Pause Evictions, Save Lives
Testimony before Minneapolis City Council, 04/21/26
Hello, my name is Juan Luis, I’m a coalition Organizer with The Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, a member of the Housing Justice League. I am a Minneapolis renter in Ward 7, a son of immigrants, and someone who cares deeply about the future of our City and State. For over 30 years, The Alliance has fought displacement and its disproportionate impact on Black, Indigenous, people of color, and working-class people across the Twin Cities. We know that when renters and BIPOC communities are not protected, prioritized, and invested in, our communities get boarded up, displaced, and gentrified, leading to generations of racial inequity.
We have a chance to prevent some of the long-term economic, cultural, and health harms that come with displacing renters, especially renters of color, in Minneapolis. The federal attack on our city cost us millions in lost wages and lost revenue, threatening to displace tens of thousands of Minneapolis renters. But we fought back and came together to raise millions in mutual aid and government rental assistance. The need is urgent, but these funds take time to distribute. Meanwhile, evictions are surging. The solution is simple: we must give renters more time to pay.
I want to be clear about what is at stake here: If a landlord has to wait two more weeks to receive rent, they will not go out of business. If a renter is not given two more weeks to pay rent, they lose their home. Multiply this by the thousands of impacted families, and we are at risk of seeing entire neighborhoods, businesses, and cultural corridors collapse. Immigrant and non-immigrant BIPOC people and businesses are the lifeblood of our city, bringing cultural and economic vitality that makes Minneapolis and Minnesota a special place.
The clock is ticking. Since the last time this council considered this ordinance, more families have been thrust into housing courts to plead against being evicted. Expanding our pre-eviction notice from 30 days to at least 45 days means renters gain a crucial 15 more days. 15 more days means a paycheck that families could receive, it means 15 more days of outreach to get connected to mutual aid or other assistance.
Don’t believe the misleading arguments from landlords and nonprofit affordable housing organizations. They say giving renters more time to pay interferes with their relationship with the tenant– this is simply not true. Landlords remain free to negotiate payment plans or other agreements with their tenants at any time. We’ve heard that giving renters more time to make rent will send them deeper into debt– again, the opposite is true: it gives them more time to get out of crisis. They want to evict us sooner “for our own good.” If you want to know what’s good for renters, listen to us.
The whole world is watching Minneapolis, and how we stand up for our neighbors. We deserve serious reinvestment, rebuilding, healing, and justice for those killed and taken. Today, we’re not asking for that: we’re asking for the bare minimum– 15 more days to pay our landlords. We need you to expand our pre-eviction notice from 30 days to at least 45 days.
La Lucha Sigue,
Juan Luis Rivera-Reyes