Mpls. landlords fight bid to limit vetos of tenants

In Minneapolis, one City Council member proposed limiting landlords from rejecting potential tenants based on credit, past evictions, and criminal histories. The intent behind the policy — ensuring those with a checkered past have a chance to clean their slate.

Landlords, property management companies and developers are pushing back with arguments that the policy will raise costs in a myriad of different ways and that rising costs will put additional supply constraints on an already tight market.

There’s little chance of a policy like this taking root in North Dakota, but the issue invites the question — is there more we could be doing to help those with a genuine interest in changing their past circumstances improve their lot in life? And if so, what solution would the private sector provide if they were invited to take the issue up themselves before an activist government landed this one as their next problem to solve?