At left, Renters pick up trash trash at one of the Brentwood buildings. At right, mice are a problem in some buildings. (Image: Brentwood Tenants Union)
In January, Laura Mattson, a 40-year resident of 110 W. Grant St. in Loring Park, had to stay in a hotel for multiple days because there was no heat in her building.
“And because I’m disabled, I have to have a special setup for my bath, which wasn’t available at the hotel,” she said. “I couldn’t bathe while I was there.” Now, she’s experiencing persistent mice in her unit.
“I just hope the mice don’t drive me out.”
Mattson is not alone. In March, Ward 7 Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer held a meeting in Loring Park about renters’ rights. Renters from several other large apartment buildings came and shared their stories, as well as solutions that have worked, albeit slowly.
The Hill & Lake Press interviewed current and former renters from 110 W. Grant St. and 1314 Marquette Ave. (Marquette Place), owned by Fine Associates; 215 Oak Grove St., owned by Samir Properties; 117-127 W. Grant St. (The Brentwood), owned by Quadrel Realty; and 1501 LaSalle Ave. (The Parkway), owned by Lion Rock.
These buildings have received multiple violations between 2024 and 2026. While some appear to be nonurgent, such as “remove rubbish or tree parts,” a significant number concern utility outages, safety and security concerns, hazardous conditions or categories such as “Life Safety,” which includes nonoperational smoke detectors. (See Table 1 for the number of violations for each building.)
How the City Rates Rentals
The Regulatory Services division of the City of Minneapolis groups rental buildings into three tiers according to a score based on 15 elements, including the age of the building, the number of violations issued by Regulatory Services and conduct on the premises (“qualifying incidents of disorderly conduct of tenants or their guests that adversely impacts neighbors”).
Tier 1 buildings have low scores and undergo rental inspections every eight years. Tier 2 buildings, with higher scores, must undergo inspections every five years. Tier 3 buildings must undergo rental inspections every year.
Beginning in January 2027, property owners of Tier 3 buildings will have to go before the City Council to ensure renewal of their licenses.
A building’s tier and violation history are publicly available online at https://tableau.minneapolismn.gov/views/OpenDataRegulatoryServices-Violations/PropertySearch.
From Complaint to Citation
Enrique Velázquez, director of Regulatory Services for the City of Minneapolis, walked the Hill & Lake Press through the steps of a renter complaint.
The first step is to contact the property owner and inform them of the issue. If the issue is not addressed, renters should contact 311. Regulatory Services will come to the property and inspect the problem to measure its extent and how many units are affected.
“If we issue an order to condemn, all the residents of that building will be displaced.”
If the property is not up to code, a violation is given, as well as an order to correct. The city also reaches out to the property owner either in person or over the phone. Regulatory Services then revisits the property to ensure that the changes have been made. If not, a citation is given and a fine can be issued.
In the case of severe issues, such as no hot water, which happened to renter Callie Tovar at 1501 LaSalle Ave. this summer, a building can also be condemned, or the city can authorize repairs and charge them back to the property owner.
Velázquez said, “If we issue an order to condemn, all the residents of that building will be displaced. So it’s a decision we make very carefully.”
The boiler at Tovar’s building was replaced before condemnation, and the building currently has no outstanding violations.
Concern about displacement is also why the city has not turned off the water at 110 W. Grant St., despite the building having a past-due water bill of $363,641.61 as of press deadline. The city is adding the overdue water bills to the property assessment later this year.
“When I heard about the overdue water bills, that’s when I decided to leave,” said Mike Griffin, a former resident of both 110 W. Grant St. and 1314 Marquette Ave. “I thought, ‘They’re going to condemn the building.’”
In 2025, Griffin moved to a newer apartment building downtown, not in Loring Park.
“The buildings in Loring Park are older,” Griffin said. “That’s what gives the neighborhood its charm. I love old buildings! But the property owners need to proactively invest into maintenance.”
What Renters Can Do
Despite a highly regulated rental industry, Minneapolis renters say that Regulatory Services cannot capture all issues. What happens if a property owner chooses not to remedy a citation, or is unable to?
For emergencies such as broken utilities or flooding, renters can file an Emergency Tenant Remedy Action, an expedited court process, if essential services fail.
One additional measure at renters’ disposal is the formation of a tenants association. Both 110 W. Grant St. and 1314 Marquette Ave., as well as the Brentwood, have tenant associations.
Like professional unions, tenant associations can advocate for stronger protections and decrease concerns of retaliation. They also help renters deal with issues by sharing ideas and creating community.
Emery Brush, chair of the Brentwood Tenants Union, says that the association has taken its property owner to court and won. However, tenants still face many unaddressed issues (see Table 1).
