Eviction notices given to 100 residents at Miami-Dade mobile home park not legit, county program says
MIAMI — A Miami-Dade County program providing free legal services has exposed eviction notices that were given to roughly 100 residents living at the Palm Lakes Mobile Home Park weren't legit.
The original eviction notices to vacate were set for July 22 but they were only filed on August 5.
Residents Arnoldo Morales and Delmi Ramirez said living at Palm Lakes is their only option because homes elsewhere in Miami-Dade County are unaffordable.
"What I get monthly from my social security is not enough to pay that kind of rent," Morales said.
He told CBS News Miami he is disabled and his wife is bedridden. Ramirez is a stay-at-home mom who cares for a sick child.
"They come to me crying and ask me "Mommy where are we going to go? What are we going to do?'" Ramirez said.
These are just two testimonies but the property owners ordered dozens of residents to leave by the end of July, but they're still here.
"We're so grateful because we really would not have had the money to pay for attorneys to defend us from these evictions," Ramirez said.
The Miami-Dade County Eviction Diversion Program allocated $2.9 million for organizations like the Miami Workers Center and the Community Justice Project to help these residents for free.
"They can't actually force them out. A court process is necessary to do that," said Carrie Feit, a senior attorney for the Community Justice Project. "So once they did not leave then they actually filed evictions in court."
Meanwhile, residents said the Palm Lakes Mobile Home Park conditions are horrible. They said trash isn't picked up regularly, it floods when it rains and the sewage system overflows.
Just last week, there was a massive fire and Michele Pineiro lost his dad and his dad's wife. That happened on top of being served a new eviction notice on Monday.
"Everything burned, I have no place to go, I don't have anything," he said.
Despite it all, the residents are fighting to stay and they want the property managers to make the living conditions, livable.
It is unclear when these residents legally now have to vacate.
CBS News Miami called the property managers and they have no comment but did confirm this mobile home park is closing.
A report from The Real Deal which is a real estate news publication cites plans for the property to be redeveloped into affordable housing. It's unclear if that's still the case.