Overview

Beginning in the 1910s, racial covenants banned property owners from selling, renting, or allowing their homes to be used by people of certain races. Most covenants targeted Black people, forcing Black community members to live in racially segregated areas of the City and preventing them from getting mortgages, buying property, or building wealth.

Racial covenants were outlawed by 1968 but still have lasting effects. For example, our neighborhoods are still racially segregated in the same way they were when racial covenants were in effect. Racially segregated neighborhoods have fewer parks and trees, more environmental hazards, poor access to supermarkets and medical care, and underfunded schools. In 2019, only 25% of Black residents owned homes, the lowest black homeownership rate of any metro area in the nation at the time, while White homeownership stood at 77%.

From 2016 to 2020, the Mapping Prejudice team at the University of Minnesota used technology and volunteers to review thousands of documents, finding over 8,000 racial covenants in the City of Minneapolis.

In 2019, Minneapolis Senator Jeff Hayden and Minneapolis Representative Jim Davnie successfully championed legislation that enables Minnesota homeowners to formally respond to racially restrictive covenants on their home titles.

In 2020, the City of Golden Valley developed the idea for the Just Deeds Project and organized the Just Deeds Coalition – a group of community stakeholders committed to acknowledging and addressing systemic racism in housing in Minnesota.

The Minneapolis Just Deeds Project helps homeowners discharge racial covenants from their properties.

Eligibility

Participation is free for eligible property owners in Minneapolis. To qualify, your property must be marked in red on the Just Deeds map and all owners of the property must participate. Applications are processed in the order received, depending on staff availability.

If approved, you'll receive resources to understand racial covenants, their impact, and the City's efforts to address them. The City will help obtain your covenant, create a discharge form, and file it on your property's title, all at no cost. 

Just Deeds Application