• Sign on letter
• Letter to Gov Walz
• Press Conference

MHP is a co-convener of MN ERASE

Equity in Place (EIP) and the MN ERASE Campaign hosted a press conference to call attention to the escalating eviction crisis resulting from an end of emergency rental assistance (ERA). Calling on Governor Walz to demand the Legislature pass $330 million in ERA and connect pending applications for the new rental assistance with the existing eviction moratorium (intended to protect renters with rent arrears until June 2022), the EIP and ERASE members and supporters then delivered letters to Governor Walz’ office.

According to the National Equity Atlas, 86% of households still behind are very low-income. In MN, the percent of Black renter households behind on rent is much higher than the national average. More Black renter households are behind on rent in March than in December, indicating that the emergency rental assistance was helping renters keep up on rent. Eviction filings have soared 67% in the eleven weeks since the closure of RentHelpMN as compared to the eleven weeks before its abrupt end. In the past week alone, landlords filed over 100 evictions every business day except for one. If this approximate 100/day rate were to continue, we'd see 26,000+ evictions in a year—well over the pre-pandemic "normal" of 15,000/year.

This past Monday, the House of Representatives passed HF 4366, the Omnibus Agriculture and Housing Bill. As the House and Senate bills are not the same, the bills will end up in conference committee where a select group of lawmakers will negotiate and compromise. House DFL members expressed support for the substantial investments across the housing continuum and policies to protect renters. Some GOP lawmakers expressed frustration that the bill does little to address the rising cost of building homes. Read more about the bill and floor debate In Session Daily.  

The Bring it Home, Minnesota Campaign hosted a rally at the Capitol on April 19. Dozens of elected officials showed up to support a statewide voucher program. 2022 has been disappointing because Bring it Home was not included in either omnibus housing bills. However, speakers also shared optimism about the progress that was made this year to advance this monumental piece of legislation.  

Virtual Phone Bank with MHP!

Support Housing Investments Through State Bonding

We need your help!  Join in a virtual phone bank Tuesday, May 3, 4-5:00 pm, for #BondsforHousing! 

Join us in urging lawmakers to pass a bonding bill that includes significant housing investments. Bonds are essential resources that help create deeply affordable rental housing and single-family homes and preserve existing subsidized homes and manufactured home parks. Here is a one-pager on Bonds for Housing 

As the end of the legislative session fast approaches, we have an opportunity to ensure lawmakers prioritize housing as they head into their final weeks. Let’s make sure legislative leaders know that housing is essential for Minnesotans! 

Hosted on Zoom, MHP will help provide a brief training, scripts, and everything else you may need to be successful. Contact Brian Muhs at [email protected]  with any questions.  

Phone bank May 3, 4-5 pm: Register here to attend.    

Not able to attend but can still make calls? Let us know and we will send you personalized support materials.  Please contact [email protected].  

For follow-up with people who can make calls: 

Here is a one-pager on Bonds for Housing 

Here is a script and recommendations of who to call 

Let us know your call results!  You can fill out this quick form or send an email to [email protected] 

The White House held a virtual convening on April 14 to announce the release of its racial justice and equity plan. More than 90 federal agencies – including all cabinet-level agencies – also released their first-ever Equity Action Plans, as called for by President Biden’s historic January 2021 Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. Read more here.

• USDA’s plan asserts the department’s intentions to prioritize Rural Development projects that ensure equitable access, reduce climate impacts and increase resilience, and addresses tribal access to USDA programs.
• HUD's plan focuses on four topics: widening the entities it funds, fair housing, homeownership, and homelessness. 

NLIHC has released its annual report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, finding the lowest-income renters in the U.S. face a shortage of approximately 7 million affordable and available rental homes. Drawing on multiple data sources, the report documents how the pandemic has exacerbated the housing crisis for the lowest-income renters. The report examines both short- and long-term policy interventions needed to address the immediate housing impacts of the pandemic and the underlying shortage of affordable housing. View the full report here.

A new publication from the National Fair Housing Alliance is intended to help understand the public data relating to redlining risk in order to take action and promote racial equity. It includes information about the history and legal framework for the discriminatory practice of redlining, provides tools to identify specific lenders with high redlining risk, and offers guidance for taking action when a lender shows high redlining risk in a community of color. Designed to ensure fair access to credit, the toolkit will enable advocates, lenders, regulators, academics and journalists to take action and promote racial equity. Download toolkit here.

During the Pandemic: Implications for the Design of Permanent ERA Programs, released by the NLIHC and the Housing Initiative at Penn, discusses the findings from a survey of 100 administrators of the Emergency Rental Assistance program during the pandemic. Lessons include the need for permanent ERA programs and flexibility in requirements for applications. Read the report here.

• MN Housing has launched a ‘get ready’ website and hosted several webinars for the HomeHelpMN COVID-19 Homeowner Assistance Fund, to provide homeowners with information on eligibility and how to apply. To watch the webinar replays, visit http://homehelpmn.org.
• Wondering how to complete a project's scoresheet in the Scoring Wizard in the Multifamily Customer Portal for the 2022 Multifamily Consolidated RFP and 2023 HTC Round 1? Minnesota Housing is hosting a training webinar.
• ICYMI: Multifamily Consolidated RFP/2023 HTC Round 1 Application Guidance, Resources and Reminders.
• Join your houser colleagues on May 5, 2022 at the 2022 Affordable Housing Summit, focusing on the development and financing of multifamily project. Register here.

Learn more about these events here.

MPR News host Angela Davis spoke with Chris Coleman about the housing crisis, Habitat for Humanity's work in the Twin Cities and how the nonprofit will use the money to move forward on its goal of expanding home ownership among Black Minnesotans. A former mayor of St. Paul, Coleman is currently President and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and an MHP board member. Listen to the interview here.

Grace Kim, a nationally recognized architect is set to speak and answer questions on May 11. Her online presentation, “Cohousing: A Short-Term Antidote to Loneliness and Long-Term Retirement Plan” kicks off the new "Meet the Professionals" speaker series of Twin Cities Cohousing Network (TCCN) to help catalyze cohousing Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin.

"Cancel Rent and Mortgages" rally on June 30, 2020 in Minneapolis. Brandon Bell

A lawsuit challenging the Gov. Walz's pandemic eviction moratorium could eventually allow landlords to seek financial damages from the state. Under the order, tenants could only be kicked out if they seriously endangered the safety of other residents or engaged in illegal activity. A property management company argues the order was an unconstitutional interference and that the state violated the 5th and 14th Amendments by forcing them to continue renting to their tenants. Read more here.

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