Tenant Unions

For the past decade…

… IX has been organizing tenants across Minneapolis to win safe and dignified housing for all. In one of our recent campaigns, which began in 2020, tenants living in homes owned by a major private-equity backed firm described consistent rent increases and fees, mold, lack of communication, going weeks without heat, pest infestations, and such deplorable health-harming conditions that they had to send their children to live with relatives or friends. In 2022, Attorney General Keith Ellison sued “HavenBrook and five related companies” to protect the tenants’ right to safe and dignified housing.

Yet because of their organizing efforts to fight this wealth extraction, tenants won monetary compensation, a one-year rent freeze, repairs, the power to choose how and where to receive utilities, and the opportunity to move into renovated homes. The City of Minneapolis even passed a list of agreements that a landlord signed in order to operate in the City of Minneapolis.

In March 2024, Attorney General Keith Ellison reached a historic settlement agreement with the defendants that resulted in:

• $2.2 million in restitution for tenants who experienced delayed repairs or unlawful notice to vacate

• $2 million in debt forgiveness for former tenants of this landlord

• A plan for the sale of vacant homes to affordable housing entities

• A pathway to homeownership for current tenants

While tenants are experiencing clear successes in light of their collective efforts, we continue organizing toward a broader systemic vision of saving the village, where all tenants have a permanent say in their housing, community, neighborhood, and wellbeing. We fight to improve people’s material conditions through ongoing landlord campaigns while simultaneously fighting for policies that address the root causes of our housing crisis.