The Minnesota renter’s credit/refund is a state property tax refund for tenants. This refund assists renters with the tax burden they pay directly to their landlord because of the property taxes imposed on rental housing.

Landlords were required to provide Certificate Rent Paid (CRP) forms to tenants no later than this past Tuesday, January 31, 2012. If you rented at any point in 2011 and have not received a CRP from your landlord, you should make another attempt to request the CRP form (for example, write a letter to the landlord). If the landlord fails to provide a CRP by March 1st, you can contact the Minnesota Department of Revenue to request a Rent Paid Affidavit, which will allow you to submit your information and a request for your refund. If you have questions about how to apply for the refund, call the Department of Revenue tax help line: 651-296-3781 (metro) or 1-800-652-9094 (elsewhere in Minnesota).

The renter’s credit is a constant target of cuts by the Minnesota Legislature. Last year, tenants spoke up to protect the credit renters received in August 2011, as well as to fight back cuts to the 2012 credit. Instead of seeing drastic cuts (one bill proposed to slash it by 46%!), the legislature approved a 13% reduction in the credit for refunds in 2012.  According to the Minnesota Budget Project, an estimated 297,000 Minnesota households will lose an average of $87 because of this cut, and about 7,300 Minnesota households will lose their entire credit.

Join tenants, advocates, and HOME Line to ensure the legislature protects the future of the renter’s credit by returning it to a more equitable rate. Contact Tracey (612-728-5770 x108) or Eric (612-728-5770 x119) to learn how to help.

HOME Line is now providing low-cost legal services for renters in Minneapolis. For as little as $25, renters from Minneapolis can consult in-person or over the phone with an experienced tenant landlord attorney on rental issues that affect them.

We are offering these services in response to the closing of Minneapolis Housing Services (612-673-3003) effective December 31, 2011. Ideally, we would have enough financial support to eventually serve Minneapolis with the same free services we currently offer throughout the state. HOME Line hopes to bridge some of the gap that will be created when the Housing Services shut down permanently.

In addition to legal consultations, HOME Line offers several other legal services at reduced costs to all Minneapolis renters. We hope to meet the needs of those tenants who don’t qualify for Legal Aid (612-334-5970), but also don’t have enough income to afford their own attorneys. Minneapolis renters affected by landlord foreclosure will continue to receive free legal advice by calling our hotline: 612-728-5767 (mention the foreclosure in your message).

Minneapolis renters interested in low-cost legal consultations can learn more and sign up at homelinemn.org/minneapolis or call our hotline at 612-728-5767 and listen for the Minneapolis instructions.

Beginning November 1, HOME Line is providing low-cost legal services for renters in Minneapolis. For as little as $25, renters from Minneapolis will be able to consult in-person or over the phone with an experienced tenant landlord attorney on rental issues that affect them.

This service is being offered in response to the announced closing of Minneapolis Housing Services (612-673-3003) on December 31, 2011. Ideally, we would have enough financial support to eventually serve Minneapolis with the same free services we currently offer throughout the state. HOME Line hopes to bridge some of the gap that will be created when the Housing Services shut down permanently.

HOME Line will offer legal consultations and several other legal services at reduced costs, available to all Minneapolis renters. We hope to meet the needs of those tenants who don’t qualify for Legal Aid (612-334-5970), but also don’t have enough income to afford their own attorneys. Minneapolis renters affected by landlord foreclosure will continue to receive free legal advice by calling our hotline: 612-728-5767 (mention the foreclosure in your message).

Minneapolis renters interested in low-cost legal consultations can learn more and sign up at homelinemn.org/minneapolis or call our hotline at 612-728-5767 and listen for the Minneapolis instructions.

Tenants living at Country Village Apartments in Burnsville have been putting up with their irresponsible landlord for too long.  The city recently suspended the landlords rental license, meaning no vacant units can be re-rented. HOME Line has been taking calls from renters, and have commented on the issue to the media. See recent news coverage here:

• Burnsville suspends license of problem-plagued complex
  —Katie Humphrey, Star Tribune, 10/19/11
• Burnsville apt. complex has rental license suspended
  —Dave Berggren, KARE 11, 10/20/11

If you are living at Country Village, or any other apartment owned by Lindahl Properties where conditions are bad, you have rights that protect your family in this situation. Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to sue the landlord or even withhold rent depending on the condition of your apartment unit. Please call us for free and confidential legal advice about your individual circumstances: 612-728-5767, or email an attorney here.

The following is a reprint an article in this week’s Memo to Members, a weekly publication of the National Low Income Housing Coalition:

FROM THE FIELD

University of Minnesota Statistics PhD candidate, Craig Rolling, & HOME Line staff attorney, Samuel Spaid presenting at a CURA forum.

***Minnesota Advocates Use Statistical Analysis to Quantify Tenant Protection Benefits

To better quantify the impact of its work with tenants, Minnesota’s HOME Line, an NLIHC member, partnered with the University of Minnesota for a statistical analysis of data gathered during follow-up interviews with callers to its tenant hotline. The results have given the organization substantiated evidence that its work has saved tenants millions of dollars and prevented thousands of evictions.

Since 1992, HOME Line’s hotline has offered housing counseling and legal advice on such issues as home repairs, evictions, security deposits, foreclosures, and breaking leases. In 1998, it fielded 5,000 calls; by 2008, the number grew to nearly 11,000 calls.

Given grantors’ and government’s increased desire for outcome-based reporting, HOME Line last year decided to devote significant time to estimating its impact. It partnered with the University of Minnesota for a doctoral candidate to conduct the statistical analysis. Prior to that time, HOME Line staff and volunteers conducted follow-up interviews with clients only as time and resources allowed. The data analysis incorporated estimated outcomes of those not contacted based on multiple similarities with those who were. The analysis found that HOME Line had vastly underestimated its impact.

HOME Line previously reported that its advice allowed tenants to recover $500,000 in security deposits and $740,000 in rent abatements, and prevented 2,851 evictions since 1992. The new data analysis found that this work actually resulted in the recovery of $5.4 million in security deposits, $10 million in rent abatements, and 8,700 prevented evictions. These findings were statistically significant and the total money recovered by hotline callers was estimated at $17.7 million when adjusted to 2010 dollars. The analysis also found that callers who followed HOME Line’s advice were more likely to have repair issues resolved and a larger portion of their security deposit returned.

“As advocates, we knew the importance of data collection to quantify the impact of our work,” said Michael Dahl, HOME Line’s public policy director. “Despite our limited staff time and resources, by working with the university we found a local resource capable of providing the time and expertise necessary to show how much our work matters. These findings show how much impact tenant protections have on the lives of renters and the difference those laws make when tenants are educated about their rights.”

HOME Line attorneys Mike Vraa and Matt Eichenlaub were recently featured in media stories regarding current rental housing issues that hotline callers are experiencing.  Learn more about landlord foreclosures and bedbug infestations, and how renters can respond to each:

Bedbugs are expensive to exterminate; some can’t afford it
—Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, 9/3/10

Out on the Street Because of Landlord Foreclosure? Not Necessarily…
—Sharon Rolenc, Public News Service, 8/12/10

HOME Line’s free services are occasionally featured in the news. Read more about HOME Line in the news.