A coalition of unions in Minnesota is calling for a rent strike on March 1 as many people are asking Gov. Tim Walz to enact an eviction moratorium.
The call is in response to the recent federal surge in the state spreading fear among many who are afraid to leave their homes, making them unable to work.
The last time an eviction moratorium went into effect was March 23, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brian Niemczyk, a land-lord tenant attorney with Hellmuth and Johnson Law, said that not only does Gov. Walz have to declare a peace-time emergency to execute a moratorium, but it also doesn’t free renters from the possibility of eviction.
“It lasts only as long as it lasts, and after it’s over, any debt that has accrued during the period that the moratorium was in place remains,” Niemczyk said. “If it went like it did in the COVID era, at the end of the moratorium, there was a sudden influx of evictions.”
Niemczyk also said that comparing 2020 to now, there was much more federal money in the form of COVID relief, helping people pay their bills and alleviating some of economic burden for renters and landlords alike. Nowadays, that money isn’t coming into the state.
Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.
