Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed an ordinance this week that would have given renters an extra 30 days of notice before being evicted through August 2026.
An increase in renters across Minnesota has been struggling to pay bills after Operation Metro Surge forced families into hiding and primary income earners were detained by federal agents.
Renters are currently receiving a 30-day notice before eviction.
The ordinance, co-authored by Ward 10 Council Member Aisha Chughtai, was approved by the City Council on March 5 by a 7-5 majority with Ward 11 Council Member Jamison Whiting abstaining.
The Council can override the mayor’s veto with nine votes at its meeting on March 26.
A hearing held on March 3 revealed a divide on the Minneapolis City Council and the public on the effectiveness of a temporary pre-eviction notice extension.
There was a stark difference in public comments about the ordinance among the larger Minneapolis community and those who fund, own, and operate rental housing.
Ward 2 Council Member Robin Wonsley and lead author of the ordinance, said that housing advocate organizations have seen “massive increases in residents seeking rental assistance.”
Wonsley noted that the State legislature is considering a bill that could make $75 million in rental assistance available this summer.
“This gives us an opportunity at the local level, while our State leaders and other partners in the community are doing everything they can to keep our neighbors in their homes,” Wonsley said.
The Minnesota Senate approved $40 million in emergency rental assistance on March 11, but the bill is unlikely to pass the Minnesota House.
A recent Center of Urban Regional Affairs report, “Rent debt across Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge” by Nick Graetz and Yusra Murad estimates that 30-50% of renters could currently be behind in rent.
Also in the report, the 211 Spanish-language line has seen a 15-fold increase in calls for rental assistance. HOME Line, a legal assistance service for renters, reported a 72% increase in requests for financial assistance in January 2026 compared to January 2025.
“The threat is that we have a massive eviction crisis,” said Ward 8 Council Member, and co-author, Soren Stevenson. “The community has stood up over and over again and they have raised millions of dollars.”
Stevenson said extending eviction notice time would give the community and State legislature a “little more time to step in and help our neighbors who have been sheltering in place or lost jobs because the businesses they worked at had to close.”
Of the over 80 individuals or organizations who provided written comments on the proposal, 11 were opposed to the ordinance. Of those 11, all but one were either a landlord, rental property funder, developer, owner, manager or their representative.
At the March 3 public hearing, nine people out of 70 people were against the proposal. All nine were rental property owners or operators.
Housing organizations that commented against the ordinance included CommonBond Communities, Project for Pride in Living, Catholic Charities, Agate Housing + Services, and Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative.
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, which provides affordable housing for an estimated 26,000 people in the city, did not weigh in on the ordinance.
“The bottom line is that landlords in Minneapolis have suffered due to ICE and the resolution is not a full solution,” said Andre Duke, who owns rental property in Ward 5 and 7. “The answer,” he said, “is giving help to the tenants to pay rent and to the landlords who are struggling.”
Landlords are also concerned about shouldering the economic burden for economic conditions they did not cause, as the Minneapolis Affordable Housing Collaborative testified.
“A ‘stay’ of eviction proceedings with the hope that ‘rent help’ funds might be found is unreasonable,” Tim Sullivan and Allison Dohnalek said, representing the Minneapolis Affordable Housing Collaborative.
A landlord in Uptown agreed.
“Landlords did not bring ice to Minneapolis or create the chaos, so why should the city of Minneapolis be asking us to carry these additional receivables for an extended period of time?” Aarun Dietrich from Lake Street Dwelling in Uptown said.
Financial hardship for tenants and providers and a possible increase in evictions were the most common criticisms from the rental housing providers.
“Our experience shows that early intervention and not delayed action is what prevents displacement,” Karla Henderson of Project for Pride in Living said.
The Center of Urban Regional Affairs disagrees, based on its own research.
“There is no research which supports the notion that extending the pre-eviction period increases evictions,” Director of the Center of Urban Regional Affairs Edward Goetz, said, “In fact, the little research that does exist suggests the opposite, that evictions will decline.”
Goetz cited research that looked at Brooklyn Park after it shifted from a pre-eviction notice of14 days to 30 days.
“The ordinance actually seemed to have reduced evictions,” Goetz said.
But even landlords were not in agreement about the ordinance’s long-term outcomes.
“As a small mom and pop landlord myself I can confidently say that pausing evictions does not mean ignoring landlords' needs,” said Ward 10 resident Alexa Bobyak. “It means creating a window for resolution instead of displacement.”
A landlord in Ward 10 and 13 said she fully understood the financial implications for landlords when tenants do not pay rent, but noted the extraordinary circumstances of Operation Metro Surge.
