Shady Cove, Ore — Imagine becoming a homeowner after years of hard work and dedication only to have all of that ripped away because someone else owns the land your house sits on.
Rafael “Ralph” Garcia is a single father of four, a man who loves his job and would do anything for his kids.
When he finally became a homeowner in 2012 he had high hopes for their future, but then the rent for the space his mobile home sat on more than tripled, forcing Garcia from the home of his dreams into subsidized housing.
The scary thing is, if you rent, it could easily happen to you.
“Every minute of time I had, every penny I had went into that home, only for it to be ripped away,” said Garcia.
Garcia owns a double-wide trailer at Shady Acres Mobile Home Park in Shady Cove, but he hasn’t lived there in months.
“I searched for options but I had none, I had to abandon my home,” said Garcia.
In 2013, when new owners took over Shady Acres, Garcia’s rent for the space was $265, that increased to $305 the next year and in July of 2015 his rent would double to $610. By September of last year, it was $880, a total increase of over 300%
“In July, the rent would be $610 dollars, double, it just jumped. I’m a single dad, I’m a custodian, I love my job but it’s just far beyond my means.”
Garcia claims the rent hike is an effort by the new owners to force current tenants out, so the property could be converted to an RV resort.
Shady Acres owners deny that in court documents and even Garcia’s own attorney, Doug McGeary admits the claim is tough to prove.
“Judges aren’t going to go in there and just say you’re not allowed to raise your rents so you’ve got to be very careful about making decision about whether someone’s raising rents for wrongful reasons,” said McGeary.
Those who still call Shady Acres home, like Cory Jenkins and Bill Blanchard, say they’re at their wits end.
“These people own their homes in here, and they’ve been forced out,” said Jenkins.
“All about that evil piece of paper, money,” said Blanchard.
Both men say their rent has also skyrocketed above $800 a month despite owning the trailers they live in.
“Everybody is kind of scared, because a lot of these people are older, on SSI, they don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Blanchard.
In mid January while visiting Blanchard at his home I attempted to talk to the owner, but was asked to leave.
Blanchard says within hours he received an eviction notice and he believes it’s because he spoke out.
“Because I talked to a NBC news man she put a 72-hour notice on my door, to get out, because I talked to NBC,” said Blanchard.
My attempts at calling both Shady Acres and their attorney were fruitless.
The owners didn’t call back, and the attorney declined comment.
While Blanchard admits he owed back rent, the eviction still came as a surprise.
“My wife’s on disability, I’m on disability, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Blanchard.
Now he’s in a similar position as Garcia, facing the reality that he has to find another place to call home.
“We were homeowners for the first time, and all that can be ripped away from you, there’s nothing to stop it,” said Garcia.
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