[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6324964,"mediaKeyId","2335191-0412e5021846607b354b7198d78f72dc","parentId",2335191,"title","Minnesota Housing warns of federal funding uncertainty, reports $269M dispersed from 2023–24 resources","audioSeconds",4116,"startMs",2256000,"endMs",6372000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2335191-0412e5021846607b354b7198d78f72dc&start=2256&end=6372","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2335191-0412e5021846607b354b7198d78f72dc/thumbnail_2256000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6324964/Minnesota/Minnesota-Housing-warns-of-federal-funding-uncertainty-reports-269M-dispersed-from-202324-resources","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6324964-f13936cc2f00121950030de559f89094/orig.mp4?Expires=1771159760&Signature=YuGDkDhvDRFlSt9jN671Y3LlTBjXbTb8-Y2GHKqYRaY3YXBXVX9CF7n~HjjrXC5K1zsQuzSaYZZqx0JunaTyaKuPWL4AWar8vLGT1uTo8XLhffcUay8sx-0HTfUQjL5t100vQrsLWXKUnWt1v8zPkTKuTSh1CiICieOxpCIRruU4ZS~coeAP~f1bnrgkgeRpD9MPPdFzdnKz5GokSOBrR7Yxi4m3-jNQ9HbzNyx6B8~ZZZEFHewQDux5b9hlSaAGb2G71Bmf-ZJKBuPJ6c71G2lvsWlUMKsljbZ943AKsnA~5LoEQTGm4q7vHjXywOu7UNM~nVQ2FUazww-aEcHC7w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Minnesota Senate Media Services","date","2025-02-18T00:00:00Z","article","Jennifer Ho, commissioner of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, updated the Senate Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention on federal funding flows, program administration and the agency’s recent activity.

Ho said appropriated resources comprised about 15% of agency activity in 2024 and described major federal funding streams that affect state housing activity, including HOME, the National Housing Trust Fund, HOPWA and HUD project‑based rental assistance. “By far, the largest line item that we touch is that we’re the administrator for 34,000 units of privately owned, HUD assisted, project based rental assistance,” Ho said, adding the program moves about $250 million a year and that median household income for residents in those households is roughly $15,000.

The commissioner reported the agency had dispersed nearly $269,000,000 from 2023 and 2024 resources as of the week of Feb. 3 and had committed an additional roughly $620–630,000,000. She explained the typical timing: appropriations are often committed quickly through awards and RFPs, while disbursements follow the construction and draw schedule of each project. Ho said some funds remain unspent because projects are not yet shovel‑ready and require coordination of multiple financing sources.

Ho flagged recent operational issues tied to federal systems and HUD interactions. The agency experienced a temporary inability to access a federal payment system and later encountered an unusually low account balance when attempting to draw routine administrative funds; HUD described the incident as a glitch and said it would be corrected within two weeks, she said. Ho told the committee the agency has about 30 staff dedicated to administering the HUD project‑based contract and warned that inability to draw HUD funds for administrative expenses would threaten their ability to continue as the administrator for that contract.

Committee members asked about larger federal risks. Ho said she had learned that a HUD contact who administered the agency’s Section 811 contract was no longer employed at HUD and said rulemaking and contract execution require trained federal staff. “If we lose the workforce... I think that it will have the same effect of having cut the funding,” she said, referring to expected federal staffing reductions.

The commissioner also summarized other agency matters: the Metro‑wide sales tax for housing transfers funds to the agency (MHFA received an estimated $26.6 million for FY24 and an estimated $41.9 million for FY25), the agency has launched RFPs and intent‑to‑apply processes for programs funded in 2023, and the ratio of operating expense to assistance provided was reported at 2.45% in 2024. Ho said some programs launched by the legislature have high demand: an intent‑to‑apply for a Local Housing Trust Fund grant drew 66 responses requesting more than $12 million for $5.8 million available; the Bring It Home rental assistance application was launched and staff estimated it could serve 5,000 households with current funding.

Chair Port and members asked follow‑up questions about community development block grant disaster recovery, Section 811 contracts, the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program awards, liquidity on the agency’s bank side relative to lending and manufactured housing acquisitions, and the time lag between commitments and disbursements. Commissioner Ho and agency staff said they would follow up with additional details in writing for several of the committee’s questions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention - 02/18/25","oneSentenceSummary","Commissioner Jennifer Ho told the Senate Housing Committee Minnesota Housing dispersed nearly $269 million from 2023–24 appropriations, reported commitments of roughly $620–630 million more, and flagged federal risks including potential HUD staffing reductions and uncertainties around HOME and other federal programs.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature MN, Minnesota","taxId",77817,"location","Minnesota","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6324970,"Senate bill would fund statewide tenant education hotline; author’s amendment adopted",910,1345000,2255000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2335191-0412e5021846607b354b7198d78f72dc&start=1345&end=2255","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2335191-0412e5021846607b354b7198d78f72dc/thumbnail_1345000.jpg","/articles/6324970/Minnesota/Senate-bill-would-fund-statewide-tenant-education-hotline-authors-amendment-adopted","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6324970-c7dade49931b0b129849195e6c61750f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771159760&Signature=l-taMI3RWs~krBHNtzfxKhM017A8IkOtFzP04dKx4H~I9~X6dShwbgBiHanPTFlDcm0dWkPD8QWfN2n9VSszjuDA7BtOjiiwWpZ2mdlAxOJM6UNF529p854R2L3C8SYBy03z73wx~Pr1MuaZI4afz3fYx53uH9SYcwOl4cqyRutpUSVDqxH58nHYBpYQhU3glsDJWUxIwdZHNAgCva1cHA9MA0jWirQpPOJX3IdVKYfVDptwF0ie1QAHb2K~PwQ-ZnrbxL12lS9ON-Q75ne~XVPn6D~hsWP93BGkGQwk-Isgb8cJBBJszQTzjhMPBr1pxqmmyRfKgHwBIqMOBNfRgw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Senate File 672, presented by Senator Mohammed, would appropriate funds through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to establish a statewide tenant education and hotline service offering free, confidential legal advice and education to renters.

