Fri, Jul 29th, 2022 - 8:33am
February 12, 2022 - 11:51am | By Kyle Cornell
(Minneapolis, MN) -- Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the state has filed a lawsuit against HavenBrook Homes and five related companies - citing unsafe living conditions.
HavenBrook Homes is the landlord for more than 600 within the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area and one of the largest landlords in Minnesota. The lawsuit alleges HavenBrook Homes has violated multiple Minnesota's laws, citing consumer-protection laws, landlord-tennant law, lead-paint removal law, and evictions during a pandemic in violation of an executive order.
“I filed this lawsuit because it’s my job to protect Minnesotans from fraud and abuse, and tenants are consumers of housing who are entitled to the same protections as all consumers," said Elison in a statement announcing the lawsuit, "HavenBrook’s strategy of extracting profit from their tenants by claiming to provide them with prompt, high-quality maintenance and repair but actually leaving them in uninhabitable homes isn’t just shameful, it’s deceptive, fraudulent, and violates Minnesota law. I’m holding them accountable for it.”
The complaint alleges HavenBrook and the five related companies engaged in a deliberate strategy to extract profits from Minnesota homeowners they rent to, along with a "severely and systematically understaffed and under-resourced upkeep of its properties." The complaint alleges tennants have often reported a lack of heat, back up sewer systems, doors and windows that do not close, mold, and even wild animal in the home. The complaint also says HavenBrook misrepresents its claim of "24/7" "around the clock" "same day service" for emergency repairs.
You can read the full list of alligations and find the full report by clicking here.
