Fort Lauderdale eviction battle over mobile home park may hinge on legal grounds
FORT LAUDERDALE -- There are potential red flags in an eviction battle brewing between new owners of a mobile home community and tenants renting space to park homes in Fort Lauderdale, according to a legal expert.
Pan American Estates Mobile Park sent notice to residents informing them that they need to vacate all 239 units within six months or less.
The park sold, and the new owners offered residents incentives if they departed early.
For Tonya Rodriguez and husband Guadencio Valle, the eviction letter came one week after they purchased a new roof for their home in the park.
"If we would have known this was going to happen we wouldn't have spent so much money trying to fix it up," Rodriguez said.
In a statement, The Urban Group, Inc. Real Estate Consultants and Program Managers said they are helping residents.
"Residents were provided six months' notice to vacate the property consistent with Florida Statute," Gavaskar Josephs, Project Manager for the company said. "Further, ownership is offering a generous incentive package far exceeding the statutory minimums to assist residents in their relocation efforts. In addition, management is also offering in-person relocation assistance services and intends to meet with residents to assess their individual needs and assist them in procuring alternative housing to ensure a smooth transition."
Those meetings began Tuesday, residents confirmed.
However, the group's transparency with people recently buying homes and renting space in the park should invite scrutiny, said Christopher Marlowe, a former assistant state attorney who is now in private practice.
Negligence is Marlowe's specialty and he worked a case against a mobile home park last year.
"If it turns out that number of people that you've spoken with had no idea of an impending sale and they can't make use of this major purchase almost immediately, obviously the prospect of if not outright fraud but potentially some underhanded dealings or just a failure to communicate sufficiently so that the buyer and the seller are on the same page, those are very serious possibilities," Marlowe said.
He said developers involved high-value real estate deals hardly expect every resident of mobile home parks to have resources to hire lawyers.
"The prospect for one party to take advantage of another is very high in these situations," Marlowe said.
So he encouraged residents to request sales records from the state to see what disclosures the buyer and seller made and when. If there is fraud, there is potential for criminal charges, Marlowe said.
For now, Rodriguez wants to find a new place.
Few mobile home parks have room or will allow her family to bring their trailer, Rodriguez said. Rents at apartments are higher than her budget too.
"I feel like we're all getting in depression mode," she said.
