In the first quarter of 2024, HOME Line advised 4,939 new clients and fielded 3,419 follow-ups for a total of 8,358 total client interactions. During the quarter we reviewed documents/leases/photos for over 1,700 clients. 66% of our clients identified as female and over 48% identified as BIPOC.
Here are the top 10 topics that clients contacted about this quarter compared to the first quarter of 2023.
| Contact Reason | Number of Contacts | Change from 1st Qtr 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Repairs | 1,256 contacts | – 9% |
| 2. Evictions | 1,183 contacts | – 35% |
| 3. Security Deposits | 462 contacts | + 4% |
| 4. Security Deposits | 443 contacts | + 12% |
| 5. Landlord Notice to Vacate | 332 contacts | – 18% |
| 6. Lease Questions/Lease Review | 280 contacts | – 4% |
| 7. Neighbor Issues | 211 contacts | + 19% |
| 8. Privacy/Intrusion | 210 contacts | + 16% |
| 9. Fees | 183 contacts | – 14% |
| 10. Financial Aid Questions | 174 contacts | – 32% |
Some reasons clients contacted us are higher this year than last year and some are lower. Repairs have reclaimed the top spot for the entire first quarter for the first time in years—since the COVID-related rules/eviction moratorium were lifted —passing evictions as the top reason tenants contacted us.
Eviction filings themselves are down substantially—almost certainly because of a new rule effective January 1, 2024, requiring landlords to give a 14-day notice before they can file an eviction for non-payment of rent. Non-payment of rent evictions are by far the most common reason Minnesota landlords file evictions. Over 90% of evictions in 2023 were either just for non-payment of rent or included non-payment along with other allegations, like a breach of lease.
Evictions filed in Minnesota
| 2023 Eviction Filings | 2024 Eviction Filings | % of Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2,259 | January | 1,076 | – 53% |
| February | 2,032 | February | 1,809 | – 11% |
| March | 2,144 | March | 1,848 | – 14% |
| Total | 6,435 | Total | 4,733 | – 27% |
It’s still early in the era of this new 14-day notice requirement. The low filing numbers of January (where evictions were down 53% over 2023) is likely an outlier since for the first two weeks of January it was very difficult for a landlord to legally file a non-payment of rent eviction. But February and March’s numbers are likely much more realistic and they still show a serious reduction in evictions being filed compared to the same months in 2023. This legislative change that HOME Line (among many other groups) advocated for for well over a decade is clearly having a serious impact on eviction filings in Minnesota.
It’s my understanding that a landlord does not legally have to give a tenant a reason for non-renewal of a lease when it comes to they do have to give 60-day notice but they do not have to give a reason why they will not renew the lease. This law needs to change and makes it too easy for people to become homeless and not even know why and then of course the market is very unfair price wise for people trying to rent an apartment. There’s a lot of housing but it’s nowhere near an affordable price property management are offering section 42 which helps them with taxes it doesn’t help residence. They’re not wanting to accept section 8 and they’re not required to but that’s rather unfair.