Coronavirus In Minnesota: Attorney General Keith Ellison Stops Landlord From Illegally Evicting Sandstone Family
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has prevented a landlord from illegally evicting a Sandstone family that was "sheltering in place with a four-year-old daughter with an underlying health condition that makes her vulnerable to COVID-19."
Gov. Tim Walz ordered a temporary suspension of all evictions in Minnesota on Mar. 23 amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Howard Mostad had attempted to evict a renter anway, according to Ellison's office. A news release says Mostad disconnected the tenant's utilities.
Now the Pine County District Court has granted a temporary restraining order to stop Mostad from doing this. He is required to restore the tenant's utilities and he's barred from taking any further action to remove the renters during the emergency.
Court documents from the case were redacted in order to ensure the privacy of the tenants involved.
One of the tenants stated in an affidavit: "We are sitting in our home with no electricity, heat, or running water. We cannot cook food or even flush the toilet… My daughter is telling me that she is cold. We have nowhere else to go and cannot risk exposing my daughter to other people."
"To protect ourselves and all Minnesotans from this virus, we need everyone to shelter in place and stay home. It's hard enough to afford your life during the emergency, but to have a landlord try to force out a family illegally doesn't hurt only them, it hurts every Minnesotan," Attorney General Ellison said. "I'm glad the court recognized the urgency of this issue and is protecting these tenants and their child. Most landlords are doing the right thing by their tenants who are affected by this emergency, and I thank them for it. But if you're not, my office is showing that we won't hesitate to make sure you do."
Any Minnesotan who suspects a landlord is violating Gov. Walz's order to suspend evictions during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency is asked to fill out a complaint at the Attorney General's website, or call his office at (651) 296-3353 for metro callers or (800) 657-3787 for callers in greater Minnesota.
