Renters Share Why More Emergency Rental Assistance Is Needed (Part 2)
HOME Line’s main program is a free and confidential legal hotline for renters that has advised over 280,000 households since opening 30 years ago. Each month, in particular since the pandemic began, we’ve been taking around 1,500 calls per month.
Many of these inquiries are about financial assistance, evictions, or extrajudicial displacement that is occurring at an increasing rate since RentHelpMN’s application deadline on January 28th. It is clear that there is still a strong need for emergency rental assistance as the pandemic continues to negatively impact many in our communities.
We wanted to share some of the stories we are hearing directly from clients our staff spoke to recently. They gave us permission to share their experiences to help provide context for the extreme urgency to pass legislation as soon as possible, to provide further rent relief and protection against eviction for nonpayment of rent during a time when many of our neighbors are still facing economic uncertainty and trauma.
Story #1
We desperately need rental assistance because I am trying to support two adults on $30,000
per year as well as pay leftover business credit card debt out of my personal earnings. We have
blown through our savings and are just within reach of being two gainfully employed adults and
contributing members of society again. That won’t happen without your help.
I just received notice from our landlord that they are starting the eviction process on us. We
have been responsible tenants and made good on our rent up until now. We will be evicted
regardless that our economic situation has not improved or that we have been good tenants.
Extending emergency rental assistance will be the difference between us being evicted in 30
days or having a place to live. I will not be able to keep my job, and my husband will have a
harder time finding a job if we are evicted.
I know my fellow neighbors are enduring the same hardship Randy and I are. I watch moving
trucks pull up every weekend, our garage parking is only half full and lots of these families have
children.
Please reinstate emergency rental assistance and a policy of ‘no eviction action’ against
pending applicants. Please allow us, your constituents, a little bit longer to get on our feet. It’s
the humane thing to do.
We got behind on rent this winter and filled out an application in January. We ended up paying
February rent without assistance because we didn’t hear back in time. So we were denied our
application but still don’t know what to do this spring. Now I have an eviction notice against me. I don’t want to get evicted. I have 3 children, the youngest is 4. We want to stay here if we can. If we can’t we will be out on the streets, there isn’t any other option.
Story #4
When COVID-19 hit I suffered at my job. I lost clients because everyone was scared about
getting it. I am also suffering from major health complications which further exacerbated my
condition. This week I have to go back to the hospital.
RentHelpMN was helpful because it helped me pay my rent. I was eligible to apply again and
since I had a need for it, I reapplied but my application is now pending and I am still waiting for some kind of assistance. I owe a lot of money and although I work now, it is for a few hours and I don’t make a lot of money. The program took a lot of time to get the assistance, but it eventually did help, and I would really benefit from it continuing for a little while longer so we can get over the COVID-19 setbacks.
Story #5
The tenant has been working fewer hours for two reasons. First, she got COVID and couldn’t
work. And second, while at work last year she had an accident involving a head injury. She has
memory issues, and it’s impacting the quality of her work. She is short of money and is very
worried about her inability to cover all the rent that is due. She sees a personal need for more
emergency rental assistance.
We desperately need rental assistance because I am trying to support two adults on $30,000
per year as well as pay leftover business credit card debt out of my personal earnings. We have
blown through our savings and are just within reach of being two gainfully employed adults and
contributing members of society again. That won’t happen without your help.
I just received notice from our landlord that they are starting the eviction process on us. We
have been responsible tenants and made good on our rent up until now. We will be evicted
regardless that our economic situation has not improved or that we have been good tenants.
Extending emergency rental assistance will be the difference between us being evicted in 30
days or having a place to live. I will not be able to keep my job, and my husband will have a
harder time finding a job if we are evicted.
I know my fellow neighbors are enduring the same hardship Randy and I are. I watch moving
trucks pull up every weekend, our garage parking is only half full and lots of these families have
children.
Please reinstate emergency rental assistance and a policy of ‘no eviction action’ against
pending applicants. Please allow us, your constituents, a little bit longer to get on our feet. It’s
the humane thing to do.
Story #2
RentHelpMN helped me a lot right as the program was closing. I received assistance for January and that was a big help in keeping my home for me and my son. But we are still behind on February and March rent because COVID-19 really pushed back the number of hours I could
work and caused a serious dent in our income. I am working full-time now but still what I am
making versus what I owe is a lot. Since I could not manage to pay for February and March, I am currently facing court action. I am scared that the government has announced that now landlords can evict tenants. We will really appreciate it if we can get 3 more months of help. That will really help me push through this tough time and get my feet back on the ground. A lot of people are losing their homes right now, and I am really scared for all of us. I would really appreciate it if Governor Walz can extend this support for a few more months.
