MMLA Appeals Utility Shut-off Case

Can a third-party utility biller legally disconnect a tenant's power? That question is at the heart of a case that Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) will appeal on behalf of their client whose housing hangs in the balance. The landlord had its contractor shut off the electricity when MMLA’s client was behind in her utility payments. Now that client faces eviction for violating her lease in an attempt to restore power to the unit herself because she believed the shut-off was illegal. Even with Minnesota’s cold weather rule preventing utility shut offs between October 1 and April 30, there are questions about whether it applies to landlord contractors as well as utility companies.

MMLA’s client lost her housing court case and was found to have violated her lease, but the eviction is on hold during the appeal. MMLA’s appeal will question the application of the cold weather rule beyond public utilities like Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy. The Public Utilities Commission did not offer comment on the legality of third-party disconnections during the cold weather months.

MMLA staff attorney Gary Van Winkle noted that third-party billers, such as the one hired by his client’s landlord, often add fees that are confusing to tenants and that quickly add up for those struggling to make payments. "Her bill after about four months was about $800," Van Winkle said. "This is for someone who was living in a subsidized property paying very low rent, and this billing dwarfs her other living expense overhead by quite a bit." Read more in Case of evicted Minneapolis tenant poses questions about legality of power shutoffs in the Star Tribune.

Bestselling Author Talks About Importance of Legal Aid

On a recent episode of Talk Justice, an LSC podcast, bestselling author John Grisham discusses his experiences as a lawyer and the importance of legal aid. Legal Services Corporation (LSC) President Ron Flagg introduces Grisham’s speech, which was recorded at a recent LSC forum on justice access issues.

Grisham is an expert storyteller, whose unforgettable characters fight for justice in a world that isn’t always fair. He is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge’s List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When not writing, Grisham serves on LSC’s Leaders Council to raise public awareness of the current crisis in civil justice, and on the boards of the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

Minneapolis Cited in Newsweek Article on Eviction Crisis

Though Las Vegas was cited as “leading the pack” in mounting U.S. evictions since the pandemic began, Minneapolis was also cited in a recent Newsweek Magazine article. Along with Austin, Minneapolis has seen a five-fold increase in eviction filings between 2021 and 2022.

To help shine a light on the nationwide eviction crisis, Newsweek spoke to Mary Kaczorek, managing attorney of the housing unit at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA), along with other legal aid organizations across the country.

”I keep thinking each month is going to be lower, but the last couple of months are actually higher," Kaczorek said.

With eviction protections dwindling and ending, and filings rising dramatically across the country, tenants’ rights groups are urging government officials to respond with new and increased rental assistance programs. A housing affordability crisis, inseparable from rising evictions, is also adding to the situation, which existed before the pandemic and has only exacerbated it.

The Star Tribune also published an article this month about the increase in public housing evictions in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, with some filings for falling behind on as little as $100 or less in rent.

”The stakes are so high in these cases because it takes years and years to get into public housing, and once you're evicted from there, there's really nowhere else to go," Kaczorek explained.

The Star Tribune also spoke with Heather Mendiola, staff attorney with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), about public housing tenants facing multiple financial obstacles all at once.

"Unfortunately, low-wage jobs aren't always flexible with paid time off. We see public housing tenants hit hard with unplanned catastrophic events, like hospitalizations and funerals, who are in the forced position to use the rent money to cover these unexpected expenses,” Mendiola said.

Read Las Vegas Tops Nation as Eviction Crisis Spreads Across America in Newsweek and Minneapolis, St. Paul public housing evictions outpacing pre-pandemic rates in the Star Tribune.

Attorney General’s Binding Opinion on Lunch Shaming Affirms LSAP's Longstanding Work

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) applauded Attorney General Keith Ellison’s opinion that all students are entitled to the same healthy, full school meal, regardless of lunch debt. Commissioner Heather Mueller had asked the Attorney General for clarification after receiving reports that a number of public schools or districts across Minnesota had adopted policies whereby students with unpaid meal balances are denied lunch items from the scheduled menu for the day. Students with unpaid meal balances are provided instead with what schools and districts refer to as an “alternate meal,” a “minimum meal,” or a “courtesy meal.”

The Legal Services Advocacy Project (LSAP) requested that the MDE investigate and consult the Attorney General after surveying more than 330 Minnesota school districts earlier this year. LSAP found that 124 policies appeared to violate the Minnesota law that banned lunch shaming in July 2021. Legislation that LSAP, Hunger Solutions MN, and others had worked hard to help enact.

Under Minnesota law, the Commissioner of Education may request a formal opinion of the Attorney General on "any question arising under the laws relating to public schools." Once issued, the Attorney General's opinion is binding unless a court rules otherwise.

The opinion took effect immediately (Nov. 17, 2022) and MDE has notified school districts to immediately implement a policy that all students be offered the same meals regardless of meal debt.

"This is an important step forward for our students and our families," said Education Commissioner Mueller in MDE’s press release. "Differential treatment, lunch shaming or otherwise demeaning or stigmatizing the student for unpaid meal balances must not continue. We will continue to work to ensure all schools have the resources so all children have access to free meals while at school." More information is available in the Attorney General's opinion.