National Housing Law Project Supports Twin Cities Tenants Fighting Unfair Eviction Debt Collection

ST. PAUL, M.N.—The National Housing Law Project (NHLP), along with Housing Justice Center and HOME Line, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of three Minnesota tenants suing a debt collection lawsuit mill over unfair debt collection practices, including inflating the amount of rent that tenants owed in an eviction case. 

Landlord Resource Network, LLC, a debt collection lawsuit mill, filed eviction cases against the tenants on behalf of their landlords, and attempted to collect thousands of dollars of rent and fees from the three tenants that they had either already paid or did not owe. The tenants then sued the LLC in state court, but after the LLC removed the case to Federal district court, their cases were dismissed. 

Debt collection “lawsuit mills”  use illegal tactics to intimidate consumers into paying debts they may not owe, often using high-volume and partially automated litigation tactics to collect millions of dollars each year.

The amici asks that the Court of Appeals reverse the grant of summary judgment, remand for further proceedings, and hold the LLC to the highest standards under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 

“The high number of debt collection lawsuits being filed in Minnesota is a crisis for poor and working people. These lawsuits have even less protections and shorter timelines than evictions. Debt collection cases cause long-term harm to families who are just trying to keep a roof over their heads during a housing crisis. The Court should hold debt mill law firms to the letter of the law and not let them off the hook, leaving tenants to foot the bill for money they don’t owe,” said Lawrence McDonough, Senior Fellow with the National Housing Law Project. 

Evictions trap tenants in vicious cycles of housing insecurity and poverty and force them to choose between homelessness and predatory housing. Beyond the immediate loss of a home, evictions can make it harder for tenants to secure future housing. Evictions and their consequences disproportionately harm marginalized communities, with Black women, survivors of gender-based violence, families with children, and people with disabilities suffering evictions at markedly higher rates. 

Read the full amicus brief from the National Housing Law Project, Housing Justice Center, and HOME Line here.