SARTELL, MINN. – Marcie Knox thought she found her forever home when she moved into a mobile home park here in 2017. The 65-year-old, a longtime cook at businesses around St. Cloud, fell in love with the mobile home’s lot, which had an apple tree in front and sprawling field in the back.
But within four days of moving in, raw sewage oozed into her toilet and shower. She said the property manager told her they had never heard of that happening, even though neighbors told her it’s a common problem at Sartell Mobile Home Park.
The owners of the park, who rent the lots but are responsible for the infrastructure, paid for repairs the first time. But then it happened again — and again. In 2021, a plumber found an open pool of raw sewage under Knox’s trailer. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency later cited the owners, attributing the sewage to her clay-tile sewer pipes being infiltrated by tree roots.
“I had to use my stimulus [check] to get it fixed because they denied it was their problem,” Knox said.
More than three years later — and with the park under new ownership — the infrastructure problems still haven’t been fixed. That’s one of the reasons Knox, along with three neighbors, are suing the past and current owners.
The class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Stearns County District Court by Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid and Robins Kaplan.
“We have been getting complaints from residents at the Sartell Mobile Home Park for years,” said Justin Perl, litigation director at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, which provides legal services to people living in poverty or who are over 60 or have disabilities. “It’s just a slew of widespread violations that need to be addressed.”
The lawsuit cites three main concerns: that the owners knowingly allow infrastructure problems to persist; installed utility meters that result in “wildly inaccurate” charges, and pressured residents into signing more restrictive leases by claiming that the Legislature mandated it.