Prash

I'm a landlord, and I hate bad landlords as much as the next guy,(honestly probably MORE, because slumlords give the rest of us a bad name)... But what St. Paul Voters just passed Tuesday night is completely NUTS. Nearly 80% of St. Paul Voters,(92,045 to 24,469) just passed Question 1, the so-called "Right to Repair" ordinance. Here is what they actually just voted into law: A tenant sends a written repair notice. If the landlord doesn't have it scheduled or fixed within 14 days, the tenant can do "simple" repairs THEMSELVES,(or hire someone on their own) and deduct up to $500 or HALF a month's rent,(whichever is higher) straight off the rent check. Think about how insane that is in the real world... Over HALF of St. Paul's housing stock is ~100 years old. Good luck getting a specialty part or a licensed plumber/boiler tech out on a 100-year-old St. Paul duplex inside 14 days in the dead of a Minnesota winter. Now picture a tenant deciding to DIY the plumbing or electrical themselves and handing you a receipt and half a rent check... 🤦‍♂️ And here's the kicker: this measure was SO unworkable that even the St. Paul City Council voted in August to keep it OFF the ballot,(activist groups had to sue all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court just to force it on). When an idea is too radical for the St. Paul City Council, that should tell you everything! Look, nobody defends actual slumlords. Minnesota ALREADY has strict habitability laws, city housing inspectors, and rent-escrow courts where bad landlords get hammered legally. Remember 2021 when St. Paul Voters passed the strictest Rent Control in the country because the ballot language sounded nice...new apartment permits crashed ~80% overnight while developers fled across the river, and the City spent years trying to walk back the damage? Watch what happens next here: Mom-and-pop landlords who own a duplex or a 4-plex aren't going to deal with DIY tenant "repairs," liability nightmares, and half-checks every month. They're going to sell out to giant corporate landlords with legal departments on retainer,(or pull those units off the rental market completely). Fewer rentals, higher insurance, bigger corporate landlords, and EVEN HIGHER rent for the exact tenants who just voted 79% Yes for it. Every single time...if only there was a way to see this coming.