MARSHALL — Court documents have been filed against the owners of the Sunrise Court apartments in Marshall. A current tenant is petitioning for emergency relief under the Tenant Remedies Act, Lyon County District Court records said.

Court documents said summons were issued on Tuesday for the owners of Suite Liv’n to appear at a hearing next week. Josh Prine, one of the Sunrise Court residents leading efforts to try and save tenants’ homes, said Wednesday he was waiting to hear if the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Department could serve the summons papers to Suite Liv’n co-owners Jeff Huston and Gabe Olson.

Suite Liv’n took ownership of Sunrise Court in September, and on Sept. 20 distributed letters to the residents saying they had until Oct. 19 to vacate the building. The letters claimed the heating in the three-building apartment complex needed to replaced, and the work couldn’t be done before winter.

Some Sunrise Court residents are disputing the letters, and they’ve gotten support on that from a representative with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. In a Monday night meeting with tenants, attorney Peter Omari encouraged them to “stay put” and make sure to keep paying their rent.

According to Lyon County court records, a civil complaint against Huston and Olson was filed Friday by Sunrise Court resident Jessica Thovson. A petition said Thovson was requesting emergency relief from the court because the property owners said the heating system had failed, and the owners had not remedied that emergency. The petition said Thovson was asking the court to order the building owner or manager to fix the emergency problems with the heating systems, to pay reasonable attorney fees, and to pay a fine if the court order is violated.

A hearing was set for Oct. 12.

In the meantime, tenants have been offered another temporary housing option from the Traveler’s Lodge Motel in Marshall. The “Sunrise Special” offered tenants special rates at the motel starting Oct. 15.

Suite Liv’n is based out of the Willmar area. Suite Liv’n co-owners Jeff Huston and Gabe Olson are also co-owners of 3D Money, a real estate investment company. 3D Money’s website lists Suite Liv’n residential properties among its projects, including an extended-stay motel, a 32-unit apartment complex in New London, and an 84-unit property in Willmar.

According to 3D Money’s website, the company’s current business portfolio includes an extended-stay motel, an 84-unit apartment complex, a 78-unit apartment complex, a 32-unit apartment complex, a commercial office building with adjoining bare development plots, management of 294 rental units with 156 units pending, and 39 single-family homes in a three-county area.

The 3D Money website didn’t indicate whether Sunrise Court’s rental units were included in any of those tallies.

Multiple phone and email messages to Suite Liv’n and 3D Money were not returned as of press time Wednesday.

Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said Wednesday that he has been in communication with tenant representatives.

“We want two things,” Byrnes said. “Firstly, for people to be treated fairly, and second that the residents have a permanent place to reside.”

Byrnes said it was positive that the Traveler’s Lodge had come forward on its own with the housing offer, although it was a temporary solution. On the city’s side of things, Byrnes said, “What we’ve been doing is really trying to identify alternate housing,” so tenants could find somewhere to live if they had to leave Sunrise Court.