Proposed right-to-repair law pits tenants against landlords in a new way

DULUTH – Renters in Duluth living with a broken window lock, leaky faucet or clogged drain could hire professionals to make small repairs and then charge their landlords under a proposed ordinance on the ballot next week.

The first renters rights law of its kind in Minnesota would allow renters to bypass municipal red tape and initiate small fixes themselves at the expense of landlords.

The issue has been especially contentious here, pitting landlords and tenants against one another in a city with an outsized housing shortage and mature housing stock. Half of the homes in Duluth were built before 1940, and 40% of the properties are rentals.

For months, a citizen group backed by a political advocacy nonprofit and some state lawmakers knocked on doors to gather thousands of signatures to bring the right-to-repair ordinance to a vote. The group has faced opposition from several city councilors, the Duluth Chamber of Commerce, landlords and a local real estate association.

The citizen group, Duluth Tenants, argues that existing local and state renter protections often result in lengthy wait times for repairs, drawn-out court battles or issues that simply never get fixed. Opponents warn that the proposed ordinance is poorly drawn and will put those who use it in legal peril and discourage landlords from offering properties to rent.

The ordinance would require renters to provide written notice to a landlord that a “common” repair is needed, with the cost deducted from rent if it’s not scheduled or corrected within two weeks. After that, the tenant could hire a licensed contractor. It says the reimbursement cost can’t exceed a half-month’s rent or $500, whichever is greater.

The potential for legal liability is unclear because few such laws exist across the country, said Edward Goetz, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Claims of harm to renters and landlords are often touted in places where rent control and certain eviction protections are being considered, said Goetz, who specializes in housing and local community development planning and policy.

The City Council passed two new renters rights ordinances — one with higher landlord fines — this summer in hopes of stopping the effort of the Duluth Tenants, which is working with St. Paul-based TakeAction Minnesota.

Duluth Tenants maintain that one of the council’s ordinances gives landlords too much time to delay repairs and that landlords often ignore complaints even when city inspectors direct them to make fixes.

Some councilors have said the ballot question exposes renters to legal trouble if a repair they hire out becomes more expensive. They also argue it’s the role of the council to enact local legislation. If practical changes would need to be made to a voter-approved ordinance, the council could not make those changes without another petition and election.

Jill Keppers is executive director of Duluth’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority, which offers more than 1,200 subsidized rentals throughout the city.

Her organization responds to complaints, she said, but she’s worried about smaller landlords for whom no exceptions exist for what she thinks is a small window to schedule or make a repair, especially considering how hard it is to hire local contractors quickly.

Peter LaCourse, an attorney for the Duluth-based nonprofit law firm Justice North, said he would not be concerned about his clients’ legal burden if they hired a contractor under the proposed ordinance. If a repair might exceed $500, he would advise them to begin the typical court process.

But court can be tough for people with little income or who have difficulty taking off work, LaCourse said. Often, for small repairs, it’s not worth their or an attorney’s time, he said, and that’s why some cases fall through the cracks.

Sam Weston sees himself as a good example of why the right-to-repair law is necessary. He lives on a month-to-month lease in a Duluth mansion that has been divided into apartments. He’s dealt with broken window panes, mold, a leaky shower and ceiling and a misfiring stove. His landlord would address some things after repeated complaints, but not all, Weston said. He finally took the landlord to court, where a settlement was reached after a lengthy process.

The relationship became adversarial, he said, with the landlord intimidating him and other renters with “fake” eviction notices that hinted he wanted them to move out without using the word “eviction.”

Last summer, the city reported that it had received about 50 rental complaints since 2023.

Home Line, a Bloomington-based nonprofit that offers free legal aid to renters, says it advised more than 300 Duluthians last year and nearly 300 so far this year. The biggest issue has been repairs, mirroring what the organization sees statewide.

Eviction cases started by landlords are far more prevalent in Minnesota than tenant-initiated repair cases, said Eric Hauge, co-executive director of Home Line.

“There is this belief that the sky is going to fall if tenants are provided additional rights,” Hauge said, but he added that he sees it more as an attempt to “equalize the playing field” in a relationship with a baked-in power imbalance.

He said the proposed ordinance is the first of its kind in Minnesota. An obscure St. Paul ordinance and a state law have right-to-repair provisions more limited in scope, related to emergency furnace repair and utilities, respectively.