MINNEAPOLIS (LN) — A federal court on Wednesday certified a settlement class and granted final approval to a settlement between Sartell Mobile Home Park tenants and Gemstone Communities LLC and Sartell MHC LLC, resolving claims that the park’s prior operator failed to maintain sewage infrastructure, improperly billed residents for water usage, and fraudulently induced tenants to sign leases with illegal terms.
The settlement agreement requires Sartell MHC to repair the park’s sewage system as proposed by the parties’ experts, conduct semi-annual physical examinations and full camera scoping every four years, remediate any contamination found during soil testing, and monitor water usage to flag instances where a household’s usage materially deviates above 2,000 gallons per month beyond its prior six-month average. Residents who overpaid for water usage have already received refunds, and Sartell MHC has agreed to allow all residents to continue under a month-to-month lease or execute a standard form lease with uniform terms.
U.S. District Judge Laura M. Provinzino granted the motion for final class certification and settlement approval in a 25-page order filed May 27 in the District of Minnesota. The order dismisses all claims against Gemstone Communities and Sartell MHC with prejudice but does not affect the ongoing litigation against Impact MHC Management LLC, Sartell MHP LLC, and Sartell MHP 2 LLC.
Plaintiffs sought attorneys’ fees up to $15,000 as authorized by the settlement agreement. Robins Kaplan attorneys logged 134.8 hours and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid attorneys logged 69.97 hours on settlement-related work, producing a lodestar calculation of $0.11 million. The court approved the $15,000 fee request, representing an 86.7% reduction. Service awards of $5,000 each were granted to named plaintiffs Marcie Knox, Cheryl Skaj, Janet Eich, and Bradley Bandas.
The court found the settlement class of more than 100 residents satisfied Rule 23(a)‘s numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy requirements and Rule 23(b)(2)‘s requirement that injunctive relief apply generally to the class. No class members objected to the settlement following notice mailed by January 9, 2026.