Following a ruling from the Department of Justice that stated Anoka’s Crime Free Housing policy violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act, the Anoka City Council has amended its city code to reflect the federal agency’s decision. “A lot of cities have crime and drug free housing policies like this one, unfortunately we were the ones that the DOJ decided to pressure,” Anoka City Attorney Scott Baumgartner said. “(After a work session) the council decided that the benefits did not outweigh the monitoring requirements that the city would have to do (to maintain a crime/drug free housing policy).”

The changes remove the crime-free/drug-free addendum from city code, which had allowed the city to revoke rental licenses for properties in violation of the addendum, and allowed for landlords to pursue eviction for repeat offenders of the policy.

The Anoka City Council in December cut the rules from its rental licensing ordinance that allowed the city to yank a landlord’s license over failure to evict renters making several 911 calls deemed to be a “nuisance” or unfounded. The action came after the DOJ reached an agreement with the city that required Anoka to pay $175,000 to compensate individuals harmed by the program.

“It allowed too much leeway for police to decide if something is a nuisance,” said Sue Abderholden, executive director of the National Association of Mental Illness in Minnesota. “By the city saying, ‘If you get too many 911 calls you’ll lose your rental license,’ that puts pressure on a landlord to evict people who might be having a mental health crisis.”

Several Twin Cities suburbs in recent years have issued tougher regulations for rental properties as multifamily development proliferates throughout the metro. But some argue strict standards issued under rental license programs have disproportionately targeted renters with disabilities, people of color and survivors of domestic violence.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, along with other organizations, sent a letter this past fall requesting Attorney General Keith Ellison issue guidance to cities detailing the consequences of such ordinances. The office has been in communication with the ACLU on the issue, AG spokesman Brian Evans said.

A press release from the DOJ said that “people with mental health disabilities and their families or service providers refrained from calling for help to avoid risking their current housing or future housing prospects.” Alongside removal of the addendum, the city council, in conjunction with the Anoka Police Department, plans to bolster educational opportunities and training for landlords in the city.

“The DOJ views the use of the ordinance as a potential violator (of federal laws),” Baumgartener said. “Because of all that, we have to pull back on what we’ve been trying to do to protect tenants from unruly tenants while we continue with the education of landlords to be better landlords.”

Baumgartner clarified that even without the addendum, the city is still committed to give each of its citizens “ a safe environment to live.” He said the change does not affect a landlord’s ability to perform background checks on prospective tenants.

Council Member Erik Skogquist said that the changes will ultimately limit the things that the city could initiate regarding repeat issues at rentals. He said that the change would be to “address unintended consequences” of the addendum, bringing up the DOJ’s hypothetical example of a family being evicted due to domestic violence cases perpetrated by one member of the family.

Anoka Police Department Chief Eric Peterson added that domestic calls were not counted towards the crime-free policy and no Anoka renter has ever been evicted for being a victim of domestic violence.

(Source: ABC Newspapers, Star Tribune)