Conversations with Betty — featuring Aubrey Albrecht, Vice President of Education and Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) at MHA.
Housing professionals don’t work with simple rulebooks.
They navigate federal fair housing laws, evolving state statutes, and city-by-city ordinances that change constantly. For members of the Minnesota Housing Association (MHA), missing one detail can mean lawsuits, fines, or months of lost rent.
So MHA didn’t build a chatbot.
They built Mihra — a purpose-built AI assistant trained exclusively on Minnesota housing law, MHA publications, and local ordinances to deliver fast, accurate, and defensible guidance to members.
MHA represents more than 2,100 housing organizations across Minnesota. Their members manage properties in dozens of cities, each with its own rules layered on top of state and federal law.
That means teams must remember:
How long to store abandoned belongings
What notice periods apply — and where
Which local ordinances override state statutes
These aren’t theoretical details. They’re legal obligations. Mihra was built to make this complexity manageable — and to reduce compliance risk across the entire membership.
Unlike public AI tools, Mihra only answers from curated, authoritative sources, including:
Minnesota landlord-tenant law (504B)
City-level housing codes
Federal fair housing regulations
MHA publications and policy guidance
She also avoids anything that is only proposed law, ensuring members don’t act on draft legislation or incomplete ordinances.
Mihra doesn’t guess. She answers with sources — and links directly to statutes members can verify themselves.
In Mihra's first six months:
330 members used Mihra
1,150+ conversations took place
Conversations averaged nearly 3 messages each, showing deep, multi-step interactions
MHA then launched a limited public version — giving non-members two questions per week as a preview:
67 public users
129 conversations
Nearly 2 messages per conversation, showing people actively use their full allotment
This validated Mihra as both a powerful member tool and a natural funnel into membership.
Mihra isn’t just for members. MHA’s 14-person staff team uses her to:
Draft certification and compliance emails
Answer complex affordable-housing questions
Reduce repetitive inquiries
Save hours — especially during high-volume periods
She’s become a daily productivity layer across the organization.
MHA’s long-term vision is to integrate Mihra directly into property management platforms — allowing other AI tools to consult her automatically to ensure Minnesota-specific compliance. This creates a future where specialized AI systems work together to deliver faster, safer, more accurate decisions.
Mihra shows what happens when associations take ownership of their knowledge and turn it into purpose-built AI:
Less risk
Faster answers
More confident members
Stronger industry leadership
For Minnesota housing professionals, Mihra isn’t just helpful — she’s becoming essential.