Seeds of Hope
The housing crisis in Minneapolis…
… has led to landlords exploiting workers, immigrants, and people of color with increasing rents and fees. In 2022, tenant leaders from past IX initiatives joined together, raised their voices, and organized to create Semillas de Esperanza, or “Seeds of Hope.”
Semillas initiative educates tenants on how to lead and organize within their buildings. Tenants have changed the collective conversation about what it means to rent within and outside Minneapolis. They’ve created a joint vision where Minneapolis is a pro-tenant city with a safe and accessible housing system. They testify, engage in electoral work, connect with the press, and collaboratively create pro-tenant policies. Most importantly, by learning about their rights, members of the initiative transform their vision and understanding of what it means to be a tenant.
Through Semillas, IX fights for policies that improve the lives of renters in Minneapolis, such as:
Rent stabilization
Thousands of renters in Minneapolis cannot afford their current rent, yet every single year, landlords hike up rent in order to maximize the profit they can make on our homes. They demand monthly rent that is often at least a third, if not half, of our income, removing families from their homes and taking the power from families to have quality, affordable housing.
Rent stabilization is is a critical policy that is deeply important to our members. In 2021, IX formed a coalition of organizations and unions representing thousands of Minneapolis residents across race, income and zip code who support a rent stabilization policy in Minneapolis. In 2023, landlord lobbyists and corporate interests used their power and money to stall a strong rent stabilization policy, but we know the fight is far from over.
There is a common perception that rent stabilization policies lead to less development of affordable housing. However, in situations where housing developers have too much power in a housing market, which is the case now, rent stabilization can actually lead to them building more housing. We know that rent stabilization keeps people and families in their homes. It is not the only policy that will solve our housing crisis, but it is a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Tenant protections
IX strongly supports tenant protections such as…
Tenant right to counsel. Legal representation for renters who receive eviction filings keeps families and people in their homes, and protects communities against the long-term health and financial harms of eviction.
Tenant right to organize. All renters have the right to ORGANIZE! These rights must cover the following activities, and more: distributing information among the tenants of a building, contacting and building connections with tenants and neighbors, and hosting tenant meetings in the building about organizing around a shared set of demands.
Just cause eviction. Just cause eviction laws protect tenants from eviction or termination of lease by the landlord when the tenant has not violated their lease or the law.
Tenant opportunity to purchase. When the landlord chooses to sell a building, the renters of that building should have the first right to buy!
… and many more.
Locally-owned housing
IX is fighting for locally-owned housing that centers on the values of:
1. Housing for People, Not for Profit
2. Permanent affordability
3. Universal accessibility
4. Democratic control
5. Equitable & Anti-Racist
Social housing is a public option for housing that is permanently affordable, protected from the private market, and publicly owned or under democratic governance by the tenants. Social housing is housing that is financed by the state (from the national to local level), and deeply affordable for low and middle income individuals and families regardless of citizenship status. The design, production, and management of social housing must be led by community members and tenants who will live in the housing.
We believe that Hennepin County has an obligation to play its part in addressing the housing crisis here in Minnesota, and that starts with using public resources to provide permanently affordable housing, where costs are capped at 30% of income, regardless of income. In addition to the expansion of public housing, which is a program managed by the U.S. federal government, we believe that the state of Minnesota should provide funding for local governments like Hennepin County to purchase, maintain and own housing for the people.