When the cities of Apple Valley and Bloomington banned home rentals of less than 30 days, they violated the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bans government takings of private property without compensation — or so says an Apple Valley Realtor, who filed twin lawsuits against both cities Monday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.

“I’ve been selling real estate well over 50 years in both areas,” said Connie Toupin, of Burnsville. “My main concern is property rights. I’ve lost a lot of money due to these short-term rental laws. But I’m doing this for the good of the people.”

Toupin maintains that city councils in Apple Valley and Bloomington over the past decade passed blanket restrictions against Airbnb and Vrbo-style rentals without any evidence they might harm surrounding properties, and before their own planning commissions could complete further study. To justify a blanket ban on short-term rentals, Bloomington officials mostly pointed to the potential for unwanted competition with the city’s hotels, according to her 31-page complaint against the city.

“For Bloomington, it was definitely the hotels along (Interstate) 494,” said Toupin, noting her renters are interested in visiting the Mall of America and Minnesota Zoo. “We get high-end guests who visit all of our properties. I’d guess 70% to 75% of them are families. I’m very careful in who I select to allow to stay in my properties because I don’t want to bother the neighbors at all. I don’t allow any parties or big events or things like that.”

While the two federal lawsuits were filed against the individual cities, Toupin hopes the federal courts will create precedent discouraging bans on short-term rentals statewide and overturning those already in place elsewhere. An upcoming ban in Richfield, limiting short-term rentals to five days, takes effect Jan. 1. Many other cities require licenses for short-term rentals.

“Sharing my home occasionally has helped me be independent and invest in my retirement, while supporting local shops, restaurants, and attractions,” Toupin said. “Instead of supporting homeowners like me, the city is punishing us with a blanket ban.”

Samuel Diehl, Toupin’s attorney with the Anoka law firm of Cross Castle, said he was unaware of any similar lawsuits previously filed in the state’s district or federal courts with the intention of overturning blanket bans on short-term rentals.

Apple Valley officials could not be reached Monday, and Bloomington officials declined to comment.

Loss of traditional housing

Airbnb launched its short-term rental website in 2008 and had drawn 1 million bookings by 2011 when it branched out to international markets, such as London and Paris. Its growing popularity drew competition from other online short-term rental companies, as well as concerns from municipalities.

Housing advocates bemoaned the loss of traditional housing stock at a time of rising rents, and cities grappled with noise complaints related to raucous weekend rentals around sporting events, college spring break and other festivities.

Still, cities can simply enforce noise and nuisance violations without banning short-term rentals, Diehl said.

“I have more problems with long-term tenants not maintaining properties than I ever do with short-term tenants,” Toupin said. “You’re only going to hear the horror stories. Nobody complains about the majority of travelers.”

In Spain over the weekend, thousands of protesters — some squirting water guns at tourists — took to the streets of Barcelona and Mallorca to protest the impact of short-term rentals and mass summer tourism on housing costs.

Renting in the Twin Cities

In 2017, St. Paul created elaborate rules limiting the number of short-term rentals allowed within multi-unit properties, while also creating licensing requirements and imposing hotel and lodging taxes.

Under those rules, a St. Paul duplex or triplex that is not owner-occupied may lease out one short-term rental. A duplex or triplex that is owner-occupied may lease out all of its units as short-term rentals. Rules around fourplexes vary with the type of zoning district, but residential buildings in St. Paul with more than four units may devote no more than four units to short-term rentals, and no more than 50% of their total units, unless the owner obtains a conditional use permit.

St. Paul’s short-term rentals require applications, licensing fees and proof of insurance. Non-owner-occupied properties require a fire certificate of occupancy.

In Minneapolis, property owners are limited to owning one short-term rental property aside from their homestead. Buildings with 20 or more units may reserve no more than 10% of their units as short-term rentals.

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By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are nudging lower on Tuesday, and oil prices are rising again. It’s a modest return to form for financial markets after worries had seemed to calm on Wall Street Monday.

The S&P 500 was down 0.3% in morning trading following signals that one of the U.S. economy’s main engines, spending by households, is weakening while Israel’s conflict with Iran may be worsening. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 89 points, or 0.2%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.

