Minneapolis tenant groups urge council to override Frey veto on eviction timeline extension
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Tenant’s rights groups are calling on the Minneapolis City Council to override Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of legislation that would have extended the city’s eviction timeline. The city council had passed the measure last week to help renters who have lost income during the federal immigration enforcement surge.
At a demonstration in Minneapolis Thursday, “Strop Frey’s Eviction Machine,” organizers said Frey’s veto of the “Pause Evictions, Save Lives” policy doesn’t take into account the impact of community aid.
Lead author of the measure, Council member Robin Wonsley says they just want the city to do what neighbors have been doing for each other for months.
“If we look at previous years, specifically 2025, we saw decreases in eviction. But what it ignores is the fact that we had thousands of residents doing the job of government officials who did not declare an eviction moratorium, who did not put in eviction protections, who did not raise tens of millions of dollars in rental assistance,” said Wonsley. “It was residents who raised tens of millions of dollars to keep their neighbors safe and housed in January and in February and in March.”
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The measure passed by the council would give tenants 60 days’ notice before filing for eviction instead of 30 days. Supporters say it was meant to help residents who have missed work or lost income due to the immigration surge by giving them more time to pay.
But Mayor Frey, who vetoed the measure this week, said that could end up putting renters in debt if they still can't pay after a longer timeline.
“We don't want to be put into place where we are getting people with the expectation that a ton of money is going to come in, so that they don't pay their rent, they're on the verge of getting evicted, and then that money doesn't actually materialize,” said Frey.
Frey instead proposed an additional $1 million in city funding for emergency rental assistance. Organizers disagree. They say the longer the city waits, the more people are at risk of being evicted.
But some of Minnesota’s landlords say they aren’t convinced the aid is needed.
Cecil Smith, CEO of the Minnesota Multi Housing Association, emphasized that many property owners haven’t seen a drop-off in rent collection. New data from that organization shows that rent collections across the state have remained steady in the first quarter of 2026, with roughly 91–97 percent of rents paid, depending on the sample.
Aid for renters is an issue across the state. In the Minnesota Senate, legislators passed a bill to send a one-time payment of $40 million to county and tribal governments to support renters facing financial issues, including those impacted by federal immigration actions. That bill is currently stalled in the house with a clean split across party lines.
