Several Pasco County families say they’re living in unsafe mobile homes and the landlord won’t step up to fix the problems. Now they fear they’ll be forced out on the streets.
"It’s been nothing but hell out here," said resident Mark Hall.
When Mark Hall is looking at his back yard, he might as well be seeing a sewage plant. Every time you flush the toilet, it leaks underneath the house, then raw sewage dumps out back.
"The issue here, all the pipes are broke to the septic tank and now you’re looking at human waste," Hall said.
He and his wife are both disabled and convinced all the issues with their home are making them even sicker. And they’re not alone..
There are actually six mobile homes at Magnolia Estates in Spring Hill. All of them are falling apart and none are connected to a septic system
"It breaks my heart to have my kids in something like this," said Melissa Wright.
Melissa wright is a married mother of six. She says her home is plagued with rats, leaks, a crumbling roof and rotting drywall. Issues she says have been reported to her landlord repeatedly, but nothing has been fixed. Now they’re being asked to get out by the end of this week.
"He wants to offer everybody $1,000 cash for keys to be out of here. Where are we going to go for $1,000? That’s not acceptable," Wright said.
Three county offices have been investigating the property for months and say the trailers are unsafe. But they can’t condemn the homes until they’re empty.
"There’s days I do nothing but cry, because i don’t want to leave my home," said Wright.
Everyone living at Magnolia Estates says they’d be willing to pay double their current rent if the landlord would make their homes safe. But they’re now preparing to be forced out of the place they call home.
"To be honest with you, I’m embarrassed….And we have nowhere to go," said Hall.
We called the property owner, who told us their lawyer would be in touch. We haven’t gotten a response.
Everyone at Magnolia Estates is just hoping something gets done and fast.
