2 days ago
Former Stewartville home park community operator agrees to pay $135,000 in settlement
Jun. 12—ST. PAUL — The former owner and operator of a manufactured home park community in Stewartville agreed to pay $135,000 after facing allegations that it submitted false claims to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.
The state alleged that Sun Communities, Inc. violated three counts of the Minnesota False Claims Act, an act that works to combat fraud against the government.
The civil complaint, filed in March 2024, alleged that Sun Communities attempted to evict several tenants for not paying their rent. However, in these instances, Sun Communities received the tenants' payments through RentHelpMN, a federally funded program created after COVID-19 that provides financial support to help Minnesota families pay rent.
According to the complaint, Sun Communities "repeatedly affirmed" that it would not evict tenants for not paying rent after receiving their rent payments through the program. RentHelpMN required landlords like Sun Communities to comply with the "statutory and regulatory prohibition on evicting tenants."
The state alleged that Sun Communities applied RentHelpMN to pay for "unlawful late fees, pet fees" and other unauthorized fees.
Hennepin County District Judge Susan Burke ordered that $33,824.09 of the $135,000 be paid as restitution, which will be credited to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.
"What Sun Communities did was unlawful," Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a release. "The pandemic created economic hardship, so the government stepped up and helped struggling families make rent payments. It is disappointing that any property owner would accept those payments and then still try to evict their tenants. Today, we are holding one of those property owners accountable. I am grateful to the whistleblower who helped bring this wrongdoing to light, and I encourage other Minnesotans who believe government funds are being misused to contact my office."
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, who represented Sun Communities, did not immediately respond for comment.
Sun Communities, Inc. previously owned and operated the community located at 105 20 St. NW, Stewartville.
