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148 homes to call their own

The residents of Indian Rocks Mobile Home Park formed a co-op, came up with the $4.5-million and bought it - all in just 45 days.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published May 4, 2006

LARGO - In a 45-day span, residents of Indian Rocks Mobile Home Park moved from renting the neatly manicured spaces where their mobile homes rested to owning the 148-lot community.

Moving from renters to owners wasn't in anyone's future plans, but once residents learned that the owners of the park were looking to sell the community, they say they had no other choice.

Tuesday, and with just 2 minutes to spare, Indian Rocks residents took over ownership of the park. In 45 days, they managed to form a co-op and to raise the $4.5-million needed to purchase their community. The land was independently appraised at $5.1-million.

"This is like a dream come true," said Ed Mitchell, 77, a 16-year Indian Rocks resident and a member of the new co-op's board. "After seeing what they are doing in the rest of Florida, with parks being sold and people having to look for new places to live, this is a dream. Once these parks close, people have no place to go. And it's not just poor or old people. It's all people."

Of the 136 current occupied lots, 74 residents managed to get the $27,500 needed to join the co-op. Each lease is for 99 years, and at the end of that time, it automatically rolls over for another 99 years. For those residents who didn't buy into the co-op, they will be allowed to continue renting their spaces for as long as they like, said Indian Rocks co-op board members.

Earlier this year, Indian Rocks residents were officially notified that the park's owner, Affordable Residential Communities of Colorado, was interested in selling the 161/2-acre community off Ulmerton Road.

Florida law requires that current residents get the first opportunity to purchase a mobile home community that's being sold. But they have 45 days to get it done.

"If we would have run into any difficulties, we would have lost our right," said Bill Staaf, president of the Indian Rocks board. "We had to start with absolutely nothing and learn as we went along . . . but you have a learning curve as well."

Indian Rocks residents hired the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff, which specializes in family associations in the state. They also turned to the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida (FMO), which represents 1.2-million people who live in manufactured home communities in Florida, for assistance.

"It's a tough row to hoe" for residents buying a community, said Don Hazelton, a member of the FMO board of directors and past president. "You have to have the people committed and you can't wait until the end. You've got to get ready and it's 45 days of real frustration. All those little things that bother you, during that period, become big things."

The folks in Indian Rocks had to shepherd two projects at once. They had to come up with the total price of the park, while at the same time, helping individual residents find the mortgage companies or money needed to purchase their share of the co-op.

"The biggest hurdle in any setting is communication," said Gary Schaaf, an attorney at Becker & Poliakoff. "Even if you are trying to get something relatively simple done, that requires a vote, and it's difficult."

Several area mobile home parks have been bought by residents recently. But most of those communities have been age-restricted for seniors. Staaf, 40, believes that Indian Rocks is the only family park that has been bought. Family parks are open to all ages.

"It's the stigma. We are considered a trailer park or we are low income," Staaf said. "We are proud that we have a fine group of residents here that showed the desire to own our community. We kinda broke the mold."

Hazelton agreed.

"With family parks, you oftentimes have differences in ages and they never come together," Hazelton said. [Indian Rocks] is one of the first. You have to make the young people understand that it's an investment in their future."

Now that they own the community, a survey will be conducted to assess what needs to be done and what amenities are needed and wanted. A new clubhouse that will serve as a hurricane shelter will also be built.

"Now, the share payments will serve the people instead of feeding the corporation," said Alec Porter, 71, an Indian Rocks resident who helped make the transition a success. "Nobody can take the park from us. It belongs to the residents. We won the day."

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at 445-4174 or dalee@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 4, 2006, 00:59:16]