In the Committee of the Whole meeting, the Minneapolis City Council voted 7-5 to pass a temporary pre-eviction filing extension from 30 days to 45 days.

This comes after Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the first ordinance with the extension. The original ordinance had a 60-day extension; the new one is 45 days.

In an interview, Council member Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 12) said she wanted to reintroduce the bill after continued calls from residents.

“I just could not move on and just let our people to be in a place where they have to just fend for themselves when the city has an opportunity to give people now an additional 15 days, just give them the chance to get their financial affairs in order or take up the rental assistance that we have since passed as a city,” Chowdhury said. “So that’s why I brought it back. I knew that we were going to do more around rental assistance.” 

The city council and mayor have been at odds over how to help renters after Operation Metro Surge. ​Renters have been hit hard by the Surge, according to the Minnesota Daily.​

According to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, the average monthly rent debt among low-income households was 10 times higher than the monthly budget for statewide rental assistance.

In early March, the Minnesota Senate approved $40 million in rental assistance for people affected by Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, according to the Minnesota Reformer. Frey also approved $1 million in rental assistance in March. 

In a statement, Frey said the best way to help renters after Operation Metro Surge was through financial assistance.​

Council members like Chowdhury, Robin Wonsley (Ward 2) and Jamal Osman (Ward 6) support the extension, along with the rental assistance.

In an opinion piece from the Minnesota Star Tribune, non-profit housing organization CEOs like Beacon Interfaith, CommonBond Communities, Alliance Housing and more said that an extension does not help residents who are already in debt.

“Unfortunately, more time in the eviction process does not automatically equal more stability. In reality, time without money is a debt trap,” the housing organizations said in the Star Tribune column.​

Yusra Murad, a graduate student in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, said pre-eviction filings are like a “race between the landlord and the tenant.” She said an extension on pre-eviction notices would give residents enough time to access rental assistance and work with tenants.

“I have been doing rental assistance work for many years. And when any tenant who’s either had to apply for rental assistance or anybody, any social worker, any case manager, anybody who’s assisted people in that process will tell you it is an extremely labor-intensive process,” Murad said.

At the city council meeting, residents and tenant rights activists spoke in favor of the ordinance.

Resident Julie Doherty said she did not understand why the issue is controversial.  ​

“For anyone that believes that giving an extra 15 days is harmful to them, I can only assume that those people have never been evicted or never have had to try to find another apartment with an eviction on their record,” Doherty said.

Felisa Rojas, a leader for United Renters for Justice and a Minneapolis resident, said using a translator, the operation has caused her husband to lose work and possibly be detained by ICE.​

“From the very beginning of this year, we’ve been really affected,” Rojas said. “All of our community members were afraid of being evicted. We know that there is a lot of money for rent assistance, and what we need is time, so this process can take place.”

Chowdhury said she thinks the rental assistance is good and argues the city should take a “both and” approach.

“We just do not have the luxury of vetoing this time without real ramifications for community members. One of the only reasons why we haven’t seen mass evictions is because our neighbors have taken it upon themselves to raise money for rent to adopt another neighbor’s rent and just try to keep everyone in our city afloat,” Chowdhury said. “This is the very least that we could do.”

Murad said as relief continues, housing will remain a major issue for residents and elected officials.​

“I think as time goes on, we’re going to continue to see not just these isolated moments of political or economic shock, but in general, a worsening crisis that is going to put more and more renters at risk of displacement and homelessness,” Murad said.