With thousands behind on rent, new state law sets rules for aid With thousands of Minnesota tenants behind on rent, a new state law sets the rules for assistance As many as 50,000 Minn. tenants could be helped with unpaid rent. July 12, 2021 — 4:53am Text size Copy shortlink: Four months in arrears on her monthly rent of $980, Delia Spencer-Hartwig got some welcome news last week. The 31-year-old south Minneapolis woman was approved for rental assistance to pay back her landlord, courtesy of a statewide program dispensing federal funds to help renters and landlords affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds have yet to come through, but she can't be evicted from her one-bedroom apartment under a bill passed this month by the Legislature that says tenants cannot be evicted while their application for rental assistance is pending.