MPHA requires Elliot Twins to Move and Sign new RAD Lease During #COVID19
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority is risking the health and safety of Elliot Twins residents by requiring them to sign new leases and move in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the letter sent by MPHA, residents must sign the new lease and move by May 29th, as COVID-19 cases are anticipated to reach their peak in Minnesota. The timeline for leasing and moving and possible displacement proposed by MPHA for Elliot Twins residents is dangerous and possibly deadly given the current environment. Some of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks have been in facilities with elderly residents living in close quarters, including 47 dead and 130 infected at St Therese in New Hope and nearly 70 dead at a Veteran’s Home in Massachusetts, where staff spread the disease from one resident to the next. Asking a large number of residents to meet with the property manager and other MPHA staff greatly increases the potential to spread Coronavirus through the Elliot Twin towers. Asking them to move during this crisis is stressful and will further compromise their ability to fight illness. Residents should not be asked to sacrifice their health in the name of MPHA’s agenda to privatize Elliot Twins and push their RAD plans according to their preferred timeline.
Additionally, the lease and recent letters to Elliot Twins are in English and Somali with no other translations available. Elliot Twins also has residents who speak Spanish, Arabic, Oromo, Amharic, and disabled residents, who may need assistance understanding what they are signing. Residents are being told they can meet with their Property Manager and the Property Manager will verbally explain the lease to residents and the options they have to move in and out of Elliot Twins. Residents should have the ability to seek independent interpretation services and legal counsel to properly understand the implications of signing the new lease and being displaced out of Elliot Twins. Not only does this process lend itself to coercion (residents signing in the presence of management without knowing where they will move), but it is incredibly unsafe given the circumstances of COVID-19. Elliot Twins is already at high risk for a COVID-19 outbreak given the density of the high rise and the population of elders and individuals with underlying health conditions who reside there.
The new lease MPHA wants residents to sign is 42 pages and filled with complicated terms, fees, charges, and addendums that are not translated in any language nor explained. In addition, MPHA stated verbally residents will be paying 30% of their income for their rent. This policy is not referenced in this lease nor is this in writing anywhere in this lease. Only the bottom of pages 2 and 3 of the lease are rental payments mentioned, and there is nothing that states current and future residents will pay 30% of their income for rent. Elliot Twins are public housing buildings where the current residents make between 0 to 20% AMI and the majority of the residents are on a fixed income, such as social security. They receive $750 a month, $9000 a year, and pay on average $225 a month of rent which is 30% of their income. There is no clear language protecting current residents in the new lease.
We are asking MPHA, Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, Minneapolis City Council, State Senators & Representatives, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to stop the new lease signing and moving for RAD Conversation at Elliot Twins to prevent COVID-19 outbreak. The infection rate is not going down in Minneapolis. Elliot Twins residents face the greatest risk of infections and fatalities because they are mostly elders/seniors with underlying health conditions and people with disabilities.
References:
https://tinyurl.com/New-Lease-Signing-Elliot-Twins;
https://tinyurl.com/90days-to-move-March-30-2020
https://tinyurl.com/Notice-to-move-March-30-2020
https://time.com/5829083/coronavirus-holyoke-veterans-home/
https://tinyurl.com/New-RAD-Lease-Elliot-Twins
Sincerely,
