Stop the Elliot Twins RAD Evictions!
Defend Glendale and Public Housing Coalition (DG&PHC) recently received a leaked copy of the Elliot Twins’s RAD Eviction Plan (http://tinyurl.com/MPHA-Eviction-Plan) that MPHA calls “Elliot Twins’ (Project Site) Resident Relocation Plan” for the planned Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) privatization and conversion that will transfer ownership of the buildings from the public to private developers. To call this a relocation plan is absurd. This is not a plan. It is a plot to evict residents and place them in the streets. In this eviction plan for RAD conversion, MPHA outlines clearly step by step how they will evict the vulnerable, disabled and seniors/elderly residents of Elliot Twins.
Contact your elected officials and tell them this eviction plan is unacceptable and dangerous! You can find a list of contact information at the bottom of this email. Tell our elected officials including your Congress representative to pause this RAD application until Congress investigates. MPHA is asking residents to move in with friends and family when they evict them out of Elliot Twins.
For DG&PHC’s full analysis of MPHA’s eviction plan please see: http://mphas-rad-eviction-plan-for-elliot-twins-leaked
Also see this video: https://youtu.be/SsnvwEbQ66s where Mary Boler, one of the directors of MPHA, lies to residents by saying they will not have to move out of Elliot Twins during the RAD conversion and that residents will be moved within the two buildings. Yet, MPHA’s RAD Eviction Plan will force residents out.
MPHA’s Eviction “Options” that is outlined in their plan:
Eviction Option 1 (page 7): Residents may temporarily relocate to a “hotel unit” within Elliot Twins during construction.
- This option is a lie. If MPHA had enough units for residents to move into temporarily they would not need six other eviction options. Residents will simply be forced to choose one of the other “options” which directly lead to homelessness. MPHA is giving everyone 90-day notice from November 2019 to January 2020 to move all at one time according to another leaked timeline: http://tinyurl.com/Eviction-Timeline.
Eviction Option 2 (page 7): Residents may “Temporarily relocate to a friend or family’s home during construction.”
- Having no choice but to live at a friend or family’s house is homelessness. This is direct evidence that RAD causes homelessness and is an absolutely unacceptable “option.”
Eviction Option 3 (pages 7 to 8): Residents may “permanently relocate to a fully renovated unit at Elliot Twins Project Site.”
- MPHA says they will “seek to accommodate residents with this preference to the maximum extent feasible,” meaning there is no guarantee that this option is even possible.
- This option is predicated on there being fully renovated units available for the resident to move into, due to construction timing and other residents moving back in this option seems false and may only be possible if other residents are permanently evicted.
- Nowhere in their plan does MPHA mention residents have guaranteed rights to return to Elliot Twins which is what they have been preaching for the last year and a half to sell RAD plans to the public and politicians.
Eviction Option 4 (page 8): Residents may “temporarily relocate to another MPHA project during construction, and return to Elliot Twins Project Site after construction is complete.”
- MPHA themselves admit that this option may not be available, which puts residents at risk of being homeless. This “option” is not an option at all.
Eviction Option 5 (page 9): Residents may “permanently relocate to another MPHA project during construction.”
- MPHA says they will make this option available to the“greatest extent feasible.” As in Option 4, this means this is not a guaranteed option and therefore, is not an option at all. Further, MPHA says some residents may be evicted a second time when the public housing building residents move to undergoes future RAD privatization.
Eviction Option 6 (pages 9 to 10): Residents may “temporarily relocate off-site using an MPHA-issued federal housing choice “mobile” voucher or project-based (“in place”) Section 8 voucher during construction, with the option of returning to Project Site after the construction is complete.”
- Section 8 vouchers lead directly to homelessness, see DG&PHC’s prior research here: https://www.dgphc.org/2018/07/26/sahroonis-story-about-the-section-8-system/ and read our analysis of MPHA’s RAD eviction plan (https://tinyurl.com/Eviction-Plan-Full-Analysis). Section 8 vouchers have failed to provide stable, income-based affordable housing for residents. MPHA is placing elders and disabled residents into a broken system where they will struggle, and likely be unable, to obtain housing.
Eviction Option 7 (pages 10 to 11): Residents may “Permanently relocate using an MPHA-issued federal housing choice “mobile” voucher or project-based “in place” Section 8 voucher during construction, and remain within that program after Project Site’s construction is complete.”
- This will not work for the same reasons as Option 6, and also, this option requires residents to permanently move away from Elliot Twins. It is therefore not an option for residents who do not want to leave Elliot Twins.
- Page 12 also acknowledges that residents using Section 8 vouchers may have to pay utilities at their new site, which is a rent increase for residents that those on limited incomes cannot afford. This means that in the unlikely event that a resident is able to attain Section 8 housing they will face eviction again when they are unable to pay the increased utilities.
