Minneapolis Landlords Must Allow Section 8

If you’re a housing provider in Minneapolis who prefers not to accept Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, you’re out of luck.

Last week the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled against landlords who felt the city’s requirement to not reject a tenant applicant discriminate based solely on their participation in the assistance program forced landlords to rent to tenants they would normally exclude. In addition, the Section 8 mandatory initial one-year lease terms, property inspections, and hurdles to ending the tenancy were akin to a physical invasion of the owner’s property.

According to an article in Finance and Commerce, the plaintiffs, Fletcher Properties, believed forcing housing providers to accept Section 8 vouchers resulted in a small segment of landlords being forced to help carry the governments affordable housing burden.

In essence, the court ruled the city’s ordinance did prohibit a housing provider from leasing their property to other applicants, so it did not constitute a taking.

The Housing Choice Voucher program requires tenants to pay 30% of their income toward market rate rent, with the balance paid by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.