RentHelpMN helped me a lot right as the program was closing. I received assistance for January and that was a big help in keeping my home for me and my son. But we are still behind on February and March rent because COVID-19 really pushed back the number of hours I could
work and caused a serious dent in our income. I am working full-time now but still what I am
making versus what I owe is a lot. Since I could not manage to pay for February and March, I am currently facing court action. I am scared that the government has announced that now landlords can evict tenants. We will really appreciate it if we can get 3 more months of help. That will really help me push through this tough time and get my feet back on the ground. A lot of people are losing their homes right now, and I am really scared for all of us. I would really appreciate it if Governor Walz can extend this support for a few more months.
Story #3
We got behind on rent this winter and filled out an application in January. We ended up paying
February rent without assistance because we didn’t hear back in time. So we were denied our
application but still don’t know what to do this spring. Now I have an eviction notice against me. I don’t want to get evicted. I have 3 children, the youngest is 4. We want to stay here if we can. If we can’t we will be out on the streets, there isn’t any other option.
Story #4
When COVID-19 hit I suffered at my job. I lost clients because everyone was scared about
getting it. I am also suffering from major health complications which further exacerbated my
condition. This week I have to go back to the hospital.
RentHelpMN was helpful because it helped me pay my rent. I was eligible to apply again and
since I had a need for it, I reapplied but my application is now pending and I am still waiting for some kind of assistance. I owe a lot of money and although I work now, it is for a few hours and I don’t make a lot of money. The program took a lot of time to get the assistance, but it eventually did help, and I would really benefit from it continuing for a little while longer so we can get over the COVID-19 setbacks.
Story #5
The tenant applied for RentHelpMN in January after having lost her job due to getting COVID in
December 2021. Because of the loss of income, she had many bills to pay. RentHelpMN told
her in early January that she would be eligible for rent in the future, but then she heard on the
news in late January that the program was coming to an abrupt close. Because she did not have enough money to cover February and March’s rent, her landlord said he was going to evict her, trying to prompt her to leave her apartment before filing an eviction. She can’t move. She has no place to go. All her current pay is being used to cover other back and current expenses as well as save up for April’s rent. She wants to send a message to elected leaders that more
emergency rental assistance is needed.
Story #6
December 2021. Because of the loss of income, she had many bills to pay. RentHelpMN told
her in early January that she would be eligible for rent in the future, but then she heard on the
news in late January that the program was coming to an abrupt close. Because she did not have enough money to cover February and March’s rent, her landlord said he was going to evict her, trying to prompt her to leave her apartment before filing an eviction. She can’t move. She has no place to go. All her current pay is being used to cover other back and current expenses as well as save up for April’s rent. She wants to send a message to elected leaders that more
emergency rental assistance is needed.
Story #6
The tenant has been working fewer hours for two reasons. First, she got COVID and couldn’t
work. And second, while at work last year she had an accident involving a head injury. She has
memory issues, and it’s impacting the quality of her work. She is short of money and is very
worried about her inability to cover all the rent that is due. She sees a personal need for more
emergency rental assistance.
If you have a story you’d like to share with elected officials about the need for more emergency rental assistance, contact HOME Line’s Public Policy Director, Michael Dahl, at michaeld@homelinemn.org.
Rent help got me through January, Feb and March, but I didn’t realize it had stopped and didn’t get a new app in time. My landlord is threatening eviction even though I’ve been here 7 years. I’ve been out looking for work but I haven’t had good luck in my field. I’ve sold belongings and am now in terrible CC debt. I’m going to have to live in my truck very soon, unless they repo it then I have to go to my parents in Illinois where there are no jobs. I’ve lived in Minneapolis since 1994 and now I’m going to lose everything and I’m scared to death.
I applied for this program last Fall, and was told that I was income eligible. Unfortunately, I have technology problems due to a cerebral Hemmorhage and the application did not go through and I was unable to get help until January 11 with getting the application in. I checked in every week and kept getting the message that my application was still being considered. This process went through most of March when I was told that I needed to submit current information about my current income. I asked a County Case Manager to help me to get information for me, because after several more weeks and no information. The end result was that I was denied my new income was $150.00 per month as of January 1st because We received a Social Security COLA
Increase and my pension increased by 1%.
My husband has Alzheimer’s and I have been trying to take care of his needs, when I have brain injury, colitis, Arthritis, and chronic migraines. We live in an Independent living Senior apartment with no services for $1850
Per month. I guess it is hard for me to understand how poorly our case was handled