Rent Moratorium ... because of ICE?

Minnesota lawmakers are trying to revive the COVID-era eviction moratorium to help illegal immigrants who are too scared of ICE to leave their homes.

Several city and county councils have now officially requested Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to declare an eviction moratorium in the state. While a letter from Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley made the rounds on X lsst Thursday, Minneapolis, Roseville, St Paul, and St Louis Park councilmembers have all put in their requests.

Of all of them, the St Louis Park Mayor has the most audacity. Somali-born Mayor Nadia Mohamed posted a video on social media, using her mother as a prop, to urge her people to contact Gov. Walz’s office. Considering all the Somali-run fraud recently uncovered in Minnesota, the response on X has been about what you might expect.

The first resolution calling for a statewide eviction moratorium originated in Minneapolis. The effort there has been spearheaded by council member Robin Wonsley. Ms. Wonsley is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. The Twin Cities DSA is currently leading a push to get other areas of Minnesota, such as Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Little Canada, to sign on to the idea.

The DSA has been pushing for the end of evictions for years. Their ultimate goal is to convert all housing into state-owned public housing. They seized the opportunity to gain a foothold during the COVID lockdowns.

The DSA had a setback when SCOTUS ruled that the CDC had overstepped their authority and ended the COVID-era federal eviction moratorium in 2021. However, that hasn’t stopped them from trying to get it done at the state and local levels. They even tried to use the recent winter storm on the East Coast to force an eviction moratorium in Richmond, VA. (And no, the SCOTUS ruling does not prevent states from enacting a moratorium if they want to.) Right now, the DSA sees the unrest in Minnesota as a perfect opportunity to advance its goals for socialized housing.

Other organizations have joined what they think is a compassionate movement. Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, which usually focuses on police reform, People’s Action Coalition Against Trump, and MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee have come together to organize one of many protests on the matter.

With all this fuss, it would be good to look back at the COVID-era moratoriums and see how those affected life going forward. According to JPMorganChase, the only reason more landlords didn’t go under was because the federal government handed out money right and left. A UNC study found that the number of landlords reporting they could not collect more than 50% of the rent quintupled during the federal moratorium, with small (1-5 units) and mid-size (6-19 units) landlords hardest hit.

Just last June, a federal appeals court ruled that landlords who lost money due to the federal eviction moratorium in 2020 had the right to sue the United States for damages. Washington State and several of its major cities are currently facing a lawsuit over the same issue.

The COVID-era eviction moratorium has also had some small ripple effects on today’s housing markets. Investors, who are needed to build more housing, are now scared. They can invest in developments only if they are confident they will recoup their investment. Eviction moratoriums and the twin sister policy of rent control, which many locales enacted after the COVID moratoriums ended to prevent rents from skyrocketing, make real estate investors very nervous. Many small landlords simply sold off their properties, leaving the market. Those that remain have generally implemented stricter screening processes, making it harder for lower-income individuals to qualify.

The question is: will Tim Walz do what is best for the state and resist pressure, or will he cave and enact a moratorium, leaving a mess for the next governor to clean up?

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Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative currently stuck in a very blue state.