MN Renters Have the Right to Organize

Renters and organizers across Minnesota, including the Equity In Place Coalition, succeeded in passing a law to protect the right to organize with their neighbors for better living conditions.


Renters now have the right to form a tenant union, collaborate with outside community organizers, and take collective action to hold landlords accountable for violations of your rights (including retaliation). By taking collective action, tenants can build power and strength through unity, and address concerns such as overdue repairs, illegal evictions, rent hikes, fees, and more.

“Having an affirmative tenant right to organize will support the multi-cultural organizing and relationships that make our lives better and our communities stronger.” –Jean Flores, a Native American grandmother and renter in an affordable housing community in Spring Lake

 

Getting Started: how to organize

 

Tenant Unions in Action

KC Tenants is a citywide tenant union in Kansas City that organizes to ensure that everyone has a safe, accessible, and truly affordable home. “We believe the people closest to the problem are closest to the solution. To us, organizing is fundamentally democratic; it relies on developing tenant leaders to learn their rights, tell their own stories, and determine their own liberation.”

Nationwide tenants unions: Learn more about the Autonomous Tenants Union Network and the Tenant Union Federation, and check out a partial list of tenant unions across the US.

In Minneapolis, United Renters  for Justice / Inquilinxs Unidxs por la Justicia is a base-building nonprofit working to transform the Minneapolis housing system, and has supported tenant associations in successful campaigns to defend their rights.

In Saint Paul, The West Side Community Organization, a member of the Alliance, organized a tenant association called Strykers Unidos. They were the first group citywide to successfully challenge an illegal rent hike following the passage of rent stabilization in the city. Strykers Unidos later organized with other renters across the West Side to form the West Side Tenant Union.

 

Renter resources

  • HOME Line: Get legal guidance. Call 612-728-5767 or email an attorney 
  • Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS): Call 877-MY-MN-LAW (877-696-6529) or visit www.smrls.org
  • Twin Cities Metro Resources directory compiled by United Renters For Justice/ Inquilinxs Unidxs
    • To report repair needs and infestations in Minneapolis: Call 311 or fill out the Rental Unit Complaint Form.
    • To report a rental property complaint in Saint Paul, fill out this complaint form with the Department of Safety and Inspections
  • Contact the Attorney General’s office through the Minnesota Tenant Report Form

 

Additional information

 

Glossary

Tenant Union

  • A tenant union is a group of renters who come together to build community and take collective action to improve living conditions. Tenant unions can be made up of neighbors who live in the same building, in the same geographic area, or who share the same landlord.
  • Tenant unions are also called tenant associations, resident associations, renters associations, and renters unions.
  • Tenant unions are formed by a group of tenants coming together to decide they’re a tenant union! Tenant unions do not need to be formally incorporated.

Retaliation


By law, landlords are not allowed to retaliate against renters for organizing. This means they cannot threaten you with:

  • Eviction for engaging in organizing or activities associated with Tenant Association
  • Alternating existing agreements
  • Rent hikes
  • Intimidation, including contacting law enforcement about a renter’s immigration status
  • Decreasing services
  • Filing legal action