Woman says leaning oak tree has shifted her mobile home in Pembroke Park

'It's stressing the daylights out of us,' homeowner says

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Sandra Pawloski said she and her husband moved into their mobile home at Holiday Mobile Estates  in Pembroke Park 12 years ago. 

Driving through the park now is like driving through a forest with trees everywhere.

Pawloski said when she and her husband bought their home, the oak tree outside was already there and stood straight.

But the tree started leaning closer and closer to her home as the years went by.

"It's stressing the daylights out of us," she said.  

Hurricane Irma finally gave that massive oak tree the precarious push it needed.

Pawloski contacted Local 10's "Leave it to Layron" team because the tree is now leaning on her home.

"[The house] already had bad leaks from where the tree was leaning, cracking the house open," she said. "It even shifted the house."

Pawloski showed us a copy of the letter she sent to the mobile home park's property managers. It was dated July 2017, and requested that the tree be trimmed back or cut down.

Palwoski told the LITL team she did not think the tree was her responsibility because she pays more than $700 each month in lot rent.

"I've gone to the office. I've asked, 'What is the verdict on the tree?' And all I got was, 'When I know, I'll let you know,'" she said.

Officials with both the city of Pembroke Park and Broward County eventually visited Pawloski's home after she contacted them for help.

The issue brought Pawloski to tears.  

"I just don't want to see something happen to us because they're being so stubborn with that tree," she said through tears.    

Under the "maintenance" section of the Holiday Mobile Estates rules and regulations, it states, "Resident is responsible for the overall appearance of the lot … Resident must maintain lawn, landscaping, trees and shrubbery thereon, including mowing, trimming, edging, weeding, watering and the general care thereof."

Another section titled "Trees" notes "trees and shrubs which are on the lot of resident must be removed by resident as part of the required lot maintenance … Lot maintenance, which is to be performed by resident, includes fallen tree or limb removal, limb trimming, fertilizing, root trimming or removal."

The LITL team is still waiting for Pawloski's property managers to return our phone calls, but minutes after we showed up to Pawloski's door, so did park workers with their tree trimmer in tow. The tree trimmer told the LITL team he could not act until he was cleared to do so by the county.

In Broward County, a tree removal license is required before cutting down a tree, unless the tree poses a hazard and there is documented proof of the hazard. 

An arborist with the Broward County Environmental and Engineering and Permitting Division's Tree Preservation Program told the LITL team the tree met the hazard exemption in September 2017.

After our visit, Pawloski received a letter from the mobile home park's attorneys.

It read in part, "While Holiday Hallandale is not legally obligated to remove the tree from your lot that is encroaching on your mobile home, [we] will, nonetheless, in good faith, be hiring a licensed and insured tree-removal company to remove the tree."

If you have a problem, send an email to the Leave it to Layron team at Layron@Local10.com.


About the Author:

Layron Livingston made the move from Ohio's Miami Valley to Miami, Florida, to join the Local 10 News team.