A Hennepin County housing court referee on Monday appointed an administrator to oversee 43 rental properties owned by Mahmood Khan after the embattled Minneapolis landlord lost his rental licenses and exhausted his legal appeals.

The decision by Referee Mark Labine was hailed as victory by tenants right advocates because the tenants, most of whom have low incomes, had been informed by the city's regulatory division that they would face eviction on Feb. 28 unless they moved.

The city had begun organizing efforts with a non profit groups to seek alternative housing for the tenants. In an affidavit submitted earlier to the court, Noah Schuchman, head of regulatory services, said he supported the appointment of an administrator.

"I feel good about this," said Tecara Ayler who had been renting a house from Khan on the 3400 block of Penn Ave. N. and had been given orders to move out. "It does relieve some of the pressure." But, she added, "We still don't know what happens next."

Never in the history of Minnesota have so many buildings been put under one administrator by a court, said Larry McDonough, who heads pro bono legal work for the Dorsey & Whitney law firm, and has represented some 10,000 tenants and landlords over the past 34 years.

McDonough, who is not involved in the case, said it was also unprecedented that a tenants remedies action was used in court to have an administrator appointed. Such actions, which are rare in themselves, are normally aimed at getting a landlord to make repairs.

"It's a huge victory for the tenants," he said, and sends a message to other tenants and landlords that if they lose their license it does not mean tenants will be evicted.

"It puts a lot of pressure on the landlord to sell because he is not going to get any of the rent, but he still has to make the mortgage payments," McDonough said.

The request for the administrator was brought by pro bono attorneys at Faegre Baker Daniels on behalf of tenants who faced eviction.

The buildings are all either single family homes or duplexes and house several hundred tenants. Some tenants have complained that some of them are in serious disrepair.

Referee Labine agreed to the request by Faegre lawyers to the appointment of James Bartholomew of Lighthouse Management of New Brighton. He who testified Monday that he will appoint a property manager to collect rents and bring in inspectors to determine what repairs need to made on the buildings, and whether it makes financial sense to do so.

Faegre attorney Jim Poradek said after the hearing that Labine's action will "allow a professional crisis manager to figure out how to solve the problems."

Khan submitted a memorandum to Labine on Monday opposing the appointment of an administrator, blaming a combined effort by the city "and big law firms" united against him. "This lawsuit is like being spat upon by thieves and this court should waste no time in turning it away," he wrote.

However, after the court hearing Khan appeared to have changed his view. "It's beneficial for everyone," he said.

In 2015, the Minneapolis City Council voted to revoke all his rental licenses after he lost two licenses over rental violations. Under city ordinance, designed to root out bad landlord practices, if a landlord loses two licenses, he automatically faces revocation of all his licenses for five years.

Khan appealed the revocations all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear it, setting in motion the city action that banned Khan from renting out properties in Minneapolis.

In a letter to Khan last week, Schuchman warned him that he could face criminal charges if he continued to rent out his properties. Faegre attorneys presented an affidavit to Referee Labine today indicating that Khan had just brought in a new renter. Khan denied in an interview that he was continuing to take on new renters.

He said that of the 43 buildings he currently owns, five or six are vacant and he has so far sold three of them.