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Twin Cities residents struggling to pay rent can now apply for help from emergency funds in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Both cities approved millions of dollars in funding as the federal immigration enforcement surge pushed some residents to stay home from work out of fear and forced closures at some businesses. Some families saw primary breadwinners deported, leaving them scrambling for funds. 

Mutual aid networks have distributed millions of dollars in rental assistance since the start of the surge. Those networks are still up and running

 but organizers say they need help from cities. 

Minneapolis has $2 million available in its 

 so far. Applications for the fund opened this week. 

To qualify, applicants need to live within city limits and make less than 30 percent of the area median income. 

For a four-person household, that’s less than $39,720 annually. For one person, it’s $27,810. 

Residents also must have received a pre-eviction notice from their landlord. In Minneapolis, landlords are required to issue these notices 30 days before filing for eviction. 

Erik Hansen, Minneapolis community planning and economic development director, said renters should apply as early as

“The best thing for Minneapolis residents to do is — as soon as you know that you think you're going to be evicted — to contact the organizations that we have as intake organizations,” Hansen said at a city council meeting Thursday. 

said that’s a different requirement than the county’s rent assistance fund, which requires tenants to have an eviction filing. 

Residents can apply for funds through several partner organizations: Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio, Isuroon, the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center and Tenant Resource Connections. 

The council and the mayor have allocated $3.8 million total and the Wilson Foundation has agreed to match $3 million of that. City officials said the rest of the approved funding will be available soon. 

St. Paul added $1.4 million to its emergency rental assistance program this year, bringing the total program budget to $3.8 million. 

 for funding are available on the city website. They’re open on the first two days of each month, with the next round starting May 1. The city enters applications into a lottery due to high demand. 

To qualify, residents must make less than 80 percent of the area median income. That’s $104,200 per year for a family of four, or $72,950 for one person. 

Tenants also need to have received a pre-eviction notice or a summons to housing court. 

Applicants who are eligible for help can get a one-time payment of up to $3,500, which the city pays directly to the landlord. Residents can get help from this fund once per year. 

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Estelle Timar-Wilcox

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Twin Cities residents struggling to pay rent can now apply for help from emergency funds in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Here’s how it works in both cities.

A woman holds a sign reading "freeze rent, freeze mortgage" as demonstrators march in the street during the Cancel Rent and Mortgages rally on June 30, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Emergency rental funds now available in St. Paul, Minneapolis

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