Senator Mohammed described constituent cases his office receives — landlords entering units without notice, withheld deposits and miscalculated payments — and called for a “widely advertised, fully resourced, and responsive statewide Tenant education hotline service.” Eric Haughey, executive director of Home Line (the existing statewide tenant advocacy organization), testified that Home Line operates a free tenant hotline and other programs and that demand has increased sharply: “Last year... we advised around 19,932 renters from all 87 counties,” he said, and added that the organization had advised about 20,000 households annually since 2022.

Haughey and other witnesses described Home Line’s services and capacity needs: multilingual legal advice (English, Spanish, Somali, Hmong), eviction prevention outreach including multilingual letters to defendants, training for tenants and service providers, and partnership referrals from 2‑1‑1 and other agencies. Michael Dahl, Home Line’s public policy director, read a client letter describing a heating repair and rent escrow case that was resolved with Home Line’s assistance. Nicole Weiler, senior program manager for United Way 2‑1‑1, said 2‑1‑1 referred 2,221 calls to Home Line last year and that referrals to Home Line have increased 63% over two years.

The committee considered and adopted the author’s amendment A1 offered by Senator Mohammed (committee voice vote). Committee members thanked witnesses and the bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the session omnibus appropriation. The committee did not record a roll‑call vote on final passage during the hearing.","Senate File 672 would appropriate funds through Minnesota Housing for a statewide tenant education and hotline service. The committee adopted the author’s amendment A1 and laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6324975,"Senate bill would fund statewide housing mediation network to reduce evictions",0,2042000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2335191-0412e5021846607b354b7198d78f72dc&start=2042&end=2042","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2335191-0412e5021846607b354b7198d78f72dc/thumbnail_2042000.jpg","/articles/6324975/Minnesota/Senate-bill-would-fund-statewide-housing-mediation-network-to-reduce-evictions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6324975-f269cff9b4e400e6e0f23910afb70af7/orig.mp4?Expires=1771159760&Signature=TjWy6uIVrCzKI4WRnmtxZD-gvSCYG28lkAJVtKeCqg5yyNeVaE9VPSkDZrn5b9e~Ivu5UBscz3yJNC3EpwY3UQMJ-cCl4sLbVsx6ss5wWvMNxHntYTXOuRCgzpw1ePMKDgGiPObLJ6pGXtwBNbe9K5fIUUWjRsDTYJ6aW859mME86e2hUa9X8r8AaWTKLDUkdfepY2vI8EyV7AoMIY3xMMg6YGjK1KXdvwbnBA6ZbUbpzl1Xl5BGNn2AYkU1UudfYBZqXEjaioQRB9Ug0bx7Ic6xQU-Cot8Zx1BUyS3Jj-4c1QqtCun9iupXfFHexxasjRM4O7NBVacOKrx~NQTgdw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Senate File 830 would appropriate $4,400,000 in fiscal years 2026–27 to Community Mediation Minnesota to administer a statewide housing mediation program, proponents told the Senate Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention.

Supporters said mediation is an effective alternative to court that can keep people housed and lower costs for landlords, tenants and the courts. “Upwards of 90% of cases are able to be worked out through mediation,” said Senator Bolden during the committee presentation. Katie Arnold, co‑executive director of Community Mediation Minnesota, told the committee the umbrella organization coordinates seven state‑certified community dispute resolution programs and partners with culturally specific providers.

The bill would fund dispute resolution services, eviction prevention and navigation statewide. Testimony outlined current reach and gaps: Community Mediation Minnesota’s network has active operations in 77 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, the witnesses said, and they described particular shortages in the western part of the state. Beth Bailey, executive director of Community Mediation and Restorative Services, described mediation as a “last mile in the housing ecosystem” that produces negotiated outcomes acceptable to both tenants and rental property providers.

Witnesses said the state funding would be used to expand capacity through mediator training, volunteer recruitment, a statewide shared database for data aggregation, and coordination among the seven certified programs. Jennifer Frisbie, director of operations and programs at Community Mediation Minnesota, said pairing mediation with rental assistance produced measurable results in a prior program: “By pairing mediation and rental assistance together, we... connected [participants] to $14,140,000 in rental assistance since just 1 year,” she said, describing those funds as often becoming part of mediated settlements that prevented evictions.

Committee members asked operational questions including typical session length; Katie Arnold said in many court‑adjacent mediations the process can be resolved during the court appearance and “it will take maybe 45 minutes.” Members also asked about follow‑up mediations and durability of agreements; Arnold said parties often return to mediated processes when they need to change prior agreements.

After testimony and member discussion, Sen. Porte (chair) said Senate File 830 is “laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus.” The committee did not record a roll‑call vote on the bill during the hearing.

The committee hearing record shows proponents framed the proposal as a statewide, locally staffed approach emphasizing cultural competency, language access and accommodations for people with disabilities. The witness panel highlighted that community programs are locally designed and that state funding would support both daily operations and strategic expansion into underserved counties.","Senate File 830 would appropriate $4.4 million in FY26‑27 to Community Mediation Minnesota to expand statewide housing mediation services that proponents say resolve roughly 90% of landlord‑tenant disputes and reach 77 of 87 counties.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Minnesota Housing warns of federal funding uncertainty, reports $269M dispersed from 2023–24 resources

Senate bill would fund statewide tenant education hotline; author’s amendment adopted

Senate bill would fund statewide housing mediation network to reduce evictions