Treasury yields also edged lower in the bond market after a report said shoppers spent less last month at U.S. retailers than the month before and than economists expected. Solid such spending has been one of the linchpins keeping the economy out of a recession, but part of May’s drop may have simply been a return to more normal trends.

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In April, some shoppers had rushed to buy automobiles to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“Today’s data suggests consumers are downshifting, but they haven’t yet slammed the brakes,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Trump, meanwhile, left a Group of Seven summit early and warned that people in Iran’s capital should evacuate “immediately.” It took only about eight hours for Trump to go from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives.

Israel’s continuing fight with Iran has the potential to drive up prices for crude oil and gasoline because Iran is a major producer of oil, and it also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s crude passes.

Crude prices climbed in their latest see-saw move after leaping roughly 7% on Friday and then calming on Monday with hopes that the fighting could remain relatively contained. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.6% to $72.12. Brent crude, the international standard, added 2.8% to $75.28 per barrel.

Often, higher oil prices will help stocks of companies in the solar industry because they increase the incentive to switch to alternative energy sources. But solar stocks tumbled amid worries that Congress may phase out tax credits for solar, wind and other energy sources that produce fewer emissions that change the Earth’s climate.

Enphase Energy dropped 23.6%, and First Solar fell 18.2%.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Jabil, which jumped 10.7% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Mike Dastoor credited strength from accelerated demand related to artificial-intelligence technology, among other things.

Verve Therapeutics soared 73.8% after Eli Lilly said it would buy the company developing genetic medicines for cardiovascular disease in a deal that could be worth up to $1.3 billion if certain conditions are met. Lilly’s stock slipped 1%.

All of the action was taking place as the Federal Reserve got set to begin a two-day meeting on interest rates. The nearly unanimous expectation among traders and economists is that the Fed will make no move.

The Fed has been hesitant to lower interest rates, and it’s been on hold this year after cutting at the end of last year, because it’s waiting to see how much Trump’s tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation. Inflation has remained relatively tame recently, and it’s near the Fed’s target of 2%.

More important for financial markets on Wednesday will likely be the latest set of forecasts that Fed officials will publish for where they see the economy and interest rates heading in upcoming years.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.43% from 4.46% late Monday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with its overnight interest rate, edged down to 3.96% from 3.97%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6% after the Bank of Japan opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged. It’s been gradually raising its rate from near zero and cutting back on its purchases of Japanese government bonds to help counter inflation.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI, MARY CLARE JALONICK and ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is expected to approve legislation Tuesday that would regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, the first of what is expected to be a wave of crypto legislation from Congress that the industry hopes will bolster its legitimacy and reassure consumers.

The fast-moving legislation, which will be sent to the House for potential revisions, comes on the heels of a 2024 campaign cycle in which the crypto industry ranked among the top political spenders in the country, underscoring its growing influence in Washington and beyond.

Eighteen Democratic senators have shown support for the legislation as it has advanced, siding with the Republican majority in the 53-47 Senate. If passed, it would become the second major bipartisan bill to advance through the Senate this year, following the Laken Riley Act on immigration enforcement in January.

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Still, most Democrats oppose the bill. They have raised concerns that the measure does little to address President Donald Trump’s personal financial interests in the crypto space.

“We weren’t able to include certainly everything we would have wanted, but it was a good bipartisan effort,” said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., on Monday. She added, “This is an unregulated area that will now be regulated.”

Known as the GENIUS Act, the bill would establish guardrails and consumer protections for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically pegged to the U.S. dollar. The acronym stands for “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins.”

It’s expected to pass Tuesday, since it only requires a simple majority vote — and it already cleared its biggest procedural hurdle last week in a 68-30 vote. But the bill has faced more resistance than initially expected.

There is a provision in the bill that bans members of Congress and their families from profiting off stablecoins. But that prohibition does not extend to the president and his family, even as Trump builds a crypto empire from the White House.

Last month, the Republican president hosted a private dinner at his golf club in Virginia with top investors in a Trump-branded meme coin. His family holds a significant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that launched its own stablecoin, USD1.

