News & Updates
This page contains the latest content we have posted. If you are looking for a specific resource or reference, check out our Resource Library. If you are looking for information about our work on a specific topic, you can look on the Our Work page.
For press inquiries, please email info@hjcmn.org.
HJC welcomes new attorney, paralegal, and rental assistance navigator
Housing Justice Center has grown remarkably over the last few months, welcoming Larry McDonough, Zaria Whitlock, and Markanetta Smith to the team…
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Fixing a Hole: the Fritz defense revisited
The pay-to-defend requirement has turned Minnesota eviction actions into a one-way street flowing straight toward eviction; due process has become a meaningless promise to the poor…
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RentHelpMN and the eviction moratorium off-ramp
Over the past 16 months, we saw the statewide eviction moratorium function as a powerful public health intervention that kept people in their homes. And while our desire for a world with no evictions remains, we now face the end of the eviction moratorium and an incoming surge in evictions…
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HJC offers RentHelpMN assistance at Cedar Knolls
Over the last few months, HOME Line VISTA Tenant Organizer Teresa Garcia-Delcompare has been working in conjunction with Pueblos de Lucha y Esperanza and Housing Justice Center to organize in her manufactured home park community. This past weekend, several of her efforts came together in one large community event at Cedar Knolls…
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Downside risk of immediate repeal of S.A.F.E. Housing Ordinance
Housing Justice Center provides this memo to summarize the significant downside risk of immediately repealing St. Paul’s S.A.F.E. Housing ordinance as a response to Judge Magnuson’s adverse preliminary injunction order in the Lamplighter case…
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HJC announces new board leadership
Housing Justice Center is proud to announce the appointment of Walter Battle as the Chair of the Board of Directors, replacing Rick Kahn, who has served in the role since 2008. Martha Hernandez-Martinez has been named as Vice-Chair, Howard Goldman as Treasurer, and Eric Hauge as Secretary. Together the Board of Directors and President Margaret Kaplan will work to address key housing justice issues, including the impact of COVID-19 on renters statewide.
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Mayor Carter has no authority over land use appeals, and his recent veto holds no power
On February 5, 2021, the St. Paul Planning Commission denied a site plan application by Alatus for an apartment development adjacent to the Lexington Station area. Pursuant to § 61.702(a) of the Zoning Code, Alatus appealed to the City Council. At its April 7, 2021 meeting, the Council adopted a resolution denying the appeal, and at its April 14 meeting adopted a resolution memorializing that decision. Before the April 14 Council meeting had ended, Mayor Carter purported, in a three-page document, to veto the April 14 action by the Council.
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HJC supports community call for equity and affordability at Lexington and University
The conversation around the two vacant lots at the intersection of Lexington Parkway and University Avenue is two years in the making, encapsulating the tension between community needs and developer priorities. Housing Justice Center works to protect and expand affordable housing, so a proposed development close to transit with no meaningful, substantiated commitment to affordability was a natural place for HJC to intervene.
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HJC files class action tenant lawsuit to stop construction harassment in New Brighton
In April 2020, Housing Justice Center represented a group of New Brighton tenants, along with HOME Line, in filing a class-action lawsuit against QT Property Management (QT), its owner Jason Quilling and the City of New Brighton. HJC argued QT engaged in “construction harassment,” a tactic increasingly used by landlords to oust low-income renters by making living conditions unbearable, remodel the building, and bring in new tenants for much higher rents.
read moreOpening the Door: Tenant Screening and Selection
When an apartment becomes available in the Twin Cities, who gets to move in? And perhaps more importantly, who doesn’t?
To answer those questions, we partnered with Family Housing Fund to publish a new report examining the methods and systems used by landlords to screen and select tenants. We found that the current methods and systems used are often unpredictable and can result in disparate treatment, the consequences of which extend beyond prospective tenants and their families to communities and society as a whole.
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HJC files an amicus brief supporting Minnesota’s eviction moratorium
This past December, Minnesota’s statewide eviction moratorium became the target of a preliminary injunction motion. Two Twin Cities property owners, Heights Apartments and Walnut Trails, filed their suit in September, seeking to invalidate Governor Walz’ Executive Order No. 20-79 for several alleged violations of their constitutional rights.
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HJC assists in Emergency Rental Assistance application process during pandemic
CHAP was launched in August and stopped formally accepting applications on December 7th, 2020. Toward the end of this window, Housing Justice Center was able to assist renters and homeowners statewide as they navigated the CHAP application process. The individual application assistance was led by Shana Tomenes, Housing Justice Center’s Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by Target Corporation, and supported by pro-bono volunteers, also from Target Corporation.
read moreHJC in the News
11/26/21 — Star Tribune
Rent escrow requirement prevents tenants from challenging poor living conditions, lawyers say
11/17/21 — Minnesota Reformer
St. Paul rent control advocates push back on ‘disaster narratives’ as developers rethink projects
9/14/21 — Star Tribune
State owns failure to get aid to renters
7/20/21 — Star Tribune
Renting can be tough for reformed gang members
5/25/21 — MPR News
Tenants worry and landlords fume over eviction ban
4/29/21 — Minnesota Reformer
Where is the rental assistance?
4/5/21 — CapRadio
Nixing single-family zoning: will it make housing more affordable?
3/31/21 — Minnesota Spokesman Recorder
Wilder Foundation charged with selling out its mission
3/30/21 — Minnesota Reformer
St. Paul residents launch rent stabilization campaign to cap increases at 3%
3/30/21 — KARE 11
St. Paul group aims to put rent control on ballot
12/8/20 — Star Tribune
Landlords go to court to fight Gov. Walz’s eviction moratorium
5/12/20 — Star Tribune
Minnesota legal advocates race to prepare for eviction court in COVID-19 world
2/23/20 — Pioneer Press
Karen teen outreach leads to neighborhood complaint against St. Paul landlord