SWEETWATER, FLA. (WSVN) - Several residents of Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater said a final goodbye to their homes ahead of a deadline to receive the maximum payout, months after they were asked to vacate the property because the trailer community will be closing.
Rayna Castro wiped away tears as she packed up her belongings at the mobile home where she and her family lived for 35 years.
“Today we leave,” said Castro in Spanish. “We just said goodbye to the place we lived many years.”
She is one of thousands of residents who will be leaving the premises between now and May.
Castro said she will now relocate to a property in Homestead that she can hardly afford.
The notice reached residents in November, notifying them of a new development project that will include a school, health care facility and work force housing being built on the land that’s currently occupied by the trailer community, according to the property owner.
All residents were told to vacate their homes by May 19.
“It’s been almost a lifetime here. This is extremely sad,” said Castro.
However, by state law, the owner must give trailer owners a mandated amount due to the trailer park closure. So, the owner of the community added their own incentive for residents to leave earlier than the mandated date.
If residents leave by Friday, they will receive $14,000. If they leave by March 31, they will get $7,000, and they will receive $3,000 if they leave by April 30.
The owner of the community said over 600 people have since accepted the maximum payout, and they all have already moved out, or will move out by the end of Friday.
A group of about 200 trailer owners are suing the company, the City of Sweetwater and Miami-Dade County over the forced vacancy of residents.
“Certain approvals have happened without a study that is required by Florida statue on where people are going to go,” said attorney David Winker.
Winker, who is taking legal action on behalf of the evictees, said many people recently moved to the mobile home park without knowing it was closing.
“The most egregious cases are people who recently, in the last three to six months, purchased the trailer, and there’s people that paid up to $200,000 for one of these homes,” he said.
On Friday night, a group of people demonstrated against the eviction with pots and pans and signs in Spanish.
“In my case, my daughters, where will I take them? Under a bridge? My God, I can’t,” said Maria Fajardo.
The protesters said they don’t want to leave their home and that there aren’t enough affordable options in the area.
Fajardo even had a message to the property owner.
“I don’t know you, but I’ve known your father through the years to be a great man, and your mom was a queen. Help us! Look within your heart and look at how we are suffering,” said Fajardo.
The disaffected residents are awaiting a response to their lawsuits by the parties involved.
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