Continuing our series of posts outlining how many Minnesota renters are contacting our free and confidential legal hotline, and about what topics, below is an overview of the first half of 2022. Previous 2022 month reviews are here: May, April, March, February.
2021 was the tenant hotline’s busiest year on record. However, we are on pace for much higher volume of client interactions in 2022—a 31% increase in new interactions and a 48% increase in overall volume (new clients plus follow-up interactions) as compared to the same period in 2021. Each month has set a new record—Jan. 2022 was our busiest January, as was February—all the way through June.
What has been driving this increase in calls? Unsurprisingly, it’s mostly inquiries about formal court eviction actions, landlord notices to vacates, and tenants looking for any type of financial resources that might prevent displacement.
With the expiration of all COVID-19-related eviction protections and the end of the RentHelpMN financial assistance, landlords have been both threatening and filing an increased number of evictions this year, which doesn’t appear to be decreasing at this point.
Questions about a wide variety of new fees landlords are charging, along with inquiries about rent increases have also been substantially higher so far this year.
Here’s the official list of our top 10 calls so far through the first half of 2022, including the number of new calls in that category and the percentage difference from last year during the same time period.
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