After they were handed a five-month eviction notice at the Delta Manufactured Home Park, one couple feels the property management company running the park is “rubbing salt in the wound.”
Georgine Melatini and her husband, Ray, were among the roughly 40 people living at the Delta MHP when they were handed eviction notices at the beginning of May. On the notices, the eviction date was Oct. 1, giving residents just five months to find a new place to store their mobile homes or pack up and find a new living arrangement.
Related: Up to 40 people handed eviction notices in Penticton community
The good news is, though they at first worried they may not be able to find new living arrangements, the elderly couple has found a new place to live in Summerland. However, as they attempt to sell their former home of nearly a quarter-century, they feel they’re getting roadblocks from Stanmar Property Management, which runs the Delta MHP.
A call to Stanmar seeking comment did not yield a response.
The couple got an interested buyer in the home, who effectively told the neighbourhood that a sale was finalized, according to neighbours. But when that buyer went to Stanmar to find out his responsibilities as a buyer, a kink in the plan became apparent.
“It seems now that before we can sell our mobile homes, he (Stanmar) has to vet the people who are going to buy and move it,” Melatini said.
When she went to the Stanmar office herself, Melatini said she was told at the front desk that it was a safety concern, but that didn’t sit well with her.
“I don’t understand, because a fellow that’s moving the trailer would be insistent that there’s the proper documentation before that thing was hooked up to the truck,” Melatini said. “Why does Stanmar have to vet?”
Melatini said Stanmar insisted the company would need to vet the new buyer as if the buyer were moving in there to live, yet only three-and-a-half months remain until the evictions are effective.
“It’s not like anybody’s ever going to move into that trailer and live there, because everybody’s been evicted,” Melatini said.
She added she and her husband were “only trying to get a few pennies in our jeans” by selling their mobile home. Neighbours said the Melatinis’ rent had gone up significantly at their new home, and Melatini said she was hoping to leave the trailer in its spot to sell it.
At first, the elderly couple told the Western News that they were granted permission, but Melatini said she was later told they would have to pay pad rentals for the spot.
“We’re not living in there. By the end of June, everything will be off that trailer, the gas and the hydro. And there’s no one living there,” Melatini said. “That’s what I said to them: ‘If you’re concerned that someone is living there, go and look. It’s empty.’”
That means the Melatinis are now paying pad rent and rent at their new place, which is a challenge for the senior couple living on a pension.
“It’s almost like he’s taking joy out of rubbing salt in the wound. We’re evicted; we know that. … I don’t feel very good, in fact I’m very angry, about the way we’re being treated unnecessarily,” she said.
“It’s got to stop. Just let us move out with dignity, that’s all. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”