VLN is happy to provide a number of training materials and on demand CLEs on a variety of legal issues. If you have a suggestion for a topic that you’d like to see a training about, please contact Muria. If there is a training that used to be here that you’d like to see, please let us know and we can send it to you.

HOUSING LAW 101

  • Responding to the Eviction Surge: Kick-off and Training: On Demand (January 2023)
    This training is for anyone, but will be especially helpful to those answering the VLN Board of Director’s call to commit to taking 1 housing court advice clinic shift for January, February and March. It will cover the basics of eviction law, how court clinics work, and readily available resources and support for clinic attorneys.
  • Eviction Expungement Training: On Demand
    Learn the basics of eviction expungement: why expungement is important, the legal standards, and the process.
  • Rent Escrow Training 101: On Demand
    When a landlord won’t make repairs, tenants can sue in court with a rent escrow action to get repairs made. This training will walk volunteers through the basics of the rent escrow process, from the 14-day letter to possible trial, hopefully giving volunteers the tools to successfully take on a rent escrow case for a low-income tenant!
  • Ethical Considerations in Housing Court
    This training covers the ethical considerations that often appear when representing tenants in Housing Court from an ethics attorney who has volunteered in Housing Court many times himself.
  • Housing Volunteer Training 101
    Did you know there are 5 ways to volunteer with VLN’s Housing Law Program? This training will cover those different areas to help you find the right fit for you.
  • Eviction Timeline
    This training covers the life cycle of an eviction: from the time it is filed through when it’s expunged. This training is highly recommended for all VLN Housing volunteers.

HOUSING LAW 201

  • Eviction Defense 201: Beyond Jurisdictional Defenses: On Demand (April 2023)
    This training builds upon VLN’s first eviction defense training, “Responding to the Surge”, by going more in-depth into common eviction defenses we see in housing courts such as repair issues, retaliation, non-material breach, inappropriate ledger charges and fair housing.
  • Annual Housing Law Seminar 2022 Kick Off
    This presentation includes a Judicial Officer panel with Referee Kathryn Bergstom (2nd Judicial District), Referee James Watchke-Koranne (10th Judicial District), and Referee Franklin Reed (4th Judicial District), and a volunteer panel with Scott Kreighbaum, Jeremy Greenhouse, and Patricia Bloodgood!
  • Best Practices When Working with People
    This presentation from Luci Russell, (they/them) BWS, MSW, LGSW encourages viewers to challenge their biases by reflecting on their privilege and power and the relationship dynamic between attorneys and clients.
  • Bias and Its Effect on the Legal Profession
    This presentation explores the lack of diversity in the legal profession and the effect that has on clients with a particular emphasis on how bias impacts housing issues. It offers concrete recommendations so that every participant will be equipped to address these problems, both individually and institutionally.
  • Reasonable Accommodations as a Defense to Eviction
    Federal and state fair housing laws protect tenants with disabilities from discrimination, including evictions when the landlord fails to reasonably accommodate the tenant’s disabilities. Experienced housing attorneys from Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid in Minneapolis share about the use of Reasonable Accommodations on behalf of tenants with disabilities in defending eviction. This training will provide an overview of the relevant laws and practical recommendations for volunteer attorneys representing tenants in this context.
  • Minnesota Landlord-Tenant Anti-Retaliation Law after Central Housing Associates v. Olson
    This training covers the Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling in Central Housing Associates v. Olson, which established a retaliation defense in breach of lease eviction cases. Presenter Paul Birnberg, a former Senior Housing Attorney from HOME Line and one of the tenant’s attorneys in the Central Housing Case, discusses the historical foundations for anti-retaliation defenses in housing cases, the current landscape, and possible implications of this ruling going forward.
  • Federally-Assisted Housing 101: Section 8, Public Housing and More; What Housing Volunteers Should Know 
    This training briefly covers the basics of subsidized housing to give volunteers a very general overview and understanding of some of the different programs.

OTHER TRAININGS

  • Learn to Use Reasonable Accommodation Tools to Get & Save Homes
    All persons with disabilities have rights to reasonable accommodation and modifications from owners, managers and others in order to get and keep their homes. This training covers who qualifies as disabled, how to make successful requests, where to find help when denied; and more.
  • Housing Court Perspectives on the End of the Eviction Moratorium
    All protections in the moratorium sunset on June 1, 2022. As was expected, the courts have been dealing with a surge of eviction cases since that time. This panel discussion shares different perspectives on what it is like to deal with the surge from court staff, lawyers representing tenants and lawyers representing landlords.