. 513.55, requires a seller of residential real property, before signing an agreement to sell or transfer, to make a written disclosure to the prospective buyer of all material facts of which the seller is aware that could adversely and significantly affect an ordinary buyer's use and enjoyment of the property or any intended use of the property the seller is aware of, made in good faith and based on the best of the seller's knowledge. The statute does not name special assessments; an assessment against the property is disclosed when it meets that test. The statute says nothing about a certification on the deed. Whether South St. Paul has any requirement of its own for special assessments at a sale has not been established; confirm any levied or pending assessment against the property with the City before closing.
Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/513.55 · checked 2026-10-22
Required · Minnesota
Minnesota's state deed tax must be paid when a transfer deed is recorded; Dakota County's document standards list it first among the items a transfer deed needs before it is sent for recording, and a deed can be returned unrecorded if the deed tax is incorrect. The deed tax is the purchase price multiplied by .0033. For values of $3,000 or less the deed tax is $1.65 and the deed must state that the total consideration for the transfer is $3,000 or less; for values of more than $3,000 an eCRV must be completed and submitted under Minn. Stat. 272.115. A $5 agricultural conservation fee is also due on transfer documents and mortgages, payable to Dakota County Property Taxation & Records; Minn. Stat. 40A.152 requires that fee of every metropolitan county on a deed subject to the deed tax.
Source: https://dakotacountymn.gov/residents/home-property/recording/document-standards · checked 2026-10-22
Required · Minnesota
Minn. Stat. 144.496, the Minnesota Radon Awareness Act, requires a seller of residential real property, before signing an agreement to sell or transfer, to disclose in writing to the buyer any knowledge the seller has of radon concentrations in the dwelling. The disclosure must include whether a radon test has occurred, the most current records and reports on radon concentrations in the dwelling, a description of any radon concentrations, mitigation or remediation, information on any installed mitigation system, and the statutory radon warning statement; the written disclosure and the warning statement are both required. The seller must also provide the buyer with the Minnesota Department of Health publication 'Radon in Real Estate Transactions.' The statute does not require the seller to test; it requires disclosure of what the seller knows. This is a statewide requirement.
Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/144.496 · checked 2026-10-22
Required · Minnesota
Well disclosure required statewide under Minn. Stat. 103I.235. Before signing an agreement to sell or transfer real property, the seller must disclose in writing the status and location of all known wells. At recording, the deed must either carry a statement that there are no wells or be accompanied by a well disclosure certificate — a county recorder may not record the deed without one.
Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/103I.235 · checked 2026-08-18
Required in some cases · Minnesota
Under Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. 116.48, subd. 6), before transferring ownership of property that you know contains an underground or aboveground storage tank, or that contained one that had a release for which no corrective action was taken, you must record an affidavit with the Dakota County recorder or registrar of titles giving the legal description, a description of the tank and its location and any known release, any use restrictions resulting from a release, and the owner's name, and you must deliver a copy of the affidavit to the purchaser. Under subd. 5 a seller who knows the property contains such a tank must also inform the purchaser in writing of the owner's tank notification requirements, and the statute says failure to record the affidavit does not affect or prevent the transfer of ownership.
Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/116.48 · checked 2026-10-21
Mailing city can differ from the municipal jurisdiction — confirm the property is actually within these city limits (check the county parcel record) before relying on this checklist.
What every Minnesota seller has to sort out, wherever the home is: what to sort out before you list, the seller’s inspection checklist and all selling guides.
← Michael Affeldt, Realtor