TITLE
Supporting the Second Judicial District Housing Court Workgroup’s proposal to maintain the confidentiality of eviction records pending case disposition.
BODY
WHEREAS, Resolution 17-2064 passed by the Saint Paul City Council in December 2017 directed the Fair Housing Workgroup to develop a Fair Housing Strategic Plan and the Fair Housing Workgroup presented a report titled “Fair Housing Work Group: Status update and policy and program options in response to Resolution 17-2064” to the City Council in March 2018; and
WHEREAS, an outgrowth of this work was Council Resolution # 18-1204, which outlined numerous housing policies and needed studies to advance Saint Paul’s housing goals; and
WHEREAS, Council Resolution # 18-1204 included within its directives a policy and legal analysis of tenant protection measures examining potential improvements to programs, local codes and state statutes; and
WHEREAS, the Council convened a policy discussion on August 14, 2019 to deliberate on many tenant protection policies which addressed tenant screening - including criminal and financial background checks, evictions, notices of sale, tenant remedy actions, and right to counsel; and
WHEREAS, the Council discussed the problem that eviction filings are available to prospective landlords or screening agencies before the tenants are aware of the filing or there is a disposition of the case; and
WHEREAS, the presence in tenant screening reports of dismissed eviction actions places tenants at an unfair and significant disadvantage in their search for safe, decent and affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, in 2018 of the 2,408 evictions filed in the Second Judicial District, 554 (23%) were dismissed;
WHEREAS, settled eviction actions in tenant screening reports also place tenants at a disadvantage in their search for safe, decent and affordable housing - as the settlement of the eviction case demonstrates capacity to address mistakes and should not be viewed in the same light...
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