Senate Hearing on Tenant Bill of Rights
Yesterday, the Minnesota Tenant Bill of Rights legislation received hearings in both the House and Senate.
Peggy Larkin and Melissa Lenart, two tenants trying to maintain safe, decent, affordable housing, did an amazing job describing struggles they’ve had with their landlords. They made an amazing case for why State law should have been stronger to help them. Peggy had been falsely accused of not paying her rent several times; a simple receipt for rent paid would have resolved the matter. Her neighbors had lived in homes with furnaces that did not work for weeks; a number of provisions in the Tenant Bill of Rights would have helped them. And Melissa and her family were living with no water and backed-up sewage for nearly a month; again, several portions of the Minnesota Tenant Bill of Rights would have helped her out.
After their testimony, Representative Drakowski asked, “The question that comes to my mind is why don’t you move?”
Moving, for several reasons you can read below, are just not options for Peggy and Melissa. However, one of the proposals in the Minnesota Tenant Bill of Rights is that if your landlord fails to meet the obligations provided for in your lease, you should be allowed to end the lease. Right now, a tenant who moves before their lease has run its course, will likely be penalized with court action.
Yes, Representative Drakowski, perhaps the right to move would be the proper course in certain situations.
Again, however, for Peggy and Melissa this is not an option. Here’s a transcript of the question and answer from yesterday’s hearing:
Rep. Drazkowski: The question that comes to my mind is why don’t you move? Umm. I mean we can all say these bad people are doing this or we can take control of our lives and move. Why don’t you move somewhere else? There’s definitely other landlords who probably do a better job. If people don’t take part in a contractual relationship they will either fix the place up of go out of business.
Melissa Lenart: I knew that question was going to be asked, and I was prepared for that. It’s mainly because of what landlords ask for. They ask for first and last months rent, they ask for a $40-$50 fee for an application. I have checked over 30 apartments in the Anoka County – Coon Rapids area; and the cheapest, the cheapest I have found for first and last months rent was $2,500. That’s what they ask; and, as a single mom making $8 that’s impossible, absolutely impossible to be able to do that. To come up with $2500 to move, I just couldn’t do it.
Peggy Larkin: Thanks for a asking that question. I live in Section 8 housing, and the shortest waiting list to get into Section 8 housing is 3-4 years. So I would have to wait that long to be able to move. It’s a very difficult scenario to be in Section 8 housing and find other affordable housing. In addition to this, I have set up roots in my community, to try to change how I interact with my landlord because, I believe that the playing field could be leveled fairly easily and they should have to provide certain basic necessities.
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