In the past few days, scores of ballots for the 2011 Tenant Bill of Rights have been coming in — over 100 in thus far. We’ve heard from tenants from Anoka to Zumbroka, Lakeville to Lake City, and Janesville to Jordan. Advocates from the homeless community, from Community Action Associations, and from the affordable housing world have filled out our online poll.
HOME Line will be surveying the community on what they care most about to make Minnesota law more tenant-friendly right up to the 2011 Legislative Session. However, here is a bit of what we are learning in the first couple weeks of the poll:
- Every one of the 17 issues we have on the poll has been identified by at least 10% of the respondents as one of their priorities.
- In the “stories section” of the poll, low-income tenants are expressing their hardship and displeasure over the 27% cut to the 2010 Renters’ Credit this past legislative session.
- Also in the “stories section” of the poll, tenants are voicing concerns that go beyond tenant-landlord law. They care about the communities they are a part of. Tenants want to live in a good neighborhood as expressed by concerns about too high of speed limits, crime (car break-ins), the differing needs of rural and urban communities, etc.
Thanks to everyone who’s already completed the poll. If you haven’t done so yet, or you know someone else who should, click here to go to our online poll. Or, give us a call so we can send you a paper copy.
So, here are how the issues rank thus far:
| 1 | Right of Infirm Tenant to Break the Lease: Minnesota tenants should have the right to move with one month’s notice and without penalty, if an illness or disability no longer allows them to live in their apartment. |
| 2 | Tenant Right to End Lease if Landlord Does Not Meet Contractual Obligations: Minnesota tenants should have the right to break their lease without penalty if, after proper notice and an opportunity to correct a violation, the landlord does not correct that violation. |
| 3 | Dedicated State Funding: Minnesota should designate an annual source of state funding for low income rental assistance. |
| 4 | Tenant Right to Pay and Deduct for Emergency Repairs: Minnesota tenants should have the right to get repairs made on their apartment in the case of an emergency, and deduct those costs from their next rent payment. |
| 5 | Statewide Heat Code: Minnesota tenants should have the right to live in an apartment heated to a minimum of 68 degrees from October 1 to April 30. |
| 6 | Security Deposits: Minnesota tenants should have the right to pay no more than one month’s rent on a security deposit and one and a quarter month’s rent if the landlord accepts pets. |
| 7 | Mandatory Expungement: Minnesota tenants should have the right to remove an eviction attempt from their rental history if they win the eviction case or if they voluntarily settle the case with their landlord. |
| 8 | Duty to Mitigate: If a tenant moves out before a lease ends, a landlord should at least be required to try to re-rent the apartment unit before suing the tenant. |
| 9 | Section 8 Discrimination: Landlords should not be allowed to reject applicants based solely on Section 8 vouchers. |
| 10 | Discretionary Expungement: Minnesota tenants should have the right to petition the Courts to erase a past eviction by showing that there has been a change in circumstances and that the eviction is not a proper predictor of future behavior. |
| 11 | Reciprocity of Right to Cure: Minnesota tenants should be afforded the same rights as landlords to resolve violations of a lease. |
| 12 | Right to Organize With Neighbors For a Tenant Remedies Action: Minnesota tenants should have the right to organize around and initiate, without the need for a formal corporation or association, a court action called a Tenant Remedies Action if their housing is threatened by disrepair or mismanagement. |
| 13 | Protection From Retaliation: Minnesota tenants should have the right to file a rent escrow if they have been given a retaliatory notice to vacate. |
| 14 | Privacy: Minnesota tenants should be able to sue in conciliation or district court for a landlord violation of the privacy statute not only in a rent escrow. |
| 15 | Destroyed Court Files: Minnesota tenants should have the right to petition the Courts to erase a past eviction if the court files of the eviction case have been destroyed. |
| 16 | Hearing on Motion: Minnesota tenants should have the right to request the court to consider erasing record of eviction during the eviction hearing, rather than designating a separate hearing to make that request. |
| 17 | Opportunity to Purchase Property in Light of Section 8 Expiration or Termination: Minnesota tenants should have the right to be given the first opportunity to make an offer along with the other tenants to purchase a property at its fair market value if the Section 8 contract is threatened. |
