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Hennepin County Housing

Hennepin County emergency rental assistance

The county’s long-standing program to support those most at need.

hands holding keys

Hennepin County provides emergency rental assistance for renters who are at immediate risk of eviction. The county’s 2026 budget included $9.6 million to prevent more than 2,500 evictions through the county’s emergency rent assistance program, Rent Help Hennepin.

Our commitment to eviction prevention

Hennepin County has invested deeply in preventing evictions, providing both emergency rent assistance and legal representation to low-income renters beyond what was offered before the pandemic.

In Housing Court, most landlords can afford to hire their own lawyer—unlike the renters they are taking to court.

Hennepin County Adult Representation Services (ARS) offers no-cost legal advice and representation for income-eligible residents facing eviction. Of the nearly 20,000 Housing Court cases ARS has handled since it began the work in 2021, more than 85% of renter clients have avoided eviction or had a favorable outcome (e.g., settlement, dismissal, repair order or expungement).

ARS housing attorneys work hand in glove with our emergency rent assistance team to facilitate settlements at housing court that allow tenants to remain in their homes. This partnership has ensured that thousands of tenants avoid eviction every year.

In 2026, our emergency rent assistance program is projected to be able to meet 44% of the total back rent owed by all low-income residents who had an eviction filing for nonpayment of rent. To ensure that available funds go toward households at greatest risk for homelessness, Hennepin County targets assistance to households with an eviction filing who are in our lowest-income threshold (at or below 30% of area median income). Assistance is further targeted to three populations—households with minor-aged children, people with disabilities, and seniors. In 2025, we were able to assist every household that requested assistance and met eligibility criteria.

Fluctuations in demand for emergency rent assistance impact the availability of assistance over the course of a given year. In the case of a sustained increased in demand over multiple months, our emergency rent assistance funding may be insufficient for the full year. In this scenario, we would either need additional emergency rent assistance funding—from the State of Minnesota or other partners—in order to sustain current eligibility criteria or restrict eligibility criteria in order to preserve our existing funding throughout the year.

A dynamic response

Historically, eviction filings fluctuate on a month-to-month basis, as shown in our public-facing evictions dashboard. Within this dynamic environment, we have established targeting criteria that prioritizes residents at greatest risk for homelessness while ensuring emergency rent assistance is available to eligible households.

In 2025, however, eviction filings in Hennepin County reached an all-time high with approximately 10,000 total filings. In response to this heightened eviction risk and subsequent increases in demand for emergency rent assistance, Hennepin County allocated $1.5 million in additional emergency rent assistance funding in October 2025, effectively preserving our emergency rent assistance eligibility criteria for the full year. By preserving emergency rent assistance availability throughout the year, Hennepin County and its partners ensured that eviction totals in 2025 remained relatively flat compared to the prior year, even as eviction filings increased to an all-time high.

This year, the City of Minneapolis has also partnered with Hennepin County to allocate an additional $1 million toward emergency rent support. All of this funding is allocated to emergency rent assistance at Hennepin County’s discretion. It represents a concerted priority to preserve housing stability for residents at risk of homelessness.

The city’s partnership is one of several external 2026 contributions to support the increase of renters needing assistance due to Operation Metro Surge and highlights the county’s ability to integrate new funds to grow impact.

Eviction prevention timeline

On average, our emergency rent assistance system processes payments within 14 days and expedites payments wherever needed based on the remaining timeline in a resident’s eviction proceedings. Our process is designed to meet the unique needs of each resident in the context of one of the fastest-paced housing courts in the nation.

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