Residents File Lawsuit Against Sartell Mobile Home Park Owners Over Decade-Long Sewage Issues and Neglect

(KNSI) — Four residents are suing the past and present management companies of the Sartell Mobile Home Park where they live.

The civil case was filed in Stearns County District Court, alleging problems dating back to 2014, which was when defendants David Reynolds and Frank Rolfe bought the park. The suit is accusing them of shuffling the park among several different shell companies while ignoring major health risks at the facility, such as the sewage and water system, which is choked by tree roots, causing sewage to back up in their yards and ooze out of shower drains and toilets. One resident found an open sewage pit under their home. The park is located only a block from the Mississippi River, and one of the tenants petitioned the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency about the potential environmental effects of the situation. The MPCA did cite the park’s owners in 2021 over the roots in the pipes.

The residents attempted to buy the park from Reynolds and Rolfe in 2016, getting an appraisal from CBRE, a noted global commercial real estate firm. The appraisal identified deficiencies and deferred maintenance in the sewer and water system. The residents say the cost to repair it scared away lenders and they were stuck to languish under landlords they loathed. It also points out the appraisal was made public to the owners, who ignored its findings.

A second gripe of the tenants is erratic billing for utility costs. The park switched to metered billing in May 2020, and monthly charges began to vary widely. One tenant was charged for 63,088 gallons of water in January 2023. Another owed almost $4,500 in February 2024 for allegedly using 335,510 gallons. The lawsuit says she had an anxiety attack after getting her bill and needed to be hospitalized.

Another concern is allegations Reynolds and Rolfe lied about a Minnesota law that was allegedly passed in 2023 requiring the tenants to sign a new lease. The companies replaced existing terms with something less favorable than what the residents had been grandfathered in under. When the tenants questioned the need for the change and provided a copy of their current rental agreement, the company moved to evict them. The case was eventually thrown out of court.

The complaint asks the court to order Reynolds and Rolfe to make needed repairs to the wastewater and plumbing systems and correct the wild swings in their utility billing. It also wants the court to tell the owners to honor the previous leases and revoke the restrictive new lease agreements.

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