Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoes eviction notice extension ordinance
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a measure passed by the City Council last week that temporarily requires landlords to wait longer before filing an eviction notice.
The council passed the ordinance 7-5, which would require landlords to wait 60 days instead of the typical 30 before filing an eviction notice. It would stay in effect until Aug. 31.
The measure was put forward by Council Member Robin Wonsley in an effort to ease the burden for renters after Operation Metro Surge, which city data shows led to an additional $15.7 million in monthly need for rent support. Last month the city unlocked $1 million in rental assistance to help Hennepin County residents impacted by the surge.
Frey on Wednesday announced an additional $1 million in emergency rental assistance that residents could access without proving their landlord had filed an eviction notice against them. This is on top of $1 million that the city approved in February; Councilor Jamison Whiting, who abstained from the council's vote on the eviction pause, announced Wednesday that Wilson Foundation Minnesota will match the mayor's latest proposal.
In all, it means the city could have about $3 million available in rental assistance. This would be facilitated through Hennepin County and would be available in April at the earliest.
"Stopping evictions may sound good, but experience from COVID shows it's not the answer: Rental assistance is," Frey said. "Getting help to families quickly is the most effective way to prevent eviction, and that's exactly what this investment does."
Frey pointed to non-profits and shelters who themselves said that a pause on evictions can put a person in further debt without actually providing them relief, only delaying an inevitable problem. Representatives from several organizations, including Catholic Charities Twin Cities and Aeon, urged councilors not to pass the initial proposal and instead focus on rental assistance.
Frey argued that broad eviction pauses create uncertainty in the rental market.
Housing advocates say many people were not able to go to work out of fear of the federal immigration crackdown, which resulted in 4,000 arrests statewide, according to the Department of Human Services.
Frey's office has said that the number of eviction filings in 2026 is consistent so far with the monthly average in 2025. There was an average of 254 emergency rent assistance applications in the last months of 2025, with an average of 235 in the first two months of 2026, according to Hennepin County data.
Jess Zerik, Co-Executive Director with tenant's rights organization Home LINE, said that the focus on rental relief is positive, but described Mayor Frey's veto as disappointing. She said that her team is seeing a higher call volume for help than they ever did during COVID-19 or in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic; she said that a pause on evictions could prove crucial in allowing people to have the time to return to work and get their finances in order.
"Landlords seeing normal balance sheets may be because of mutual aid. That support isn't going to last and it's not sustainable," Zerik said, "we are anticipating a drastic increase in eviction filings."
The need for help isn't going away. From restaurants to adult entertainment stores, people from across the metro have worked to raise money to help others pay rent. Shannon Gibney, a mother in South Minneapolis, noted that the community raised more than $400,000 for families with South High School.
According to Gibney, a little under $9,000 remains.
"In some cases it's a dire situation," Gibney said.
When it comes to the efficacy of an eviction pause, Gibney said that she has heard mixed responses in the community. She said that in one parent's opinion, a delay would give various levels of government and local groups to allocate money to people in need. A social worker with a school elsewhere in the city said a delay would be functionally useless because people need cash in hand immediately.
Council President Elliott Payne also said he was "disappointed" in the veto.
"As someone who spent every day trying to protect my community from ICE, to the point where I was personally assaulted by them, I'm so disappointed Mayor Frey vetoed this bare-minimum policy that would show that he could move beyond cuss words and take real action to provide material support for our neighbors," Payne said. "This is a veto rooted in cowardice, not the livelihoods of our residents."
The council would need nine votes to override a mayoral veto.