MARSHALL — The owner of the Broadmoor Valley mobile home park took the witness stand Tuesday during the sixth day of a civil trial in Lyon County District Court.

Paul Schierholz, of Schierholz and Associates, answered questions on topics including conditions and road maintenance at the park.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office sued Schierholz in 2021. Allegations in the lawsuit included that the Broadmoor Valley owners failed to maintain the park and its roads, charged unlawfully high fees for late rent, and retaliated against park residents.

In response to attorneys’ questions, Schierholz said that Broadmoor Valley used to charge late rent fees of 10% of the monthly rent. He also said he was not aware that the state of Minnesota caps late rent fees at 8%, until the Attorney General’s Office sued. Schierholz said Broadmoor Valley changed its late fee rates to comply with the law.

Schierholz testified that he was the sole owner and president of Schierholz and Associates, the company that owns Broadmoor Valley. He bought the mobile home park about 24 years ago.

Attorneys asked Schierholz about the condition of four abandoned mobile homes owned by Schierholz and Associates, and about the condition of the roads at the park.

Attorneys from the Attorney General’s Office showed Schierholz and the jury data from Broadmoor Valley’s profit and loss statements for the years 2016 through 2021. Several of the statements shown included expenses for road maintenance. In some of those years, the amounts spent were reported at less than $1,000.

However, defense attorneys also showed that on the profit and loss statements, Broadmoor Valley sometimes had negative net income. On its 2022 statement, net income was reported at loss of more than $125,000. Attorneys also showed Schierholz and the jury a line on one of the statements reporting more than $236,000 in professional expenses, which included legal fees.

In 2022, Broadmoor Valley was awarded a $500,000 grant from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to help improve infrastructure at the park. Schierholz testified that only $150,000 of the grant funds have been spent. Most of that amount went into planning and design work for road improvements, he said. Schierholz testified that Broadmoor Valley had not received further grant funding, although he had applied for it in the following years.

In another part of Tuesday’s testimony, Schierholz answered questions about a former Broadmoor Valley resident being charged rent for two vacant lots after a resident association event was held there. Schierholz said using a private lot at the park without permission was trespassing, and they would have to pay for use of the lot. He said the park has a common area that can be used for gatherings.

Schierholz was the only witness who testified during Tuesday’s portion of the trial, but there were also other actions taken by District Court Judge Tricia Zimmer. Zimmer said she would rule to strike portions of the testimony given earlier in the trial by an investigator with the Attorney General’s Office. On Monday, defense attorney Kevin Riach made the motion to strike part of the investigator’s testimony about late rent fees at Broadmoor Valley.

Jurors would not be able to consider that portion of the testimony when deciding on a verdict.

In scheduling discussions with the judge, attorneys said Tuesday that closing arguments in the trial could start as soon as Thursday. There are still witnesses that may be called to testify today, and on Thursday morning.