For immediate release: May 1st, 2023

St. Paul, MN — On the anniversary of rent stabilization going into effect, members of MNYC, ISAIAH, SEIU and elected allies are celebrating that St. Paul renters finally have a tool to address the egregious rent increases that too many of our most vulnerable neighbors have been experiencing for decades. Over the course of the last year, we’ve watched St. Paul set the course for cities around the country in working toward housing equity for everyone across race and residence.

After nearly 31,000 St. Paul voters passed rent stabilization, a select few developers attacked the decision St. Paulites made together, continuing their big-money campaign against tenants’ rights by threatening to disinvest from our beloved city. As a result, the St. Paul City Council made changes to the ordinance, including an amendment that stripped over 20,000 affordable housing tenants of their rent stabilization rights.

Yet despite challenges, roughly two-thirds of St. Paul’s renters remain covered by an ordinance designed to protect them from unscrupulous rent hikes. Rent stabilization is a critical tool in the toolbox when it comes to guaranteeing St. Paulites can thrive, and has provided an incredible foundation from which to envision safe, stable and affordable housing for all.

“Rent stabilization remains a critical piece of the broader suite of policies and investments needed to guarantee stable housing for everyone in St. Paul,” said St. Paul City Councilmember Mitra Jalali. “We need to significantly strengthen enforcement through increased funding for investigators and community education, restore rent stabilization protections to renters in low-income affordable housing, and evaluate the policy comprehensively through a lens of renter stability and real market data, not pure industry speculation or ideologically motivated disaster narratives. While in office, I’ve also championed renter protections in the SAFE (Stable, Accessible, Fair and Equitable) Housing policy agenda. I am working this year to restore these critical policies to protect St. Paul renters navigating an often hostile rental market. We must continue embracing and funding the development of housing at all income levels while guaranteeing protections for renters in the most unstable housing situations. I will continue working with our community for fair housing for all in our Capitol city.”

“I’m proud to be the third generation in my family to call St. Paul home. My grandparents made their home on Charles Avenue in Frogtown where my dad grew up,” said Ward 2 renter and Minnesota Youth Collective member Rebecca Gaida. “Today, I rent on Grand Avenue near Crocus Hill. I love my neighborhood and I don’t want to leave — I’ve made friends on my block, I visit my favorite coffee shop on the weekends, and I can take public transit to work. For me, stable rent means I can continue to live in a city my family has called home for many years.”

“As a resident and property owner of 2 rental properties in St. Paul, I’m proud of the ways St. Paulites have taken concrete steps like passing rent stabilization to ensure our city can continue to be a place for everyone, renters and homeowners alike,” said Katheryn Schneider, a leader with ISAIAH and St. Paul resident and landlord. “It’s clear to me that for too long we have given protections to property owners and left renters to fend for themselves. We are making progress on this front but more work needs to be done. This means rejecting the fear mongering rhetoric, speculation or disaster narratives to pass more tenant protections to protect renters from discrimination and displacement. We also need improvements to the rent stabilization policy so more renters can benefit from stabilized rents.”

“I was so happy we passed rent stabilization in St. Paul last year,” said Nazra Ahmed, a mother and home care worker from St. Paul who is a member of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa. “I was part of the fight because I am a mother who has a disabled son and we’ve experienced the rental crisis and how it hurts working families. Having these protections helps make families worry less about rent increases. I’m excited for this anniversary and we need to keep making sure it gets enforced and keep strengthening it to help as many families as possible.”