In this letter, MPHA pushes residents to sign a new lease, where CHR (Community Housing Resources) will be their new landlord and not MPHA. This will complete the conversion process of over 746 homes from the public to private ownership through Section 18 Disposition & Demolition. CHR is the MPHA created nonprofit that will have .001% ownership of the properties once residents have signed the leases. Even though MPHA says it owns CHR, once the Section 18 conversion is complete CHR will be an independent non-profit private corporation that will bring private investors and lenders to own the properties with millions of affordable housing funds from the State and City. Once this takes place, the properties will no longer be under the protection of the Declaration to Trust (DOT) and will no longer be public. Rents will increase, and residents will face displacement.

1. In the letter, MPHA says, “You will not move and your benefits will not change” but MPHA does not guarantee that CHR will keep rents at 30% of residents’ income as it is now. This means the homes will be “affordable housing” and not public housing. As a result, rents will increase which will displace majority low-income Black and Black Muslim scattered-site families.
2. In the letter, scattered-site residents are told to come to the MPHA office on Tuesday, February 25th, Thursday, February 27th, and Friday, February 28th 2020 to sign the new lease that will make CHR the new owner of their homes.
3. Scattered-site residents received this letter/notice on Friday, February 21, 2020, and the letters were mailed Thursday, February 20, 2020, giving residents less than a week’s notice.
4. MPHA did not provide copies of the new lease beforehand, and it was not mailed to residents before they were told to sign.
5. Scattered-site residents were not given a 30-day notice to review the new lease which is a violation of state and city laws.
6. Somali scattered-site residents were called after the letter was mailed by MPHA staff and were told if they don’t sign the lease, “they will face evictions.”
7. Scattered-site residents were not given time to access legal support or advocates to help them understand the new contract they are forced to sign.
8. MPHA wants scattered-site residents to sign the new lease even if residents have language barriers, can’t read or write English or have an accessibility issue.
9. MPHA failed to provide this letter in all of the language residents speak at Minneapolis Public Housing such as Oromo, Hmong, Spanish, Laotian, etc. This is a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
10. MPHA will use its own bilingual staff to interpret the letter.
11. MPHA has a long history of using their bilingual staff to misinform residents. As a result, residents will not have access to an independent and neutral professional interpreting service, which is in violation of their civil rights. In the letter, MPHA says it is “simple and easy to sign” which is not true.
    

Since all resident protections have been gutted from Section 18 Demolition & Disposition by Carson and Trump’s HUD; the City of Minneapolis, Mayor Frey and City Council refuse to pause Section 18; the MOU and resolution the City of Minneapolis passed allows MPHA to completely privatize public housing; MPHA began showing aggressive violations of residents’ rights; who will protect the rights of scattered-site residents? Who is accountable for MPHA’s violations? This is the first of many violations to come by MPHA’s privatization plans of public housing and public land as the City of Minneapolis and elected officials watch without any action.

SECTION 18 Demolition & Disposition: A Fact Sheet

Historic Public Land Grab: MPHA, Mayor Frey and Council President Lisa Bender move forward to sell 717 scattered sites of public housing and 104.67 acres of public land through Section 18 without public input or a city council vote.

Public Housing vs. Affordable Housing, Fact Sheet