A Minneapolis landlord has been ordered to pay the state more than $1 million in attorney's fees and other costs associated with an investigation into his renting practices.
Minneapolis landlord ordered to pay $1 million in legal fees after tenants' rights violations
Judge notes a "disrespectful and unlawful treatment of vulnerable low-income residential tenants."
March 24, 2022 at 11:00PM
![Steve Meldahl has dozens of properties across Minneapolis and is often facing fines and other entanglements with the city over resident complaints. But Meldahl says people often don't realize the state tenants leave his homes in after being evicted or moving out. This particular house was moved out of last week and despite the dirty mattress in the middle of the living room, it also has multiple piles of dog poop, visibly dirty diapers, and dirty clothes and other damage, and he can't fix anything for more than 20 days. ] ELIZABETH FLORES • liz.flores@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/BGAF2O46XMVDLTEG7E6DYG7MWQ.jpg?&w=712)
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said this week that the Hennepin County District Court ruled that Steven Meldahl must pay a total of $1,072,818.
"Most landlords are doing the right thing by their tenants, and I thank them for it," Ellison said in a statement. "But let this ruling be a strong deterrent to those landlords who are abusing their tenants and the people of Minnesota: If you do not stop, we will hold you accountable with all the tools the law allows."
The court did not order restitution for the tenants, though Ellison's office said it did request that they "be reimbursed and compensated for their suffering."
"The case secured relief in the form of better conditions in the homes due to the order that Meldahl make repairs, but no cash was provided to current or past tenants," Ellison's office said in an e-mail to the Star Tribune.
Ellison's office sued Meldahl and his business, S.J.M. Properties Inc., in October 2019 for "preying on low-income tenants in a systematic and widespread eviction-for-profit scheme."
Two years later, a Hennepin County district judge ruled that Meldahl "knowingly and in bad faith" violated the rights of 267 families who rented his properties. The court also found the landlord guilty of charging tenants more than 8% in late fees and stopping them from contacting city inspectors for help.
In that ruling, Judge Patrick Robben fined Meldahl $133,500 for his "disrespectful and unlawful treatment of vulnerable low-income residential tenants." Robben said the landlord engaged in "brazen and deplorable" conduct and allowed tenants to live with infestations of "biblical plague proportions" at his rental properties.
The judge also said then that the state could petition Meldahl to recover its legal costs associated with the lawsuit.
Meldahl's attorney, David Shulman, declined to comment Thursday.
Meldahl owns about 25 properties in north Minneapolis. According to court documents, he evicts 99% of his tenants in a given year and has been cited more 1,300 times for city housing code violations at his rental properties since 2009.
The money will be deposited into the state's general fund.
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