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Florida Legislature 2005 (click for ongoing coverage)

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Mobile home residents disappointed by bill's defeat

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published April 14, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - For dozens of Pinellas County mobile home residents, a trip to Florida's Capitol ended in bitter disappointment Thursday.

The residents, many of them retirees, watched as a House committee soundly defeated a bill designed to make it easier for them to buy their parks to avoid eviction.

A committee killed a bill that would have given residents 45 days to match an unsolicited offer from a buyer of a mobile home park. Under state law, residents can make an offer only if the owner puts the park up for sale.

"If you pass this bill, they'll never be able to sell behind people's backs," said Ray Brooks, who said his Oldsmar mobile home park was recently sold to developers who plan to convert the property to condos or townhouses.

The 13-5 vote in the House Business Regulation Committee effectively stops the issue for this session.

Leo Plenski, a former Philadelphia steelworker who retired to the Bay Pines Mobile Home Park in Seminole 13 years ago, spoke for many residents. He said his neighbors suffer heart attacks and nervous breakdowns because they live in constant fear of being evicted from the park after it is sold.

"We don't want more compensation for our homes. All we want is for the right of first refusal," Plenski said.

As he left the hearing, Plenski vowed revenge on legislators by organizing a statewide voter registration drive aimed at defeating them in the next election.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, was opposed by lobbyists for a statewide mobile home residents' group and a park owners' association. They told lawmakers that Detert's bill violated park owners' private property rights and would have invited a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of Florida's landmark mobile home law passed two decades ago.

"They want to stop the sale of any mobile home park, to anyone but them, for any reason," said Lori Killinger, director of government relations for the Florida Manufactured Housing Association.

Rep. Bruce Kyle, R-Fort Myers, echoed Killinger's argument and said he believed Detert's bill was unconstitutional.

Rep. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, voted against the bill (HB 743). Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, voted for it. A Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, awaits a legislative hearing next week.

[Last modified April 15, 2005, 19:25:26]