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MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Hmongtown Marketplace Faces Foreclosure Lawsuit Over Nearly $6.6 Million in Allegedly Unpaid Debt
SAINT PAUL, MN (September 16, 2026). Hmongtown Marketplace, one of Minnesota’s most important Hmong commercial and cultural institutions, is facing a foreclosure lawsuit after Stearns Bank alleged that the property’s owners defaulted on nearly $6.6 million in debt.
The lawsuit places a consequential Saint Paul property at the center of a financial dispute that could affect hundreds of small vendors and one of the region’s most recognizable immigrant-owned marketplaces.
Hmongtown Marketplace operates at 217 Como Avenue in Saint Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood. The market was established by Toua Xiong in 2004 and has grown into a major destination for Hmong food, produce, clothing, traditional medicine, household goods and cultural products.
The property includes indoor market buildings and a large seasonal outdoor market. More than 200 vendors regularly operate from the marketplace, with the total rising during the outdoor-market season.
Stearns Bank is seeking to foreclose on the property after alleging that its owners defaulted on nearly $6.6 million in debt, according to court information reported by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
A foreclosure complaint represents a lender’s allegation and request for judicial relief. It does not mean ownership has already transferred, the marketplace has closed or the court has entered a final judgment against the property owners.
No immediate closure of Hmongtown Marketplace has been announced.
The distinction is important for vendors and customers. Unless the court issues additional orders or the marketplace’s operators announce operational changes, the filing of the lawsuit by itself does not establish that businesses inside the market must stop operating.
The case nevertheless creates significant uncertainty because Hmongtown is more than a conventional retail property. It has helped provide business opportunities for immigrant entrepreneurs, including vendors who face language, financing and commercial-leasing barriers elsewhere.
It has also become an informal community gathering place where food, language, agriculture and cultural traditions are passed between generations.
The foreclosure action comes as another prominent Saint Paul institution, Summit Brewing Company, faces a separate foreclosure lawsuit involving more than $8 million in allegedly unpaid debt. The cases are unrelated, but together they underscore the financial pressures confronting established commercial properties in the city.
For Hmongtown’s vendors, the immediate questions concern whether the property owners will contest the bank’s allegations, negotiate a loan modification, refinance the debt or pursue another resolution that allows the marketplace to remain under its current ownership.
The court will ultimately determine the validity of the bank’s claims if the parties do not reach an agreement.
Until then, the debt figure and default remain allegations contained in civil litigation, not final judicial findings.
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