This is especially appealing to one demographic: about a third of mobile home residents are seniors, and they tend to be lower-income than other older Americans.Ĭolleen Gartner and a few other people who live at Down Yonder have decided to stop paying their lot rent until issues at the mobile home park are addressed and fixed. On top of this, mobile home owners typically pay to lease the land – typically for under $1,000 a month – on which their property sits. The average sale price of a new mobile home as of January 2023 was $128,300, compared with the average sale price of a house of $400,600 in February 2022. “We are confident that the community is in full compliance of the Florida Mobile Home Act,” which mandates that landlords must take good care of their properties, it said.įor the 10.5 million Americans who live in mobile home parks, properties like Down Yonder promise affordability, especially in high-rent areas such as Tampa, and a greater sense of permanence than renting. It has filed eviction notices against the three residents at Down Yonder for failure to pay rent. They don’t.”Įquity Lifestyle Properties denied all allegations of lack of maintenance and upkeep, and characterizations of its property managers as harassing residents.

It’s why we put our lives and safety in their hands. And she plans to keep doing it until Zell and ELS “do something for us that they’re contracted to do, which is to take care of us. “We’re withholding our lot rent because it’s the only voice we have and it’s the only thing Sam Zell pays attention to: money,” Gartner said.

Gartner is on a fixed income as she cannot work due spinal issues that she’s had multiple surgeries for. Colleen Gartner gets ready at her home at Down Yonder mobile home park in Largo, Florida.

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