Table of Content
- Afghan refugees celebrate solstice in Minneapolis; hope for more secure future in US
- HavenBrook tenants bring demands for repairs to landlord's office
- A TAX ON ‘INVESTOR’ HOMES?
- City Statement Regarding HavenBrook Rental License Revocation
- Job Seekers Also ViewedPreviousNext
- HavenBrook Homes Reviews in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
More broadly, renters and activists hope to draw attention to what they say is a growing scourge of private-equity firms gobbling up single-family homes and charging high rents only to let properties fall into disrepair. The protest was the latest effort by tenants, with support from the renter advocacy group Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia , to put pressure on HavenBrook to make repairs. Earlier this year, some families began withholding their rent and putting it into escrow. Mar 17, 2021In North Minneapolis, the corporate landlord HavenBrook Homes owns 215 single-family homes, scattered over dozens of residential blocks. Altogether, HavenBrook owns 265 homes in Hennepin County and more than 500 homes across Minnesota, with the highest concentration in a couple of Twin City neighborhoods. We are continuing to help thousands of residents through payment plans, financial support and rental assistance and have a dedicated team of professionals ...
TRA’s are a type of lawsuit where the city asks a housing court judge to order landlords and property managers to immediately make repairs. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office filed suit on Thursday against one of the state’s largest private landlords, HavenBrook Homes, for failing to maintain its properties and address lead paint hazards in its properties. The lawsuit also alleges HavenBrook Homes tried to evict tenants during the state’s eviction moratorium. HavenBrook tenants and activists staged a rally outside the New Brighton office of property manager Progress Residential on June 17, 2022 to call on the company to address longstanding health and safety concerns with the homes they rent. According to state prosecutors, this isn't the first time HavenBrook has faced controversy in the Twin Cities.
Afghan refugees celebrate solstice in Minneapolis; hope for more secure future in US
Ellison’s complaint further states that despite realizing costs savings for investors, “Defendants did not reduce rent for tenants when they realized these cost savings — in fact they continued their policy of mandating significant rent increases . Defendants disingenuously tell tenants that they have to increase rent due to their increased ‘costs to maintain homes’” (p. 8). The lawsuit further alleges that when HavenBrook Homes does make repairs, it systematically fails to take mandatory lead-based paint safety precautions in violation of Minnesota law and rules that landlords must follow. This failure puts vulnerable children at risk of serious and life-long health problems.
She said Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia, the tenant advocacy group, has helped her and her neighbors organize themselves to get the company’s attention. There’s also chipping paint around the house that Lofton fears contains lead, given the age of the house and the disclosure she received from HavenBrook, though she hasn’t had it tested. HavenBrook tenant Brianna Lofton points to where mold was growing that sickened her and her daughter.
HavenBrook tenants bring demands for repairs to landlord's office
According to prosecutors, the average HavenBrook rental home in Minnesota is over 80 years old. Corporate ownership of rental properties became lucrative following the housing crash in 2008 when investors scooped up foreclosed and neglected homes at bargain prices and converted them into rental properties. “Systematically under-resourcing the upkeep of their properties and leaving many tenants in homes that are uninhabitable is a deliberate strategy to maximize and extract profit from Minnesota families,” Ellison said during a Thursday news conference.
Pretium purchased the homes in 2020 and Pretium, according to its statement, did not acquire the homes until last year. Ellison says the lack of maintenance is part of the company’s business model, pointing to claims from Pretium that profits from its single-family rental business rival those of multi-family businesses, which are typically more profitable. It.” The lawsuit accuses Pretium Partners, which holds $30 billion in assets nationwide, of operating a profit-maximizing business model that controls HavenBrook through lawyers of shell companies. Pretium owns more than 600 rental homes around the Twin Cities and 70,000 nationwide.
A TAX ON ‘INVESTOR’ HOMES?
