Minneapolis landlord fined for ‘horrific’ rental conditions, ‘brazen and deplorable’ practices

A Hennepin County district judge has fined a Minneapolis landlord $133,500 for what he called horrific conditions in his rental properties.

Judge Patrick Robben ruled Monday that landlord Steven Meldahl operated in bad faith by telling tenants that they were not allowed to contact city inspectors, violating the rights of 267 families who rented his properties in and around north Minneapolis.

Robben levied a fine of $500 per family. He also issued a permanent injunction preventing Meldahl from engaging in illegal and deceptive practices and gave him until Dec. 15 to comply with all housing correction notices.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison first filed a civil lawsuit against Meldahl and his rental company in Sept. 2019, alleging that he falsely represented to tenants that he could prevent them from City of Minneapolis health and safety home inspections and that he could charge them late rent fees over 8%. He declared the state’s victory over Meldahl’s "brazen and deplorable" practices Tuesday.

"Meldahl has bragged that he has evicted 99% of his tenants," Ellison said in a 2019 press release. "He has called himself ‘the most experienced inner-city landlord probably in the history of the city.’"

Ellison said that the "scheme" forced low-income residents to pay big security deposits and high monthly rent to live in "dilapidated houses" that Meldahl required tenants to repair, refusing to do so himself, according to a 2019 press release. If tenants sought inspections, Ellison alleged that Meldahl then kept security deposits, many of which exceeded $2,000.

Soon after the filing, the court granted an injunction and required that all of Meldahl’s properties undergo inspection — 383 housing code violations were found at 27 of his properties, Ellison said.

In February of this year, a court ruled that his $50 per month charges on top of an existing 8% late rent fee violated a state law that caps such fees at 8%. A just over week-long bench trial took place in May and Robben ultimately made his ruling Monday.

David Shulman, Meldahl’s attorney, declined to comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.