Minnesota attorney general sides with mobile home owners fighting redevelopment

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is throwing her support for St. Anthony mobile home park residents who are now in a fierce legal fight to save their community.

In an amicus court brief, Swanson argues that residents of Lowry Grove never had a fair chance to buy the property beneath their homes as guaranteed by a 1991 state law.

Instead, mobile home park owner Lowry Grove Partnership and the party buying the property, The Village, structured the $6 million land deal to deny residents their right to buy the property first, Swanson said.

They also withheld information about the pending sale, she said.

When residents persuaded Aeon Management, an affordable housing nonprofit, to match the $6 million offer on their behalf on June 10, the land was sold to The Village on the next business day.

The Village has said it plans to remove all 97 trailer homes and redevelop the property.

Residents now are suing both the seller and buyer, asking a judge to undo the deal and allow residents and Aeon to buy the mobile home park.

"What we are seeing is the seller and buyer intentionally depriving the residents of their right of first refusal," Swanson said. "There were a series of different things they did, all designed to deprive residents of their statutory rights."

This is the first legal test of the law, one reason why Swanson said she weighed in on the case at the trial court.

"Any help we can get is truly appreciated," said Aeon President Alan Arthur.

Attorneys for Lowry Grove Partnership did not return a call for comment.

The Village, associated with Wayzata-based Continental Property Group, defended its actions and said the land deal complied with the law.

"From the very beginning, The Village LLC has followed the state statute and we will continue to do so," according to a statement. "The Village LLC has offered more assistance to Lowry Grove residents than what will be offered to them through the state fund.

"We hope to conclude the litigation promptly, and focus our resources on, among other things, easing the transition for the residents."

According to the court filing, Lowry Grove owners notified residents of the pending sale for $6 million on April 26 and demanded a closing by June 15. The owner also required $1 million in earnest money and withheld documents from the residents.

Aeon and the residents submitted their $6 million purchase agreement on June 10. But The Village closed on the sale on June 13.

"If defendants are permitted to unreasonably deny park residents' rights and hurry and cut off their ability to prevent park closure, it would provide license for future owners to engage in similar conduct and harm both residents and the public," according to the attorney general's brief.

Manufactured home parks represent an important source of affordable housing in the Twin Cities, Swanson said.

The 83 mobile home parks in the Twin Cities house 39,000 people, but the number of parks are on the decline. The cost of living in a mobile home — about $701 per month, according to the Metropolitan Council — is much less than the $1,262 average monthly cost for traditional homeowners.

"Loss of the park will have a profound impact on the lives of the residents," Swanson said. "We have parents terribly worried their children will be uprooted from their schools if they are forced to move. In other cases, people have invested their life savings in these mobile homes …

"In many cases it's the only way for them to have their shot at the American dream of homeownership."

Shannon Prather • 612-673-4804