TROY, Mich. – Tenants of the Troy Villa mobile home community say they were unfairly told to pack up their bags and leave, and on Wednesday, a court agreed with them. But many other families are worried they'll be the next to get eviction notices and have to fight them in court.
The owner and operator, Rodney Shacket, says he wants to make sure the homes aren't in disrepair, and if they are, he wants them cleaned up. But the tenants say his demands are unreasonable, whether he wants very expensive renovations or for other people to move, and that his personality doesn't help the battle.
"He pretty much harasses, bullies, threatens, talks about people," said Michele Walker, who lives in Troy Villa. "He calls us his 'filthy, dirty rotten animals or pigs.'"
"He's very mean to everybody in the park," said disabled Vietnam veteran Mark Hummel, who says he's being forced out of the older-model trailer he owns and into one that Shacket owns. But it costs $300 more per month and doesn't include the handicap ramp he needs.
"He doesn't like the windows on my trailer...he said our walls are too thin, the trailer's too old," Hummel said.
"A lot of people have had the same differences, just nobody really has the money to fight back," said Jason Gubitz, another Troy Villa tenant. "He's got money and nothing to do at this time, he enjoys going to court and getting underneath peoples' skin."
Six other tenants were fighting off eviction notices in court Wednesday. An attorney for the park says the goal isn't to evict people, but to get them to clean up their property.
Walker's case was dismissed, but she and others still feel persecuted.
"I've tried before to talk to everybody and 'will you stand up and say something or write something' and they're too intimidated because this is their home, this is all they have," Walker said.
Local 4's Jason Colthorp talked to the owner on the phone Wednesday and he refused to comment.
Of the court cases, a couple were dismissed, one was rescheduled and others were negotiated and fixes were agreed upon along the way. Nobody was evicted on Wednesday.