Accruing Fine Awarded to Minneapolis Tenants Union for Housing Conditions

For a group of Minneapolis renters, organizing was the leverage they needed in seeking building repairs from their landlord that included heating issues, and sanitary and safety conditions. Represented by Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, the tenants union they formed made use of a new law that allows tenants to organize in order to improve their living conditions.

After reaching an agreement for improvements last fall, the landlord failed to meet the terms of the agreement and Legal Aid filed an affidavit of noncompliance. The Court subsequently imposed fines, all payable to the Brentwood Tenants Union (BTU) with additional fines accruing until all obligations are met. The $49,500 fine may be the largest ever awarded to a tenants union in Hennepin County housing court, according to Legal Aid attorney Julia Zwak.

“Awarding a large and continuously accruing fine to BTU is vindication and affirmation that these unionization efforts and the new law supporting them are effective. The message is clear. A landlord cannot continually ignore its legal obligations under a bargained-for agreement with impunity,” said Sarah Pederson, lead attorney on the case.