Spring 2015

Tenants from in and around the Lyndale neighborhood formed an association to sue their landlord, QT Properties. They named it “Inquilinos Unidos por Justicia.” Around the same time, tenants met with Steve Frenz, owner of the Apartment Shop, for the first time during a meeting at the LNA offices.

January 2016

The Minneapolis City Council voted to revoke Mahmood Khan’s rental licenses. The decision was not enforced pending a lawsuit Khan filed against the city over the action.

February 2016

A group of tenants sued Steve Frenz and The Apartment Shop over substandard conditions.

Spring 2016

Lawyers working with the tenants uncovered that Frenz conspired to obscure Spiro Zorbalas’s part-ownership of The Apartment Shop. Zorbalas was barred from owning rental property in Minneapolis due to earlier infractions.

February 2017

Steve Frenz and The Apartment Shop received the largest fine in Hennepin County housing court history as a result of committing perjury in the 2016 trial.

Throughout 2017

QT Properties sold most of its rental portfolio. IX organized with renters across the city against rent increases and began to build a campaign for rent stabilization in Minneapolis.

November 2017

Mahmood Khan’s rental licenses were revoked following the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear his appeal of a 2016 Minneapolis City Council decision. IX organized with tenants after hearing that the city planned on evicting them once Khan’s licenses were revoked.

August 2018

IX hosted a “Renters Assembly” to craft a Renters Bill of Rights that included just cause eviction, rent control, a relocation benefit for tenants whose landlord loses their rental license, and a right-of-first-refusal for tenants to buy their homes when their landlord sells their buildings.

September 2018

After pressure from IX, the City of Minneapolis bought eight houses from Mahmood Khan. With this purchase, 8 Northside families organizing with IX were able to stay and eventually own their homes.

Late 2018

Renters living in five buildings in the Corcoran Neighborhood of South Minneapolis and organizing with IX began negotiating with Steve Frenz to purchase their homes in order to found a housing cooperative.

June 2019

The Apartment Shop settles an $18.5 million class-action lawsuit covering thousands of tenants, the largest housing payout of its kind in US history.

Also that month, five IX members on the Northside purchased their homes from Mahmood Khan, successfully stopping their evictions.

November 2019

The Minneapolis City Council began considering a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Law, which would give tenants the first opportunity to buy their homes when their landlord sells.

December 2019

The Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance requiring landlords whose licenses are revoked to pay their tenants’ relocation fees. The ordinance was a direct response to the organizing that IX renters lead in the Frenz and Khan campaigns.

March 2020

IX radically shifted their focus to support tenants and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. For the first time, they began to engage with state officials to ensure tenants’s voices were heard during debates about the state’s response, which included an eviction moratorium. IX defended the moratorium from attempts by the landlord lobby to water it down.

May 2020

Steve Frenz sold the last of his property: five buildings in the Corcoran neighborhood. The tenants formed the Sky Without Limits (SWL) Cooperative, which is currently being stewarded by the Twin Cities Land Bank. Days later, residents of The Sky Without Limits cooperative formed community defense patrols to protect their homes during the unrest following the murder of George Floyd.

June 2021

As part of the HavenBrook campaign, tenants met with Representative Ilhan Omar. In a local park, they shared their stories about how they’ve been harmed and why they’re fighting back.

November 2021

On election day Minneapolis voters came together to overwhelmingly say Yes to Question 3. By passing this ballot question, the majority of city voters made a clear demand for a rent stabilization ordinance.

March 2022

Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit against HavenBrook Homes LLC. Tenants announced their vision for justice at a press conference in North Minneapolis. “I’m calling on HavenBrook Homes to meet with us tenants and fulfill our demands, to give us safe and dignified housing,” said Syvonne Perry.

May 2022

Tenants at 3100 Bloomington joined together to withhold May rent. Renters called on their apartment owner to replace security doors in the building (not just locks), to charge fair and respectful rent, to make necessary repairs, and to meet with them to discuss how to ensure safety in their homes.