Mapping Prejudice has identified a racial covenant on proeprties in Falcon Heights. Racial covenants are restrictions that developers and homeowners placed on properties from as early as 1910 to the early 1960s to prevent people who were not White from buying or occupying land. Most homeowners do not realize these exist. A Supreme Court ruling in 1948 (Shelley v. Kraemer) ruled them unenforceable and in 1953 the Minnesota Legislature prohibited their use. Hate appreciates:  Houses with discriminatory covenants on the title are worth, on average, 15% more than a similar house without a covenant.  In 2019 the Minnesota Legislature passed Minn. Stat. Sec. 507.18 to allow homeowners to record a discharge of restrictive covenant affecting protected classes with the County to make known their disapproval of them. 

Examples of racial covenants: 

DATE - 1946-04-23  

COVENANT:  No person or persons other than of the Caucasian race shall be permitted to occupy said premises or any part thereof.

DATE - 1948-04-01

COVENANT:  No lot, plot, or parcel shall be sold, leased, mortgaged, used or occupied, nor any right thereto be granted, given, or permitted to any person other than a member of the Caucasian race, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by persons who are servants.

History 

On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, the Falcon Heights City Council approved a resolution to join the Just Deeds Coalition to help raise awareness and assist property owners in discharging discriminatory covenants at no charge. With guidance from the Just Deeds project, Falcon Heights homeowners can disavow the discriminatory restrictive covenants on their property records. Because Just Deeds relies on volunteer hours from attorneys, and many homeowners requested that a racial covenant be removed from their property, the process has taken longer than anticipated.

Human Rights Day 2024

The City of Falcon Heights has now determined that City Staff with guidance from the Just Deeds project volunteer attorneys can assist property owners wishing to discharge a racial covenant from their property. On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, the City will recognize Human Rights Day by administratively assisting residents in completing their forms, notarizing them, and submitting them to Ramsey County. From 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM you are welcome at Falcon Heights City Hall, located at 2077 Larpenteur Ave. W. to start, and potentially complete, the process of discharging the racial covenant from your property deed, volunteers from Just Deeds and Ramsey County will be present to assist. 

From 6:00-6:30 PM Kirsten Delgard, co-founder and Project Director for Mapping Prejudice Project (mappingprejudice.umn.edu) will give a presentation on the history of discriminatory restrictive covenants, including specifics on Falcon Heights. The presentation will end with information on the Just Deeds Project (justdeeds.org).