RED WING — A local landlord has been accused of keeping more than $7,000 worth of personal belongings from an improperly ousted renter.
Robert Roger Eggenberger, a Red Wing landlord, is charged with two counts of felony theft. Eggenberger also faces one charge of misdemeanor landlord/tenant – intentional ouster and interruption of utilities.
According to court documents, on May 26, the Red Wing police department heard from a woman who rented an apartment from Eggenberger in the 600 block of 12th Street.
Eggenberger and the tenant had previously planned for her to move out of the apartment over the weekend of May 23, but she’d been unable to find a ride and had not done so.
The Post Bulletin found no record that Eggenberger had filed eviction proceedings against the woman.
Instead, Eggenberger changed the locks on May 25, preventing the woman from re-entering the apartment to remove her belongings.
The woman estimated that more than $7,100 worth of clothing, electronics, medical equipment, mobility aids and furniture were inside the apartment.
According to court documents, since May 25, Eggenberger had refused to let the woman into the building to collect her belongings unless she gave him $500.
Red Wing police contacted Eggenberger, who said he wanted “compensation for his time” if he opened the apartment for her.
When Red Wing police told Eggenberger it is illegal to keep a tenant’s personal property or enter the apartment without 24 hours’ notice, Eggenberger claimed that was not true because the woman was not a tenant, according to court documents.
Red Wing police gave Eggenberger until June 3 to let the woman collect her belongings and told him the situation would be resolved without charges if he did so.
Eggenberger disagreed, court documents claim.
On June 12, Red Wing police followed up with the tenant, who had gotten help from Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) because Eggenberger had raised the “opening service fee” to $1,000.
By that point, the former tenant was worried that Eggenberger had disposed of her property.
Eggenberger did not answer calls from Red Wing police, according to court documents. However, when an investigator visited the property, the rear door was open and a woman was cleaning inside the apartment.
According to court documents, the woman said she’d begun cleaning the apartment on June 3, and had seen Eggenberger remove some pieces of furniture and bags of belongings in the past week and a half.
Eggenberger’s first court date had not been scheduled June 25.
Anne Halliwell is the public safety reporter at the Post Bulletin.