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Mobile home bill killed in Senate

A committee says helping residents buy the land under their homes would violate park owners' rights.

By ALEX LEARY and ANNE LINDBERG
Published April 4, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - For the second straight year, lawmakers have killed a bill designed to help mobile home park residents buy the land under their homes to avoid eviction.

Citing property rights and possible lawsuits, a Senate committee on Monday voted 6-3 against the bill, which would have given residents 45 days to match an unsolicited offer from a buyer of a mobile home park.

Current law provides right of first refusal only if the owner puts the park on the open market.

"The Florida Legislature today looked out more for the corporate property owner than they did for our senior citizens," said bill sponsor Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey. "It's a big loss for the little guy."

Similar legislation in the House has stalled, and its sponsor said Monday's Senate vote all but kills it. "We're dead for this year," said the House sponsor Nancy Detert, R-Venice.

The vote disgusted scores of mobile home park owners who filled the Regulated Industries committee room. "It's a farce. They didn't even pay attention to what was going on," said Eunice Nagle of Bay Indies mobile home park in Venice.

Charles Plancon, a vice president of Floridians Against Injustice to Residents of Mobile/Manufactured Homes, called the vote a "shame." It makes sense, he said, to worry about the rights of property owners, "but nobody worries about mobile home owners' rights."

Plancon, a resident of the Golden Lantern Mobile Home Park in Pinellas Park, is directly affected by the widespread redevelopment of parks. A developer has asked the county to rezone Golden Lantern for use as apartments, condominiums and a small retail center. The final vote is scheduled this morning.

Numerous parks in Pinellas have fallen in recent months. They include Al-Da-Ky in St. Petersburg, Parsley's in Redington Shores and Linger Longer in Tarpon Springs. Several others, such as Bay Pines in Seminole, are under contract.

That trend has played out across Florida, causing alarm among senior citizens and low-income residents who fear they have nowhere else to go.

But not all residents who showed up Monday backed Fasano's proposal. Some said it did not go far enough and should provide more financial assistance for relocation. They say that in many cases, residents cannot come up with the financing for a multimillion dollar land deal.

Lori Killinger, lawyer for the Florida Manufactured Housing Association, said the bill conflicted with an owner's constitutional property rights and would face certain lawsuits. That point resonated with several lawmakers.

"The right of people in this country is the right to own and sell property," said Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville.

Joining King in voting against the bill were two Democrats and three Republicans, including Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, a candidate for state attorney general. The only local lawmaker on the panel, Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island, voted in favor.

Last year, similar legislation was defeated in the House, preventing Fasano from advancing it in the Senate. This year it is the Senate that killed it.

Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, is sponsoring legislation that Killinger's group and the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners support. The bill would require local governments to use "available funding" to relocate people forced to move from sold parks. It has passed one committee but its fate is uncertain.

Advocates say local governments and community redevelopment agencies benefit from the redevelopment of mobile home parks and should do their part.

[Last modified April 4, 2006, 03:00:35]