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Residents refuse to pay rent increase

They say the increases proposed by the owner of Harbor View mobile home park are unfair.

By ALEX LEARY
Published February 25, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Taking a defiant stand in a dispute that goes to mediation in April, residents of Harbor View mobile home park said Thursday that they will refuse to pay increased rents to the park's corporate owner.

"We're trying to push (Equity Lifestyle Properties) to the wall," said Don Blatchford, chairman of the homeowners committee. "They are pushing around people all over the country, senior citizens especially, and we're not going to stand for it."

New rents at Harbor View go into effect Tuesday, with increases ranging from $86 to $113 per month. Current rents are $238 to $323 per month.

Blatchford said nearly all of the owners of about 460 mobile homes at the park have agreed to send checks for the old amounts.

They also will not pay Equity an increased annual fee of $324, which includes property taxes. Another Equity-owned park, Hacienda Village in New Port Richey, is in mediation over that fee, as well as new rents.

Harbor View residents will send checks for the amount the company is asking above their old rent to Blatchford, who will place them in a safety deposit box. Checks, he said, will be made out to the clerk of court in case mediation fails and the matter goes to court.

Equity Lifestyle Properties, formerly Manufactured Home Communities, is based in Chicago and took over Harbor View in 2002. A woman who answered the phone there Thursday told a reporter he had the wrong number, then hung up.

The main player in Equity is Sam Zell, a billionaire considered the nation's largest landowner.

Other Equity parks have faced similar controversy. Protests have been staged in recent months in Florida, Arizona, California, Delaware and Illinois, according to news reports.

Residents at Harbor View, which is on Louisiana Avenue, say they understand rents increase, but say the amount Equity wants is not justified. Homeowners have the backing of state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and state Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey.

Last month, the homeowners committee met with Equity officials but the talks failed to produce a rent solution. The residents had offered a proposal that allows for a 5-percent increase in 2005 and one that mirrors the Consumer Price Index in the following four years.

Mediation has been scheduled through the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

[Last modified February 25, 2005, 00:52:18]