SWEETWATER, Fla. – As residents leave the Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park facing impending evictions, Local 10 News has learned that real estate agents were selling homes there, even though new owners would not be able to stay.
It’s raising questions over whether residents were misled or duped and, if so, by whom and who knew?
Resident Carlos Couce had just purchased his mobile home in June, unaware of the impending plans to develop the land. Plans to redevelop the sprawling Sweetwater mobile home park, which would involve evicting thousands, were already in progress.
“It’s simply unfair what they are doing to every owner,” Couce said. “There was absolutely no indication that the owners were planning to develop this land.”
Lease agreements were misleadingly marked “No” to the question, “Does the park owner have plans for changes?”
Additionally, Couce said that his sellers had only owned the home for a few months, saying, “I found it odd that they were buying and selling so quickly.”
Local 10 News has learned that some agents created companies to buy homes in January and sell them months later, raising questions about what they knew and when.
A class-action lawsuit has now been filed against the developers, the city of Sweetwater and Miami-Dade County.
The lawsuit alleges that the sudden eviction notices issued last month are “illegal and unconscionable,” claiming they misled thousands of long-time owners about their intentions to clear the area for development.
“It feels like we’re held back, lied to, and betrayed,” resident Christian Varela said. “This is reality.”
The Varela family is among the first wave of departures from Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park, accepting the financial incentive from developers.
With two young children and a father battling cancer, they face an uncertain future.
After 17 years, they got in a truck on Christmas Eve, headed to Naples with nowhere to go.
“As a Christmas gift from them to us — a slap in the face,” Varela said.
Their story is just one of thousands at the park, which holds about a quarter of Sweetwater’s population.