Mobile Home Owners Risk Being Cast Aside in the Wake of Redevelopment

When Renee and Thomas Mucci bought their mobile home in Davie, Fla., back in 2000, they thought they would spend the rest of the lives there.

Then, just before Thanksgiving this year, they received a letter saying the owners of Kings Manor Mobile Home Park were considering selling the land they called home.

So Mucci and a group of Davie mobile home owners are rallying behind town efforts to formally require mobile home park land owners to provide more help for displaced residents.

State law provides some relocation dollars to mobile home residents, but in the pricey South Florida housing market, a few thousand dollars doesn’t go very far at all, said Shirley Taylor-Prakelt, Davie’s housing and community development director.

And as more mobile home park owners look to cash in on redevelopment, she said, families are facing an affordable housing crisis.

Without a doubt, sustainable development is one of the greatest obstacles facing the state in the coming decades, and today, the town council will consider a proposal requiring a detailed plan to relocate residents as a condition for any mobile home park redevelopment.

“The statutes are absolutely inadequate. It’s our duty to protect the residents who live here,” Taylor-Prakelt said.

Last month, several hundred residents in both Kings Manor and in Sunshine Village Mobile Home Park received a notice from Uniprop, which owns the two western Davie parks, telling homeowners the company was thinking about closing or selling the park.

The November 14 letter did not include an eviction notice or any specific plans for the parks. But the proposed resolution would require the company to provide a relocation strategy for displaced residents, who risk being left homeless in the wake of a developer’s wishes.

STATE LAW: PAY $1,375

Florida law only requires the owners to pay residents $1,375 for a single-wide mobile home and $2,750 for a double-wide like the Mucci’s. That’s not going to go far in terms of Florida mortgage payments.

In fact, in Davie, which currently boasts more than 20,000 residents who live in mobile homes, families often find $1,000 doesn’t even cover one month’s rent.

MOVING COST: $10,000

And as the Mucci’s learned, moving a mobile home to another park can cost well over $10,000. The couple already is looking at property farther north, saying they can’t afford to stay in Broward County.

In the past, Davie has urged mobile home park owners to offer better plans for relocation. But Taylor-Prakelt wants to see that in writing, especially as more mobile home park owners look to turn their land into condominiums or high-priced subdivisions.

The Town Council today also is scheduled to consider the re-zoning of the Lauderdale / Anchorage and the Ponderosa Mobile Home Parks, so property owners could build 27 townhomes on the property.

The owners of the property south of Griffin Road have been working with the town to provide a relocation plan for the trailer parks‘ families. But the town’s Planning and Zoning Board has recommended denying the request.

The proposed Davie resolution spells out what the relocation plan must include. Park owners could pay residents for the move or include affordable housing as part their redevelopment, Taylor-Prakelt said. But the Town Council could ask for a stricter, more detailed strategy.

Mayor Tom Truex said he would like to see a more detailed plan.

“The concept is a good concept,” he said. “It’s trying to make sure people aren’t thrown out of their homes with nowhere to go. But who’s responsible and what are they responsible for?”

Hopefully, local officials can make plans to provide adequate Florida home mortgage help for those who will be displaced. This is yet another example of just how powerful the rising value of land in South Florida can be - and how many people it can impact.