The Impact of the COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium on Landlord-Initiated Displacement Actions In Minnesota

Eviction moratoria did much to alleviate the concerns of tenants and their advocates that families would be thrust out of their homes during the pandemic. At the same time, however, reports of landlords ignoring the eviction moratoria (see, e.g., Morgenson 2020; Strickler, 2022; U.S. House of Representatives, 2022) were an ongoing concern. Additionally, there was concern that landlords were resorting to other means to move renters out of units, that instead of pursuing formal eviction proceedings through the Courts, that landlords were pushing out renters through other extra-judicial means. Together, eviction and extra-judicial 2 actions taken by landlords to move renters out of their homes constituted what we call “Landlord Initiated Displacement Actions” (LIDAs). This study is an attempt to analyze the question of how the moratorium affected the rate at which LIDAs occurred across the state of Minnesota. We examine these questions by looking at the calls made by tenants to a statewide tenant help line in Minnesota operated by HOME Line. HOME Line is a nonprofit statewide tenant advocacy organization that provides free and low-cost legal, organizing, education, and advocacy services to tenants.