Minneapolis and Front Yard Residential have agreed to a protracted list of conditions the corporate landlord of single-family homes must abide by in return for continuing to lease in the city.

The conditions include a temporary moratorium on acquiring more properties, attending a remedial landlord workshop, cooperating with housing code inspections, and hiring properly certified professionals to perform maintenance in a timely manner or pay relocation assistance to renters as a consequence.

Front Yard Residential (FYR) also has to pay the city $5,000 and is prohibited from retaliating against any tenants as a result of the agreement.

"Property management for these rental properties has not consistently met minimal housing standards," according to a city of Minneapolis statement. "FYR voluntarily entered into the conditions agreement ... to provide a prescriptive approach to solving issues specified. Overall the majority of properties within the rental license portfolio meet minimum housing code requirements."

Front Yard Residential is owned by the New York investment management firm Pretium Partners and has 223 Minneapolis houses in its portfolio — 13 of of which are vacant. It is better known by its public-facing management company, HavenBrook Homes.

Most of Front Yard's Minneapolis homes are located on the north side of the city, in step with the post-recession push by several Wall Street hedge funds to acquire foreclosed homes in economically stressed neighborhoods throughout the nation and operate them as rentals. In recent years, local tenant rights organizations have pushed for stronger government regulation of HavenBrook Homes and their documented problems with deferred maintenance, hidden fees and hard-to-reach representatives.

"We celebrate today's major win and thank all the tenants who organized to get these agreements passed," according to a statement from United Renters for Justice. "As long as the City of Minneapolis upholds these agreements, tenants are expected to see major improvements in their lives."

The city began portfolio-wide inspections of Front Yard Residential properties several years ago and completed them at the end of 2022. Violations were found nearly 58% of the time.

Between June 2021 and September 2022, the city took HavenBrook Homes' manager Scott Beck to court nine times for housing violations that had not been fixed. Each of the cases that rose to the level of legal action pertained to homes located in north Minneapolis between the Camden, Folwell and Hawthorne neighborhoods.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued HavenBrook last spring, citing homes with backed-up sewers, doors that didn't close, mold and wild animals.

"The City Council's approval this week marks the culmination of several months of collaboration to clarify and update our operations in Minneapolis," according to a statement from Front Yard Residential. "We look forward to continuing to partner with our residents, the City, and the broader Minneapolis community to provide affordable, quality housing options for families."