Kingspark is a mess
By Billy Dennis, Peoria Pundit administrator
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I attended a meeting of the Kingspark/Four Seasons Homeowners Association last night.
You won’t believe some of the nonsense going on here at Kingspark, as well at Four Seasons, the mobile home park in Bellevue that’s also owned by Family Value Properties.
At Kingspark, there’s a storm shelter residents are supposed to use. Trouble is, few people know where it is, and those who do, have no way to open it. Not that it’s in any condition to be used, according to the few who’ve been inside it.
Federal law prohibits landlords — and this includes operators of mobile home lots — from taking any profit from utilities like water and electricity. One resident learned from the Greater Peoria Sanitary District that they would have charged him just $23.20 quarterly for the amount of water he used, while the park billed him $11.04 for the month. In fact, a lot of folks are getting the exact same bill for water usage.
One resident at Four Seasons says her daughter was fined $50 because the windows blinds inside her trailer were broken. Another resident was fined for drinking beer in their driveway. Another was fined for having children’s toys in their yard. There’s nothing in the lease that gives the home park the right to issue fines to anyone.
Some residents say they have been told to pay their fines in cash. Rent checks have to be in the form of a check or money order.
Terry Nelson of the Mobile Home Owners Association of Illinois (MHOAI) advised residents to not pay the fines, since they cannot be legally enforced, nor can the lot owners evict anyone for not paying them.
A man has been knocking on doors telling residents they can be evicted for attending homeowner association meetings, and that all the lot owners have to do is post an eviction notice on residents’ doors. Not true, Nelson said. Lot management cannot evict anyone without going to court, a process that can take months, and is generally not approved by the courts unless the resident has stopped paying rent.
The Illinois Department of Public Health will be at Kingspark on Thursday (tomorrow). Association leaders did not know the nature of the visit.
Many of the problems at both parks stem are related to recent mobile home buyers. Family Value Properties are selling new homes, often without credit checks. Family Value Properties has been paying to have these mobile homes installed themselves. The trouble is, Nelson said, that none of the homes she’s seen carry a sign indicating the installation was being done by licenses installers, something that state law requires.
Many of these newer homes do not have central air conditioning installed. One the residents are inside and living in the homes, management claims they were never promised central air and if it is installed, it’s as a gift. Other problems include screen doors that won’t close, cabinet doors that won’t close and other issues related to poor installation.
There’s speculation that lot management is trying to get people to move in knowing that they can’t make rent, keep the deposit, and then sell the homes again.
Nelson told residents that a new state law that goes into effect on January 1 will give mobile home residents more rights. The IDPH will gain the right to fine mobile home park operators. Park operators will not have to offer residents 2-year leases, as well as provide a document predicting future increases in rent and fees.
Mobile home park operators cannot pass along the cost of fines to residents in the form of higher rent.
Other advice:
Don’t rely on verbal communication alone. But everything in writing. Send copies to the resident association, and them work to get the issues fixed.
Make official complaints to the IDPH, and be sure to give copies to the homeowner’s association and to the MHOIA. One complaint from a resident can be written off an “irate tenant,” but a stack of them from the same park is taken very seriously.
She strongly urged those attending to join and work with the new homeowner’s association, which is still in the process of organizing. The association is askign members to pay $3 monthly dues. She also urged residents to join the MHOAI, which asks for $15 yearly.
Filed under: Local
Billy,
one would think that you were advocating for a neighborhood association nazi organization to rise up against the rights of the property owners. I am sure I misread this.
Thanks for your report on the situation at Kingspark. I have lived here over 20 years and seen the place go from a nice community (free water/trash, actual yards for kids to play in, extra lots if you have more than one vehicle to park your car, and courteous managers)to the condition it is today.
I would appreciate if you could find out why the IDPH will be visiting. I have issued complaints to the IDPH and when they come and visit things are taken care of immediately by management.
I am a property owner, Paul. As are the rest of us. We are simply organizing for the purpose of demanding that the lot owners live up to their contract under the law.
They will be here later today (it’s after midnight) and I’m sure it does not bode well for the “Family Value” Properties.
How many trailer parks have homeowners associations? Anyway, it is a trailer park
I have lived in Kingspark now for 6 1/2 years…I first moved here as a renter then I liked the community and felt it a safe and friendly place to raise my child…..so i purchased a home here…..Sure not all is perfect here but where is it perfect…. I have always believed that you get back what you give….so instead of complaining….give alittle to the community and watch the improvements………
Kingspark Resident: I like living here too. The people are nice. And most folks take care of their homes. Like anywhere, there are exceptions. The issues that concern us here have to do with committments NOT being kept by Kingspark owners and management.
A Smart Person: While most residents here elderly are certainly working class, the whole “trailer trash” thing is a myth. This is not the first time I’ve lived in a mobile home park. There are plenty of trashy people living in Peoria’s neighborhoods, too. “It is a trailer park.” You might was well be saying “It IS the South Side” or “It IS the East bluff.”
Billy: Im understand what you are saying….all I am trying to express is take pride in your community and watch the improvements…..as far as the manager…like any other job she can only do what HER BOSS allows her too….she doesnt make the rules ..
Are her bosses telling her to illegally issue “fines” for imaginary offenses, then collect those fines in cash? First, mobile home park management is neither a unit of government, nor a police agency. Second, even IF she is doing these sorts of things under orders from management, that is no excuse.
But, yes, I agree. The best way any individual person can improve conditions here is to keep up their homes and their lots. As a group, we can and should fight for our rights collectively. The people who work for the park are just that, people who work for the park. We have a right to expect good service for the money we pay them. Family Value Properties is not doing us a favor by letting us live here.
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