'Right to repair' ordinance supporters welcome adoption of ballot measure
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The new ordinance allows renters to get a rent reduction or reimbursement for repair work that costs up to $500 or half their rent, whichever is more expensive.
But first, they'd need to give their landlord a two-week notice of their intent, allowing the landlord to schedule or make the fix first.
Nearly 80 percent of St. Paul voters said yes.
"They put themselves in the driver's seat saying, ‘I want this for my city. I want this for my neighbors,’" said Cole Hanson with Safe Homes St. Paul, the group that led the push for the ordinance. Hanson was part of the effort to go door-to-door, gathering support for the initiative. He said it was an easy, straightforward sell.
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"We've had a number of folks we talked to who have been waiting years on fixes, both accessibility things around their home to simply getting their garage doors fixed," said Hanson
Now, he said, it's on to helping people use their new right.
It wasn't a smooth ride getting the measure on the ballot. It faced repeated opposition from the City of St. Paul, which argued that the ordinance language was too broad and could conflict with state laws. The courts ultimately decided that the measure would stay on the ballot.
For now, the city will not continue to fight the measure in court. In a statement, the City of St. Paul said the voters have decided the outcome.
A spokesperson said that the city is in the process of reviewing implementation, and that once it's certified, the ordinance will take effect.
Now that it's approved by voters, the St. Paul City Council cannot amend the ordinance for at least a year.
That worries Cecil Smith, president of the Minnesota Multi Housing Association. The ordinance allows landlords to appeal, but he's concerned the timeline is too short and is concerned about renters causing problems by taking on risky repair work.
"I'm very concerned that one individual taking this upon themselves to do something that shouldn't happen could endanger the welfare, even the lives of other residents of the city," he said.
But ordinance supporters argue that complicated fixes that require a licensed professional to perform would still have to be performed by a licensed professional. And they point to Duluth, where voters passed a right-to-repair measure without a surge of problems in its wake.
Lily Boehland-Goeden was involved in the campaign last year, and says she ended up using it to pressure her landlord into installing window screens in her second-story apartment, which she asked for to feel safe.
"I eventually was like, ‘Hey, I gave you the proper notice, and whether or not you do them is up to you. Either way, I'm gonna do it.’ And he ended up doing it within the two weeks, and since then, he's been pretty quick to get it done," she said.
Boehland-Goeden said it would've been helpful in a previous apartment, where the landlord never came around to fixing steps she needed stabilized while she was on crutches.
So far, she said the Duluth Tenants group has worked with 29 renters who gave their landlords notice of their plan to repair. In each case, just like hers, the landlord made the fix first, so no renter had to do it themself.