HavenBrook, the original buyer of the homes, is now just a shell company. "It seemed like a good idea to move homes from being vacant to having someone owning them as a rental opportunity. That seemed like a positive," Starling of the Fed said. In North Minneapolis, HavenBrook and other out of town investors own as much 16% to 24% of the homes, in some of the poorest census tracts in the city. A dashboardof data developed by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve shows the number of investor-owned single-family homes in the Twin Cities has doubled in the last 15 years, from 1.8% to 4%. In Minnesota, HavenBrook owns more than 600 single-family homes, but a third of its inventory – 199 homes– are in North Minneapolis.
One of the most vocal tenants, Shanika Henderson, has lived on Girard Avenue North in a HavenBrook home for eight years. It had just been remodeled, and now has a nice large main bedroom and fenced-in backyard. There were no gutters at the time and the home’s foundation continues to crumble.. When she guided a North News reporter to her basement to show how one wall seemed to be buckling, she discovered a new chunk of the wall had crumbled. There was also a small hole in the floor, but otherwise, she felt good.
City Statement Regarding HavenBrook Rental License Revocation
These rent increases were justified due to "maintenance costs," and they did not change during the pandemic. The complaint says the company told tenants behind on rent to leave or they'd be evicted, even when the governor's peacetime emergency order stopped landlords from doing precisely that. Attorney General Ellison asserts in the complaint that “Defendants’ quest for profit-maximization has come at the expense of Minnesotans’ health and safety. Another component of HavenBrook’s and Pretium’s profit-maximizing business model is raising rent.
To be honest, Allrentalnow.com is a bridge to connect between providers and customers. The company said it would be operated by Doug Barnett, who has previously opened other Chick-fil-A locations in Fayetteville. As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business. BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile. This rating reflects BBB's opinion about the entire organization's interactions with its customers, including interactions with local locations.
HavenBrook, Pretium, and other companies Pretium owns are no strangers to controversy and documented cases of failing to maintain tenants’ homes in habitable condition in Minnesota. The lawsuit is believed to be the first enforcement action an attorney general has filed against HavenBrook and its ownership in the United States. Under Minnesota law, a landlord may not waive its duty to provide a habitable home for a tenant. Door knobs started falling off, the porch began to sink and cracks emerged in the walls.
Lofton says she pays $1,445 a month for rent plus another couple hundred dollars for utilities. She also has to pay $40 a week to have the lawn mowed since she doesn’t own a mower. After about three months, Lofton evacuated with her four daughters to a hotel, which HavenBrook paid for while the company had contractors remediate the mold in the basement. Since then, both her throat and her youngest daughter’s rash have cleared up, though Lofton notes the contractors never rebuilt the walls they took down to address the mold. The petition asks HavenBrook to freeze rent, provide restitution to tenants, pay for moving expenses for tenants who need to move and offer tenants the first right of purchase should they sell their portfolio.
I have been only renting through this management company for a few months and I have had major issues with getting repairs and simply being unable to contact the property manager. No one at this company will communicate with you regarding any information with anything regarding your rental home. You’ll be lucky to speak with anyone who is helpful if you’re experiencing any issues.
According to Ellison’s complaint, “Although Pretium is not disclosed on its tenants’ leases, the company directly corresponds with Minnesota tenants regarding their tenancies. Similarly, although Pretium is not listed as the licensee for Defendants’ rental properties, it directly communicates with Minnesota cities that issue it rental licenses” (p. 7). The shell companies have changed three times since 2021 (see pp. 5-7 of thecomplaint). According to Attorney General Ellison’s complaint, “Although Pretium is not disclosed on its tenants’ leases, the company directly corresponds with Minnesota tenants regarding their tenancies. The complaint alleges that HavenBrook violated state law by telling renters it had "around the clock" emergency repair service when in practice requests for repair were often ignored or met with a "shoddy" response.
HavenBrook has a huge asset to the company and I say with my deepest gratitude Mr. Joseph DeFini. Mr. DeFini has exceeded my expectations on what management should be. We had a little bump in the road with the water company, but Mr. DeFini showed nothing but caring respect and problem solving qualities.
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