The Senate passed Senate File 1470 yesterday on the floor. The bill clarifies that currently Minnesotans can be evicted in certain circumstances including criminal activity involving illegal guns, material lease violations, and endangering the health and safety of others. It also sets a time frame when someone can be evicted due to nonpayment of rent, but it prohibits those evictions if the tenant has an open application for rental assistance. The bill does not address those in mortgage forbearance, but the American Rescue Plan does provide some relief for those households.
“The bill passed is not perfect, but it is a path for a discussion with the House on an eviction moratorium off-ramp,” said Senator Kari Dziedzic (DFL-Minnepolis), DFL Lead on the Housing Committee. “If we don’t have a plan in place when the peacetime emergency ends, many of our neighbors could be evicted, overwhelming the court system. We want tenants and landlords to work together, fill out the necessary paperwork, and get the federal COVID rental assistance. We certainly do not want anyone to be evicted after the struggles endured by this pandemic. We would like Minnesotans to get the assistance they need to be able to stay in their homes.”
There are a number of ways that tenants and landlords can get more information about the federal rental assistance and utility payment assistance – United Way (211) or 222.renthelpmn.org.