Brooklyn Center Nonprofit Shares Concerns Over Possible Tenants’ Rights Changes
A few months ago, members of the Brooklyn Center City Council brought forth a proposal: remove two of its tenant protection ordinances. The issue is tabled for now, but some residents are worried the proposal will come back.
Brooklyn Center has several tenant protections for affordable properties that were enacted in 2022 and unique to its surrounding cities. One of them, the Just Cause Non-Renewal ordinance, prevents a property owner from not renewing a tenant’s lease without a legally sufficient reason.
The second, the Pre-Eviction Filing Notice, requires a 30-day written notice before filing an eviction on an affordable housing unit. The notice can apply to nonpayment of rent or a serious violation of the lease.
A Tenant’s Perspective
For Seretha Lee, home offers a sense of security. She lives in Sonder Point, an age 50-plus rental community in Brooklyn Center. Many of her neighbors are seniors and have disabilities. She invoked the Just Cause Non-Renewal ordinance a few years back when her landlord told her and many of her neighbors that they weren’t renewing their leases.
“There could be a lot of reasons why they are sending a non-renewal, but that doesn’t mean that it’s just,” Lee said. “By speaking up and talking about that, a lot of people were very comfortable, and they shared their issues, and we got victory.”
When Lee heard the council was considering removing those protections, she worried they would affect her vulnerable neighbors. She went to speak on her, and their, behalf at the Jan. 12 council meeting.
“When you get older and when you’re vulnerable, and you find a sense of peace where you live. I think that is very important for mental health,” Lee said. “If it’s not hurting the community, then why change the policies?”
Seretha Lee, a tenants’ rights advocate and renter herself, speaks in her home.
Why Change The Policies?
For the council members in favor of changing the policy, the reason they give is simple: to align with state law.
In 2024, Minnesota’s own Pre-Eviction Filing Notice period went into effect. Statewide, landlords must give renters 14 days notice before filing an eviction. Brooklyn Center’s ordinance is more than double that.
Council Member Dan Jerzak, who spoke at the Jan. 12 council meeting, said he believes having an ordinance that differs from the state is confusing for landlords and tenants.
“I don’t believe we, as a council, should be enacting ordinances for small minorities– not that they don’t deserve protections. I mean, that’s why we have them. But I believe they’re adequate for what the state provides,” Jerzak said. “It’s not that we are repealing it, we’re just coming into alignment with the state.”
Jerzak, Council Member Laurie Ann Moore and Council Member Kris Lawrence-Anderson all voiced support for changing the ordinances to align with the state. There was no formal vote.
The three agreed that they needed more information about the effects of the Just Cause Non-Renewal Ordinance, both from people affected and their landlords.
Mayor April Graves and Council Member Teneshia Kragness voiced opposition to those changes, with the mayor sharing responses from a tenant survey conducted by the city. In the survey, she shared that most landlords who responded weren’t affected in their ability to file evictions under those ordinances.
“To me, this does speak to the majority of our community,” Graves said. “Changing it speaks to landlords who are the minorities, and have a lot more money.”
Amid ICE activity in the metro, on Jan. 26, Jerzak opted to table the tenant protections discussion.
“I think this would be the right thing to do,” Jerzak said. “This would have to be very, timely, sensitive for in the future, and I think it deserves a lot of discussion. It’s just not right now.”
The council agreed to table it to a different time. As of mid-March, it hasn’t been brought up since.
Brooklyn Center City Council Member Dan Jerzak speaks during a meeting in January.
A Nonprofit’s Concerns
Leaders at African Career Education and Resources, Inc (ACER), a nonprofit in Brooklyn Center want both protections to stay. And they believe this discussion will come back again. Aru Sasikumar, ACER’s director of social justice, said that for those her organization works with, these protections make a big difference.
“What we currently have is the bare minimum requirement of family need, so we ensure that we are not recklessly evicting families and shooting up homelessness in the city,” Sasikumar said.
ACER helped advocate for Brooklyn Center’s 2022 tenants’ rights ordinances. Sasikumar said that though the city’s is greater than the state’s more recent protections, there’s a reason for it.
“Based on the realities of the cities, tenants require that 30 days. They request it, and pushed for it, and were able to pass it,” Sasikumar said.
One concern Sasikumar has is keeping eviction rates down. Eviction rates, on average in Minnesota, have risen 40 percent since the pandemic. The most common reason people are evicted for is nonpayment of rent.
“When more evictions are coming up, and when homelessness is rising, the city and the county bear the cost,” Sasikumar said.
ACER organized a group, including Lee, to speak at the Jan. 12 council meeting. Sasikumar said she plans to continue making those voices heard in the future.
Brooklyn Center tenants can find resources online.