Trump reported earning $57.35 million from token sales at World Liberty Financial in 2024, according to a public financial disclosure released Friday. A meme coin linked to him has generated an estimated $320 million in fees, though the earnings are split among multiple investors.

The administration is broadly supportive of crypto’s growth and its integration into the economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week said the legislation could help push the U.S. stablecoin market beyond $2 trillion by the end of 2028.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — the nation’s largest crypto exchange and a major advocate for the bill — has met with Trump and praised his early moves on crypto. This past weekend, Coinbase was among the more prominent brands that sponsored a parade in Washington commemorating the Army’s 250th anniversary — an event that coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.

But the crypto industry emphasizes that they view the legislative effort as bipartisan, pointing to champions on each side of the aisle.

“The GENIUS Act will be the most significant digital assets legislation ever to pass the U.S. Senate,” Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said ahead of a key vote last week. “It’s the product of months of bipartisan work.”

The bill did hit one rough patch in early May, when a bloc of Senate Democrats who had previously supported the bill reversed course and voted to block it from advancing. That prompted new negotiations involving Senate Republicans, Democrats and the White House, which ultimately produced the compromise version expected to win passage Tuesday.

“There were many, many changes that were made. And ultimately, it’s a much better deal because we were all at the table,” Alsobrooks said.

Still, the bill leaves unresolved concerns over presidential conflicts of interest — an issue that remains a source of tension within the Democratic caucus.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has been among the most outspoken as the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, warning that the bill creates a “super highway” for Trump corruption. She has also warned that the bill would allow major technology companies, such as Amazon and Meta, to launch their own stablecoins.

If the stablecoin legislation passes the Senate on Tuesday, it still faces several hurdles before reaching the president’s desk. It must clear the narrowly held Republican majority in the House, where lawmakers may try to attach a broader market structure bill — sweeping legislation that could make passage through the Senate more difficult.

Trump has said he wants stablecoin legislation on his desk before Congress breaks for its August recess, now just under 50 days away.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez arrived at a federal prison on Tuesday to begin serving an 11-year sentence for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt. The New Jersey Democrat has been mocked for the crimes as “Gold Bar Bob,” according to his own lawyer.

The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Menendez was in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania. The facility has a medium-security prison and a minimum-security prison camp. Given the white-collar nature of his crimes, it’s likely he’ll end up in the camp.

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The prison is about 118 miles west of New York City. It’s home to about 1,200 inmates, including ex-New York City organized crime boss James Coonan and former gas station owner Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa, whom the New York Post dubbed “Gas-Station Gotti” for his ruthless, violent ways.

Menendez, 71, maintains his innocence. Last week, a federal appeals court rejected his last-ditch effort to remain free on bail while he fights to get his bribery conviction overturned. A three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his bail motion.

Pleading for leniency, Menendez told a judge at his sentencing in January: “I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions. I’ve done far more good than bad.”

Menendez has also appeared to be angling for a pardon from President Donald Trump, aligning himself with the Republican’s criticisms of the judicial system, particularly in New York City.

“This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system,” Menendez told reporters after his January sentencing.

In posts Tuesday on the social platform X that were later deleted, Menendez criticized prosecutors as politically motivated and opposed to his foreign policy views and praised Trump for “rising above the law fare.”

Menendez resigned last year after he was convicted of selling his clout for bribes. FBI agents found $480,000 in cash in his home, some of it stuffed inside boots and jacket pockets, along with gold bars worth an estimated $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.

In exchange, prosecutors said, Menendez performed corrupt favors for New Jersey business owners, including protecting them from criminal investigations, helping in business deals with foreign powers and meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials before helping Egypt access $300 million in U.S. military aid.

Menendez, who once chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned a month after his conviction. He had been in the Senate since 2006.

Two business owners were also convicted last year along with Menendez.

His wife, Nadine Menendez, was convicted in April of teaming up with her husband to accept bribes from the business owners. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

At his sentencing, Menendez’s lawyers described how the son of Cuban immigrants emerged from poverty to become “the epitome of the American Dream” — rising from mayor of Union City, New Jersey, to decades in Congress — before his conviction “rendered him a national punchline.”

“Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as Gold Bar Bob,” defense lawyer Adam Fee told the judge.

Associated Press reporter Michael Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.