Eleven weeks after the May 22 tornado ripped through north Minneapolis, the phone at Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis rings twice a day, on average, with someone affected by the storm calling for help.
Often, the one picking up the phone is Drew Schaffer, recently appointed tornado response coordinator. He and other volunteer lawyers at Legal Aid and another Minneapolis group are doing pro bono work for 145 tornado victims in the low-income area.
To Schaffer, the volume of calls understates the level of need in the community, based on the kinds of landlord-tenant problems that have cropped up since the tornado. He has heard of landlords not returning security deposits after residents have left uninhabitable homes, delaying repairs and threatening eviction of tenants who refuse to pay back rent for time when their unit was uninhabitable.
The Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, which provides free civil legal services to low-income and senior residents of Hennepin County, received a $10,000 grant after the tornado from the Foundation for Children of the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi and the Minneapolis Foundation for recovery assistance work.
Legal Aid is working closely with the Volunteer Lawyers Network, a legal services provider for low-income people that's helping homeowners with insurance problems.
Kyle Fogt, a Faegre & Benson lawyer who volunteers through the network, said one client, Tifini Monegan, has not received her security deposit from her ex-landlord after the property was condemned. City law requires the return of a security deposit or an explanation for why it is not returned within five days of a tenant providing a forwarding address.
Monegan, 27, stayed in her three-bedroom home with two children as the electricity went out for five days. Feces leaked into the basement from the bathroom for two weeks after the tornado. She was afraid to move to a homeless shelter for fear of not being able to find other housing.
After the house was condemned, Monegan was forced to move to transitional housing. With Fogt's help, she sued her landlord in conciliation court. Her hearing, set for October, seeks $3,175 to recover her deposit, punitive damages and rent overpayment.