ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Frustrations of residents at a St. Petersburg's mobile home park have come to a boiling point after they claim a lack of care and communication from management.
Erin Roth, a resident of Twin Cities Mobile Home Park, documented issues for over two years. Her security cameras captured flooding throughout the park and she shared photos of large amounts of trash uncollected. She has lived at the park for 14 years and said concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
"There's nothing done here ever," Roth said. "Where is our money going? Where is it at?"
ABC Action News contacted the state about the trash piling up on the property. The Pinellas County Health Department was then called and according to a representative with the state, inspectors found a cleaned site a few days later.
Roth said a maintenance employee now monitors the area, but when it comes to getting in contact with management, residents claim it is another uphill battle.
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Larry Elkins has been a resident at the mobile home park for 22 years. He said he lives on about $800 a month and has no ability to move. Elkins echoed Roth's claims when it comes to getting in touch with management.
"I have called five times," Elkins said. "Sat at that office for two hours. Nobody ever showed up to even talk to me. You call them, they don't even return your calls. You text them, they won't even text you back. You don't get nothing out of them."
Both Twin Cities Mobile Home Park residents said property owners made a change in February requiring renters to pay their rent online, but for renters like Elkins, who do not have internet access, it is not possible.
"A lot of people here don't have the finances to have internet or have a car or even know what to do what you're supposed to do," Roth said. "You have to get a code from the office that never answers to get onto the portal. So, people are going to have late fees because no one wants to answer them."
A property manager, who wished to remain anonymous, said they started a week ago and did not have answers when asked about residents' concerns.
Records show the property was purchased by Lakeshore Communities in Illinois last September.
In an emailed statement to ABC Action News, Leona Sauder with the company, said,
"The new management at Twin City Mobile Home Community is constantly working to address issues of concern that are raised by our residents since taking over management in October 2021. We take our responsibility to our community members very seriously and their satisfaction is our highest priority. It’s important to know that the intermittent flooding is a complicated engineering issue and some of the causes originate outside the community and outside our immediate control."
According to a Pinellas Co. representative, there is no single source to serve as a gatekeeper to monitor mobile home parks. Meanwhile, residents like Roth said they will continue to sound the alarm until a change is made.
"I just think that we don't want to be forgotten and we're always forgotten," Roth said.
