Tenant Protections Ordinance 20-14

Sustain Saint Paul Board

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Sustain Saint Paul continues to promote the tenant protections. This issue is more important than ever to help rebuild our community. Feel free to use this template to send additional letters to your council members.

City Council contact information

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Original post: April 20, 2020

On May 20, 2020 the Saint Paul City Council will hold its official “public hearing” on Ordinance 20-14 “The Tenant Protections Ordinance” which creates a chapter of rights for renters in the City of Saint Paul.

Please contact your Saint Paul City Council Member in support of this ordinance. We’ve compiled the following resources below to help you.

The ordinance creates 5 Key Policies:

Just cause notice

Just cause notice seeks to minimize “informal evictions” that happen outside the courts by requiring landlords to provide cause from a list of legally recognized reasons for not renewing a lease.

Screening criteria reform and standardization

The ordinance sets clear screening guidelines related to criminal, rental, and credit history to expand access to housing and combat discrimination.

Security deposit cap

In our extreme markets we’ve seen security deposits increase (sometimes up to 3 times first month rent). The ordinance would cap security deposits at one month’s rent as defined by Minnesota Statutes

Advance notice of sales

Makes renters and possible preservation buyers aware earlier in the process of plans to sell buildings that provide naturally affordable housing, giving renters valuable time to prepare for and find new housing if a sale results in them facing unaffordable rent increases; it also provides renters protections from rent increases for a 3 month time period following the sale of their building which would entitle them to relocation benefit

Tenants rights and responsibilities

Saint Paul will establish an easy-to-use guide provided by the city that can be distributed to every renter and publicly posted in common areas of multi-unit buildings to inform tenants of their rights under the law and resources that exist to support those rights

WRITE YOUR LETTER

The !! MOST IMPORTANT THING !! you can do at this point is contact your City Council Member either by phone, email, or letter.

City Council Contact Information
Ward 1 – Dai Thao ph 651-266-8610 WARD1@CI.STPAUL.MN.US
Ward 2 – Rebecca Noecker ph 651-266-8620 WARD2@CI.STPAUL.MN.US
Ward 3 – Chris Tolbert ph 651-266-8630 WARD3@CI.STPAUL.MN.US
Ward 4 – Mitra Jalali ph 651-266-8640 WARD4@CI.STPAUL.MN.US
Ward 5 – Amy Brendmoen ph 651-266-8650 WARD5@CI.STPAUL.MN.US
Ward 6 – Nelsie Yang ph 651-266-8660 WARD6@CI.STPAUL.MN.US
Ward 7 –  Jane Prince ph 651-266-8670 WARD7@CI.STPAUL.MN.US

Contact-Council@ci.stpaul.mn.us – for sending to all 7 offices at once; specify which Ward you are a constituent of, and this will also get entered into the public record

You can find links to (2) prepared sample letters below to help you craft your own:

Sample Letter 1
Sample Letter 2

Links to Additional Materials

Below are some other helpful links including a link to the full video of our training session.

Ordinance 20-14 “Tenant Protections” – Link to Current Ordinance Language

Myth-busting and overview one-pager on policy from The Alliance – 
http://thealliancetc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Myths-re-tenant-protections.pdf

Why St. Paul Needs S.A.F.E. Housing Tenant Protections Now – 
https://medium.com/@Ward4STP/why-st-paul-needs-s-a-f-e-housing-tenant-protections-now-895930c62618
 West Side Community Organization Podcast on Tenant Protections – 
https://anchor.fm/west-side-community-organization/episodes/Ep–1–Safe-Housing-Tenant-Protection-ebjoo1