Hermantown trailer park owner on hook for lodging costs of displaced residents

DULUTH – A St. Louis County judge has granted emergency relief to several residents of a Hermantown trailer park who have been living without water amid other hazardous conditions.

The Dec. 27 order to Elevated Property Management LLC, a Twin Cities-based company, includes funding three weeks of alternative housing for six displaced households while repairs are addressed at the Maple Field mobile home park in northeast Minnesota.

In a separate case, the city of Hermantown alleged several misdemeanor crimes against the park owner. Every one of the more than 50 homes has at least one code violation, and a handful have been condemned. The owner pleaded guilty to several misdemeanor violations in early December.

Many residents, including families with small children, have been living with electrical hazards and burst pipes in water-damaged units where floors, walls and ceilings are failing, and in five cases, raw sewage is spilling outside.

Judge Shawn Pearson ordered Steven Schneeberger to immediately make repairs to trailers without water and other essential services and fix all other code violations, without retaliating against residents. He must pay for housing that includes kitchens until violations are fixed. Tenants will escrow their rent with the court.

At a Dec. 23 hearing where the emergency order was sought, Hermantown’s building official said more than a dozen units weren’t habitable and “do not occupy” orders would be issued.

Hermantown City Attorney Gunnar Johnson said the city had been working on the issue for nine months.

“It’s a big health hazard for the community,” he said, and with recent freezing weather, “this needs to be addressed as soon as possible.”

Schneeberger is invested in resolving the issues, said his attorney, Mohammed H. El-Bashir, but he balked at being ordered to find alternative housing.

An attorney for the nonprofit Justice North who is representing the tenants said his clients have been paying rent for months “in frankly, terrible — beyond anything I have seen in a long time — conditions.”

“If the city has to condemn and evict, these people will have nowhere to go, and it’s not their fault,” said the attorney, Peter LaCourse.

The city filed a complaint earlier this year after investigating anonymous reports from residents, the bulk of whom are renters.

Residents say they’ve made repeated requests for improvements, particularly for problems that pose threats to public health and safety, such as mold, severe water damage, fire hazards and broken locks and windows. But little is done, they say, and affordable alternative housing options during a regional shortage are slim. For some, residence in the park removed them from homelessness.

Schneeberger had told residents via email that they shouldn’t allow the city’s building inspector entry to their homes, noting those who owed rent faced eviction by a potential new owner. He called Hermantown building official Brandon Holmes an “adversary” of the residents.

The Minnesota Department of Health is also investigating the park, which Schneeberger is attempting to sell. He has owned it since 2021.