Additional problems with MPHA’s eviction plan:
- Residents can expect to face multiple evictions from Section 8 housing, which will be a severe burden on them, especially the elderly and/or disabled. (page 12)
- MPHA will offer residents a replacement unit at Elliot Twins after construction, but it is not clear what will happen if the resident finds the replacement unit unacceptable. They will not be able to move back. (page 16)
- MPHA admits that some residents will be forced to move over 50 miles away from Elliot Twins, which is not what they claimed previously when they said residents could stay in their building or neighborhood. Having to move 50 miles away is displacement and gentrification and is unacceptable. (page 17)
- MPHA fails to mention that private Section 8 landlords can raise rents and utilities, while HUD’s subsidy is capped at a certain level. This places residents at risk of eviction. (page 18)
- MPHA fails to disclose that they will not own the RAD-converted properties. Their “wholly owned non-profit” is an unknown and unaccountable entity that will only own 0.01% of the building, with the rest being owned by private investors. (page 19)
- See DG&PHC’s previous research: https://tinyurl.com/MPHA-s-Pathways-to-Destruction.
- Once Elliot Twins are converted through RAD to private ownership, the leases and policies governing them will be subject to change. MPHA is only required to notify residents of these changes, not to incorporate resident feedback in any way. Residents will have no say over what happens to the buildings. (page 19)
- MPHA will hold open houses to show renovated units to residents, but will only give them three days after the open houses to notify MPHA that they want to return. MPHA will then offer a specific unit and will require residents to respond in only one day. It is unclear how residents will be informed of the open houses or how they will be expected to respond to MPHA. This will be hard for residents who do not speak English and/or those who do not have permanent addresses to receive mail at due to being displaced by RAD. Residents could easily miss this window and lose their chance to return to Elliot Twins. (page 21)
- MPHA does not have a plan for how to contact residents who are displaced during construction and do not have permanent addresses to receive mail informing them of changes at any point in this process. (page 23)
MPHA is proceeding with its plan to privatize Elliot Twins despite the fact that residents never approved of RAD. The draft relocation plan is a plan to evict residents who do not want to – and in many cases are physically unable to – move out of their homes. MPHA is forcing tenants to move out and providing no legally enforceable guarantee that they will find suitable replacement housing, or that they will be able to return to Elliot Twins after renovations. MPHA is making these eviction plans without having an actual construction plan or financing lined up for renovations. Their priority is evicting tenants.
We need a Congressional investigation into MPHA’s activities surrounding RAD privatization of Elliot Twins and the risk that RAD is posing to residents’ ability to have safe and affordable housing. These plans will put hundreds of low-income, elderly and/or disabled residents at risk of homelessness in a city that is already experiencing a homelessness crisis. HUD is currently controlled by Donald Trump and Ben Carson, and we cannot rely on them to enforce resident protections or oversee MPHA’s privatization and eviction plans. We need our elected officials to step up and say NO to privatization, NO to RAD, and NO to forced evictions!
Call, email, and tweet at your elected officials and tell them to pause MPHA’s RAD activities until there is a full investigation by Congress.
Here is the contact information you will need:
| Name | Phone | ||
| HUD | |||
| Susan Wilson: Director of Urban Revitalization | (202) 402-4500 | Susan.Wilson@hud.gov | |
| Congress | |||
| Rep Ilhan Omar | MN: (612) 333-1272 DC: (202) 225-4755 | @IlhanMN | |
| State | |||
| Governor Tim Walz | (651) 201-3400 | @Tim_Walz | |
| Attorney General Keith Ellison | (651) 296-3353 | attorney.general@ag.state.mn.us | @keithellison |
| State Rep Hodan Hassan | (651) 296-0294 | rep.hodan.hassan@house.mn | @hodan4house |
| State Rep Mohamed Noor | (651) 296-4257 | rep.mohamud.noor@house.mn | |
| City | |||
| Mayor Jacob Frey | (612) 673-2100 | jacob.frey@minneapolismn.gov | @Jacob_Frey |
| CM Lisa Bender | (612) 673-2210 | lisa.bender@minneapolismn.gov | @lisabendermpls |
| CM Abdi Warsame | (612) 673-2206 | abdi.warsame@minneapolismn.gov | @AbdiYWarsame |
| CM Cam Gordon | (612) 673-2202 | cam.gordon@minneapolismn.gov | @CameronAGordon |
| CM Andrea Jenkins | (612) 673-2208 | andrea.jenkins@minneapolismn.gov | @annapoetic |
| CM Kevin Reich | (612) 673-2201 | kevin.reich@minneapolismn.gov | @KevinReich4NE |
| CM Steve Fletcher | (612) 673-2203 | steve.fletcher@minneapolismn.gov | @FletcherMpls |
| CM Phillipe Cunningham | (612) 673-2204 | phillipe.cunningham@minneapolismn.gov | @CunninghamMPLS |
| CM Jeremiah Ellison | (612) 673-2205 | jeremiah.ellison@minneapolismn.gov | @jeremiah4north |
| CM Lisa Goodman | (612) 673-2207 | lisa.goodman@minneapolismn.gov | @cmlisagoodman |
| CM Linea Palmisano | (612) 673-2213 | linea.palmisano@minneapolismn.gov | @LineaPalmisano |
| CM Jeremy Schroeder | (612) 673-2211 | jeremy.schroeder@minneapolismn.gov | @jeremyschroeder |
| CM Alondra Cano | (612) 673-2209 | alondra.cano@minneapolismn.gov | @AloCanoMN |
| CM Andrew Johnson | (612) 673-2212 | andrew.johnson@minneapolismn.gov | @Andrew4Mpls |
| County | |||
| Commissioner Angela Conley | (612) 348-7884 | angela.conley@hennepin.us | @D4Commish |