MINNESOTA USES FEDERAL CARES ACT DOLLARS TO FUND TENANT LITIGATION AGAINST LANDLORDS
Legal Aid will have more money to fight Landlords. The Minnesota Legal Services Coalition (“MLSC”) has received $3.5 million in federal CARES Act money through the state of Minnesota and will use it to finance its new Reach Justice Minnesota (“RJM”) initiative. RJM will increase efforts to employ technology and emergency staffing to “protect Minnesotans’ basic civil and human rights in the face of an unprecedented emergency and disaster” associated with the COVID-19 pandemic according to their press release.
According to MLSC, with high unemployment and other economic issues caused by the pandemic, tens of thousands of lower-income Minnesotans are seeking information about their legal rights and requesting legal representation to resolve civil legal issues.
RJM’s plan to help these low income Minnesotans involves four initiatives: (1) The Legal Kiosk Project, a statewide network of around 270 community-based computer kiosks, which will help people apply for civil legal aid or other legal resources and, in some cases, attend online meetings and remote court hearings; (2) “Justice buses,” or mobile legal aid offices, which will travel to clients so they can meet with lawyers in person or obtain legal information while staying close to home; (3) Additional investments in LawHelpMN, an online portal that posts fact sheets, booklets, videos and other legal information, including Somali and Spanish translations that will increase use; and (4) Increased legal representation to thousands of low income Minnesota households.
“These investments now will endure beyond the current public health emergency,” the RJM press release states, “and will bridge the long-standing digital divide experienced not only by rural communities, but by low-income people throughout Minnesota who lack resources to access technology.”
This Cares Act Funding, though well intended, will increase frivolous litigation and the legal costs associated with that litigation will be borne disproportionately by Landlords with taxpayers funding the tenants.