MIAMI — A Miami-Dade judge sided with the owners of Sweetwater’s Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park on Monday after residents sued, claiming they weren’t given proper notice about plans to close the park and redevelop it.
The judge issued a summary judgment siding with the landowners over the residents.
At issue was whether a homeowners’ association formed by the residents was valid. If it had been, residents would have had to have been given the option to purchase the land.
The landowners successfully argued that the homeowners’ association was invalid.
The attorney representing the residents previously presented an affidavit claiming a volunteer went door-to-door and secured the required two-thirds of signatures to form the HOA.
But the judge said that the testimony was hearsay, stating that no actual list of homeowners was ever provided.
The court also noted the association failed to take dues, notify when officers changed or even provide proper notes of regular meetings, all of which are statutory requirements under Florida law to be recognized as a legal HOA.
Because of that, the judge ruled the group does not have the right to purchase the land before it’s sold to another buyer — something the residents were pushing for in their lawsuit.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. They’re making it just to deny us the right we have for to buy the land or to do any other step before the eviction notice,” homeowners’ association representative Enrique Zelaya said. “If they give me the opportunity, I will buy the land. If not, just give me my money back. That’s it.”
Zelaya said he had just purchased the mobile home four months before the evictions came down.
He says the landowner’s office promised the eviction rumors were not true, a promise he now believes was broken.
The judge asked for an order to be submitted by the landowners’ attorneys at the end of the week, then the attorney representing the HOA has the weekend to draft a response.
Li’l Abner was built in 1968 and contained more than 900 lots. It’s located between Flagler and Northwest Seventh streets. About 5,000 people lived there before demolition began — about a quarter of Sweetwater’s population.
The park’s owner said the plan is to redevelop the site into a community featuring “affordable and workforce housing, along with a K-12 school, a healthcare facility, a community center and a park, among other uses.”
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