“It is cruel and unjust to make the most vulnerable among us bear the consequences of this illegal federal occupation,” Landlord Roberta Wilson said. “Especially because those consequences for them include abduction, family separation, detention in concentration camps, and death.”
All the speakers on March 3 who were not owners, funders, or operators of rental property spoke in favor of the additional 30-day eviction notice extension.
Many emphasized that the pause would prevent displacement and be more fiscally responsible.
Lawrence Williamson, who had been arrested by ICE said, “If landlords can’t make the sacrifice to give their tenants a little more time to get their money together in this kind of crisis and in this kind of environment, that is obscene.”
Nickey Robare, from Ward 9, said that she is “deeply disgusted that there are affordable housing nonprofits here speaking against” the ordinance, noting that it can be more expensive to take care of the city’s homeless population than it is to keep them housed.
Several Southwest residents stressed the need for more time in order to raise more funds.
“This past Saturday night, I had to painstakingly secure $2,000 from 28 different Southwest Minneapolis neighbors before midnight, March 1, when rent was due for a mom with a five-month-old infant and multiple school age kids,” Linden Hills resident Rachel W. said. “The other parent was unlawfully abducted and is detained. My neighbors and I saved this family from being evicted for one more month, but we can't keep going like this.”
Many speakers suggested that the eviction notice extension was a way to address racism evident in the federal operation.
“Evictions are violent and dangerous and right now more discriminatory than ever,” Mina Barivan, from the Twin Cities Tenant Union and South Minneapolis Tenant Union, said.
Tai Prescot, a renter from Ward 5, agreed.
“Minneapolis has been under an ethnic cleansing campaign and the eviction crisis we are facing is an extension of that campaign and it is allowing landlords to do ICE’s job for them,” Prescot said.
Health and safety for all Minneapolis residents were also a common theme at the public hearing.
“Eviction is not just a housing issue, it is a public health crisis,” Linden Hills resident Courtney Chapple said.
Flanery Clark told the story of four babies who were born in hiding because of the federal operation.
“Nobody’s lives would be improved by having those babies being evicted,” Clark said.
Meg Robinson-Schacht, from the Ericsson Neighborhood, has two children who attend a child care center in the area.
“Most of our teachers were forced to stay home in hiding for the safety of themselves and their families who rely on them. This, of course, means that they cannot earn wages to pay for their food or homes,” Robinson said. “We’ve supported 56 families through January, February and March to secure shelter, food and safety.”
Lily Kidwell, a student government representative from the University of Minnesota talked about the impact on immigrant students.
“Evicting these students would mean not only subjecting them to the usual dangers of homelessness, but also to potential ICE abduction due to their vulnerability without housing,” Kidwell said.
The City Council were divided not only on their votes but also on whose opinions they took most seriously.
Ward 7 Council Member Elizabeth Schaffer opposed the proposed extension.
“When the organizations that house our most vulnerable residents warn us that a proposal will increase housing instability,” Shaffer said, “we have a responsibility to trust the experts.”
Ward 13 Council Member Linea Palmisano was also aligned with the affordable housing landlords, who she called “our trusted affordable housing providers.”
“Their professional expertise,” she said, “tells us that pausing evictions is not the answer to this crisis, it’s rental assistance.”
Stevenson, who cited information from both HOME Line, who offers legal advice to renters, and the Center of Urban Regional Affairs as credible experts, was not persuaded by the affordable housing providers.
He called on the State, Hennepin County and City government to better fund affordable housing.
“We can do both things,” Stevenson said. “We can stop an eviction crisis and we can fund affordable housing in this city.”
Whiting, who abstained from voting, said he could not endorse a policy that affordable housing providers say will continue to “harm the neighbors that we most hope to protect.”
Chughtai asked to reframe who the experts are.
“I have a tough time with colleagues insisting that the only experts we should be listening to in these moments are affordable housing providers,” Chughtai said. “Experts are the people who are leading in this moment who are directly impacted. Experts in this moment are the organizations and mutual aid networks that have raised $6 million dollars this year to pay for people’s rent.”
In Frey’s veto letter on March 11, he sided with the affordable housing providers.
“We have heard over and over again from shelter and affordable housing providers that longer timelines produce worse outcomes for residents,” he said in his veto letter to the Council. “When property owners carry the losses, the housing system experiences upward pressure on rents to replenish reserves, catch up on missed mortgage, insurance, utility, payroll, and property tax payments, and cover increased costs associated with deferred maintenance.”
Frey also proposed adding another $1 million to support rental assistance.
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