Residents of a South Florida neighborhood said they're being forced out to make way for higher paying business tenants.
Adelaide Kerrigan De Leon has called the J Bar J mobile home park in Miami home for 40 years, but she isn't sure how much longer before the owner gets her out.
"She will find some way to evict me. She will find some way," Kerrigan said.
Residents said there have already been three evictions at the mobile home park. Homeowners like Gerardo Estrada say they're next in line. They claim they have seen a big jump in their rents, fees, and they are forced to make repairs, which in some cases, exceed the worth of their homes.
Several attorneys are working for free to stop what they call illegal evictions. The attorneys are going to court to try to save the homeowners' properties.
"They have been forced to install certain improvements,skirting, siding that run into the thousands of dollars. These improvements were passed without notice to anybody," said Joshua Miller, an attorney for the residents. "Basically the rules call for within 30 days you must install the improvements-OK we have the right to evict you."
Estrada and 17 other residents say the owner even cut off the hitch they would use to move their mobile homes if they were evicted, which means that if they are evicted, they cannot take their homes with them.
"The owner of the community is eager to have all of the facts coming out in the pending litigation and is confident regarding the ultimate outcome," Jody B. Gabel, an attorney for mobile home park owner, said in an email statement.
Some residents said they believe the operators want them out to make room for trucking firms that will support expanded rail operations nearby.
"The land will be up to 10 times the value. This land will be used for big trucks and service," Estrada said.
"It has gotten to the point like living in a prison camp. I even told the manager one day this is a prison camp, and you are the warden," Kerrigan said.
While the residents worry about evictions, the county told NBC Miami that the property owners themselves are violating county codes by erecting a permanent home on the grounds of the park.
