Case docket
Heights Apartments, LLC v. Walz — U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
Heights Apartments, LLC v. Walz — 14 court filings in the archive, mostly from U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, filed between September 24, 2020 and November 20, 2023. Among them: 1 complaint.
Case facts
| Court | U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (9 filings); United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (3 filings) |
|---|---|
| Filings | 14 public filings |
| Filed | 2020-09-24 – 2023-11-20 |
| Document types | complaint (1) |
| Original PDFs | 2 of 14 |
Case summary
Heights Apartments, LLC v. Walz, No. 0:20-cv-02051 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, was filed September 24, 2020 by a landlord against Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, each sued in individual and official capacities, and a pseudonymous John Doe. The complaint pleads that executive orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic substantially impaired the plaintiff's contracts with its tenants, in counts under the Contracts Clause, the First Amendment right to trial and the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The court granted the state's motion to dismiss on December 31, 2020 and dismissed the complaint without prejudice. After a remand the court granted the defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings on June 20, 2023. The appeal briefs on this page run to November 20, 2023.
Case at a glance
| Parties | Plaintiff Heights Apartments, LLC; defendants Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, and Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota, each in his individual and official capacity, and John Doe, a pseudonymous defendant for officials to whom prosecution authority was delegated |
|---|---|
| Court and docket | U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, No. 0:20-cv-02051-NEB-DJF, before Judge Nancy Ellen Brasel; on appeal, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit No. 23-2686 |
| Program | Not named in the filings on this page. The subject is Minnesota's COVID-19 executive orders on evictions and lease enforcement |
| Claims | Count I, violation of the Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution against Governor Walz in his official capacity; Count II, violation of the right to trial under the First Amendment; Count III, violation of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment |
| Disposition or status | Judgment for the defendants. The complaint was dismissed without prejudice December 31, 2020; after remand, judgment on the pleadings was granted June 20, 2023 and motions to strike, to amend and for joinder were denied. The page ends with the appellant's reply brief of November 20, 2023 and holds no decision of the court of appeals |
| Status checked | 2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read |
What does the complaint allege?
That executive orders signed by the Governor substantially impaired the plaintiff's contracts with its tenants, and that the plaintiff was harmed in its ability to collect rent, to enforce material terms of those contracts and to seek redress in the courts.
What did the court decide?
On December 31, 2020 it granted the government's motion to dismiss, dismissed the complaint without prejudice and denied the preliminary injunction as moot. On June 20, 2023, after remand, it granted judgment on the pleadings, holding that the complaint fails to state a claim as a matter of law.
What is on this page about the appeal?
Three Eighth Circuit briefs in No. 23-2686: the appellant's opening brief of September 21, 2023, the appellees' response of October 24, 2023 and the appellant's reply of November 20, 2023. No opinion of the court of appeals is among the filings here.
Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.
Filings
14 public filings from this case, in filing-date order.
- ComplaintComplaint
- Defendants' motion to dismiss brief
- Defendants' opposition to preliminary injunction
- Supplemental brief on Jacobson v. Massachusetts
- Plaintiffs' reply in support of preliminary injunction —…
- Plaintiffs' opposition to motion to dismiss
- Amici curiae brief (housing and legal-aid organizations) — Heights Apartments v. Walz (8th Cir.)
- District court order — motion to dismiss and preliminary injunction — Heights Apartments v. Walz (8th Cir., 2020-12-31)
- Defendants' answer
- Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings brief — Heights Apartments v. Walz (8th Cir.)
- District court order — judgment on the pleadings and other motions — Heights Apartments v. Walz (8th Cir., 2023-06-20)
- Appellant's opening brief (8th Cir.)
- Appellees' response brief (8th Cir.)PDF
- Appellant's reply brief (8th Cir.)PDF
More documents from this docket
2 more documents from the same CourtListener docket (gov.uscourts.mnd.190040) are in the archive but are not among the 14 filings above.
Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.