Twin Cities tenant union calls for rent strike, pushes for eviction moratorium in wake of Operation Metro Surge

A local tenant union is urging Minnesotans not to pay rent next month to pressure lawmakers to enact an eviction moratorium.

Despite the White House saying that Operation Metro Surge is winding down, its impacts are still very present, as people stayed home from work out of fear of being detained. 

The nonprofit Twin Cities Tenants is leading the charge for a statewide rent strike ahead of March 1.

Charlie Tirey, who lives in a south Minneapolis apartment, is committed to not paying rent next month.

"We need to represent the interests of our most vulnerable populations," Tirey said.

A Twin Cities landlord who didn't want to go on camera said the rent strike would impact him greatly. He has a few properties in the metro simply for side money — for his kids' college tuition — and he says he also uses the funds to pay for mortgages. 

A University of Minnesota analysis estimates that since the onset of the crackdown, renters in the state owe $27 million to $51 million in rent debt, in addition to the average statewide rent debt of $44.6 million in any two-month period. 

"If there were 10,000 evictions filed in tenant court, that would muck up the courts to make the process so slow they'd never get to me," Tirey explained. 

Tirey says the strategy could help slow down the process of those on an eviction list

"If we do authorize the strike, and by having that minimum 10,000 numbers," Tirey said, "It's not a hope it'd happen, it's a reality it'd happen."

WCCO reached out to the governor's office for a response about participants' request for an eviction moratorium, and has not heard back.