Hennepin County Housing Court has ordered Quadrel Realty to fork over more than $49,500 in fines to the Brentwood Tenants Union after renters said the landlord failed to follow through on promised repairs and payments tied to last winter’s severe heating outages. Tenant organizers are calling it a rare win for renters in Minneapolis, but say daily problems at the three-building Brentwood complex near Loring Park are still very much a thing. Their attorneys warn that financial penalties will keep piling up until Quadrel complies.
In March the court ordered Quadrel to pay $49,500 to the Brentwood Tenants Union by March 20 and said additional fines of $750 per day would stack up until the landlord met its obligations, according to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. The outlet reports that many tenants who were promised rent credits or abatement still have not seen the money. "That winter, a number of tenants in the building had severe heat outages," Legal Aid attorney Julia Zwak told the paper.
Mid‑Minnesota Legal Aid, which represented the Brentwood Tenants Union, called the award an important enforcement tool and said the fines may be the largest ever awarded to a tenants union in Hennepin County, according to Legal Services State Support. Legal Aid said it filed an affidavit of noncompliance after the landlord repeatedly missed court deadlines to carry out the settlement.
Union formed after prolonged outages
Residents formed the Brentwood Tenants Union after boilers failed during the 2024–25 winter and many households spent days without heat, according to reporting by the Star Tribune. More than half of the complex’s 102 units signed on with the union as tenants pushed for repairs, safer entry, and rent relief.
A settlement reached in fall 2025 required Quadrel to fix the heating systems and issue a 50% rent abatement for the two months tenants say they went without heat, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder reports. But tenants and the union say follow-through has been spotty, with repeated maintenance delays and unresolved problems such as a persistent leak in the joint mail room and limited access to laundry facilities across the three buildings.
Quadrel Realty Group lists the Brentwood on its Minneapolis property pages and operates residential holdings in Minneapolis, Chicago and Miami, according to the owner’s website. Public listings show the Brentwood at several W. Grant Street addresses near Loring Park, including units marketed at 117–127 W. Grant St.
Legal context
Minnesota's Tenant Right to Organize law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2025, allows renters to form associations to push for repairs and bars landlords from retaliating; landlords who violate the rules can be ordered to pay damages and attorney fees, according to the Minnesota House. That statute, along with other emergency-tenant remedies, gives unions and their lawyers legal pathways to enforce settlements and seek court-ordered penalties when landlords do not comply.
Union leaders say they will keep door‑knocking and pursuing legal follow-up until everyone who lived through last winter’s outages receives the agreed credits. Advocates argue that strong enforcement will determine whether the relief is more than just words on paper. Quadrel did not respond to requests for comment in earlier reporting, according to FOX 9.
