City of Rochester Advances Efforts to Address Historic Discriminatory Property Covenants

The City of Rochester continues its commitment to acknowledging and addressing the legacy of discriminatory property covenants through participation in the Just Deeds Coalition. The Coalition was established to help communities and property owners discharge (remove) racially restrictive covenants from property titles. This service is offered at no cost to property owners. 

In 2016, the University of Minnesota launched the Mapping Prejudice project, which conducted extensive research on restrictive covenants in Hennepin County. Mapping Prejudice is now working to map the City of Rochester to support the identification and removal of discriminatory covenants from local properties. 

On March 22, 2021, the Common Council approved Resolution 05121, formally joining the Just Deeds Project. 

As part of this ongoing work, volunteers with the Rochester NAACP recently reviewed historic Olmsted County property records using the Mapping Prejudice research tools to identify properties that may contain historic racially restrictive language. These types of covenants were commonly used decades ago across the country to exclude individuals from property ownership and residence based on race. While they are unenforceable today, this language may still remain in archived documents unless formally removed. Receiving a notification does not indicate any wrongdoing by current property owners. 

Letters have been sent to relevant property owners inviting them to participate in this voluntary effort to remove discriminatory covenants through the City’s Just Deeds program. Participation is completely voluntary and all services are provided at no cost. 

Property owners can respond by completing the online form or contacting justdeeds@rochestermn.gov for assistance. City teammates are available to answer questions, explain the process and assist with next steps. 

The City of Rochester thanks community members for their engagement in this important work to recognize and address past discriminatory practices.