‘It breaks our heart’: Mayor says town is powerless over mobile home park evictions

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Some of the residents of the Lakeside Park Estates, a mobile home park with more than 250 sites, asked Pembroke Park officials for help during a public meeting on Wednesday at the Town Hall.

Trinity Broadcasting Network is the owner of the Lakeside Park Estates property at 3300 Pembroke Rd. The residents accused the property owners of issuing unlawful evictions.

“We don’t know where to go.”

Mayor Geoffrey Jacobs wasn’t much help.

“It breaks our heart that they’re doing that to your community,” Jacobs said adding “it is a private matter between the business owners and the residents of the park. The city cannot intervene between that.”

Fernando Acuna, Jr., one of the residents who is facing eviction, disagrees. While the new purchasing owner has yet to be revealed, it appears the entity is seeking city approval to rezone the area for commercial-industrial use. The future plans include filling in a nearby lake.

“So now we are thinking about making it so that can’t pass not only just for us but it’s going to be an environmental hazard as well,” Acuna said.

A 30-day eviction notice was issued in March after the property was sold. Residents later received a letter saying the deadline for the eviction was the result of a mistake.

Last week, residents vented and said they were being treated unfairly. Some of the residents invested more than $100,000 into their mobile homes, and they were offered $2,500.

“My biggest problem is that they do this under the auspices of a church when it is clearly profit-motivated driven behavior,” said Greg Jacobs, a resident who is facing eviction.

Trinity Broadcasting Network is a broadcast television network that focuses on faith and inspirational programs.


About the Author

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.

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