New Landlord Begins Gentrification Campaign In 625-Unit Minneapolis-Area Apartment Complex By Giving Low-Income Tenants The Boot; Renters Respond w/ Fair Housing Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Disparate Impact On Renters Based On Race, Disability, Familial Status, Nat'l Origin

In Richlfield, Minnesota, the Sun Current reports:

• Current and former tenants of Concierge Apartments in Richfield filed a class action lawsuit Feb. 1 alleging discrimination following the sale of the complex, formerly known as Crossroads at Penn.
  
  The suit, filed against Soderberg Apartment Specialists and MSP Crossroads Apartments LLC, names 35 plaintiffs who allege that Soderberg, the Brooklyn Park company that partnered with a Milwaukee investment firm to make the purchase in September, engaged in housing discrimination when instituting new policies. The rule changes meant a significant portion of residents would have to move out of the 698-unit complex.
  
  Concierge is undergoing a massive renovation project in which all the units are being remodeled while further amenities are added. The move toward a more upscale market position comes with rent increases in addition to the policy changes.
  
  The complex, consisting almost elusively of one-bedroom units, no longer allows more than two people per bedroom, meaning families with children must move. Also, the new management is no longer accepting Section 8 vouchers – there had been 35 vouchers being used at the complex before the transaction. Furthermore, Soderberg’s policy for another housing program, Group Residential Assistance, is becoming more strict, the plaintiffs add.
  
  When contacted by the Sun Current, Soderberg did not immediately provide a response to the lawsuit’s assertions.
  
  Of the residents who must find new housing, the plaintiffs estimate 130 relied on Section 8 or GRH. They add that since the sale, nearly 160 households have likely moved out. New policies such as social security number requirements and a prerequisite credit score of 625 contribute further to the displacement, the plaintiffs continue.
  
  Those plaintiffs are joined in the suit by statewide tenant advocacy group HOME Line, and are represented by the St. Paul-based Housing Justice Center.(1) The groups contend that the affected Concierge tenants belong to federal protected classes based on race, disability, familial status and national origin.
  
  “Just because we’re low-income does not mean we do not have human rights,” said Aurora Saenz, a former Concierge resident who said she moved out due to the new occupancy standards regarding families with children. “We may not be millionaires but we cared for our homes.”
  
  Tim Thompson, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, explained the goal of the suit.
  
  “The lawsuit seeks to stop and roll back the series of actions by the owner driving out current tenants, Thompson said.” This could include the exorbitant rent increases, the overly restrictive admission requirements and the refusal to participate in programs essential to low income and disabled tenants.”
  
  The impact goes beyond the tenants named in the suit, according to Eric Hauge, an organizer at HOME Line.
  
  “This is perhaps the largest source of unsubsidized affordable rental housing in the Twin Cities region,” Hauge said.
  
  “Its loss would be a tremendous blow to the region’s collective efforts to narrow the huge gap between demand and supply for affordable housing, and will exacerbate harmful gentrification trends if left unchallenged.”

Source: Apartment tenants file class action lawsuit after displacement in Richfield.

See also, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Upmarket changes at Richfield complex spark federal lawsuit (Owners of Richfield complex pushed out low-income residents, federal case alleges).

For the lawsuit, see Crossroads Residences Organized for Stable and Secure ResiDencieS, et al. v. MSP Crossroads Aparments LLC, et ano.

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(1) HOME Line is a nonprofit Minnesota tenant advocacy organization that provides free and low-cost legal, organizing, education, and advocacy services so that tenants throughout Minnesota.

The Housing Justice Center (HJC, formerly known as the Housing Preservation Project, or HPP) is a St.Paul, Minnesota-based nonprofit public interest advocacy and legal organization whose primary mission is to preserve and expand affordable housing for low income individuals and families in Minnseota.

HJC seeks to prevent the loss of affordable rental housing by conversion to market rate, demolition, foreclosure, and other causes.