Brush estimates he spends 15 to 20 unpaid hours a month doing tenant union work, such as letting other tenants know their rights, communicating with lawyers and designing flyers.
A challenge for tenant unions is that many renters prefer to move rather than stay and hope for better outcomes. Brush has lived at the Brentwood since 2023, making him one of its longest-tenured renters. He works at Helix Health and Housing Services.
“I’ve passed along things I’ve learned with our tenant union to my clients at Helix,” he says.
In spite of the challenges, the Brentwood Tenants Union creates community by hosting cookouts, cleaning up trash and helping keep each other safe.
“Our property owner is supposed to shovel the sidewalk, but that hasn’t been happening,” said Brush. “At some point, we started doing it, just to make sure people don’t slip and fall.”
Brush says the nearby Lotus Restaurant has noticed the tenant association’s neighborhood engagement and has given members free food.
Despite what seems like an increase in the number of tenant associations, Velázquez says the city is not seeing an uptick in the number of violations in rental units. However, according to the Sahan Journal, HOME Line, a legal aid organization for renters, says the number of tenants asking for its services is increasing.
A Council Member Looks for Solutions
For Council Member Shaffer, whose ward covers all the buildings in this story, the problem is multifaceted.
“This is one of my office’s main constituent issues,” she told the Hill & Lake Press. “The city can provide enforcement with Regulatory Services, and my office can provide resources to renters. As a city, we can’t work on the legal side of things, but we have been connecting renters with HOME Line and the Housing Justice Center, organizations which can focus on legal matters.”
Shaffer said she will host a meeting to connect the various stakeholders: renters, Regulatory Services, HOME Line, the Housing Justice Center and the state attorney general’s office.
“The AG’s office can place a building in receivership, for example,” Shaffer said, noting that the Heritage Park apartments in Ward 5 are currently in receivership. “We will also be seeking out legislative ideas, be they city or state, around how to support this process better.”
Rising Costs for Owners
Shaffer also noted potential issues for property owners.
“We’ve seen increased costs for all property owners across Minneapolis,” she said. “Whether that’s single-family homes or multi-unit dwellings, property taxes continue increasing significantly. Insurance rates continue to skyrocket, not to mention the inflationary costs of maintenance, how much it costs nowadays to get things fixed on your property.”
She added: “Oftentimes, property owners will pass along these increases to renters. So if there’s a problem in providing affordable housing in the city, we need to be really focused on helping create solutions.”
A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that for multifamily rental housing in Minnesota and neighboring states, property insurance on average more than doubled from 2021 to 2024.
One respondent quoted in the study said, “We estimate that over 50% of our overall operating expense inflation since 2020 can be explained by property insurance premium increases.”
Furthermore, property taxes have increased substantially for multifamily apartment buildings as the Minneapolis and Hennepin County tax levies have risen faster than the rate of inflation every year since 2020, except for the Hennepin County levies in 2021 and 2022.
This, paired with a falling commercial tax base in Minneapolis, means both homeowners and multifamily residential buildings are picking up a larger percentage of the city tax levy.
Owners did not respond.
The Hill & Lake Press reached out to the owners and managers of the buildings for comment, to no avail.
In addition to contacting all owners by phone, email, or both, this reporter visited the 110 W. Grant St. building, where she was referred to the company’s corporate headquarters in the IDS Center. At the IDS, building security made a phone call and said they were confused, as there was no Fine Associates there.
For Lion Rock, in addition to making phone calls, this reporter first went to the company’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis Park. There she was referred to the on-site building managers.
She asked if the receptionist at the headquarters could call the building manager to ensure that someone was present. “We don’t have their phone number,” she was told.
This reporter then went to 1501 LaSalle Ave. and waited outside for 10 minutes until a maintenance worker told her the property management office was across the street at 1500 LaSalle Ave. When she got there, a sign said, “Out of Property - Be back shortly.”
As it was a Friday afternoon, she asked the maintenance worker if he thought the management team would be back that day.
“No,” he replied.
Where to Turn
Shaffer says that her office is hearing more about renter issues in Loring Park and less in the Hill & Lake area of Ward 7.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening elsewhere,” she cautioned. “We want renters from all parts of the ward to know to reach out to 311. That provides a trail. And, we want to help them. So please call the Ward 7 office as well.”
All renters interviewed said they loved living in downtown Minneapolis, many in Loring Park specifically, because of its proximity to amenities, neighborhood charm and ample affordable housing.
“I love living in downtown Minneapolis,” Mattson said. “It has issues, but everywhere has issues. I feel safe, and I love the community.”
She paused for a moment. “I just hope the mice don’t drive me out.”
Paula Chesley writes for the Hill & Lake Press. She lives in East Isles.
Thumbnail image of Loring Park courtesy Hennepin County Library.
