Originally published Dec. 16, 2024, by Belleville News-Democrat
As resident Patty Totty walked through her mobile home community this fall, she reminisced about how things used to be when she moved in 19 years ago so that her daughters could go to Belleville East High School.
She lives at Greenmount Station, just off of Mascoutah Avenue near the old Belle Valley South school.
“It’s sad. … This place used to be very nice,” Totty said, recalling trimmed lawns, quick repairs and compassion from the landlord when tenants fell on hard times.
“I didn’t expect to live here that long,” she said. “I thought I would move.”
She stayed because she likes her neighbors and because she does not want to live in an apartment. But now her bathroom floor is caving in, a hole has formed in the utility room flooring, windows and a door let water into her home, and vacant trailers sit around her. So she’s thinking about leaving.
“I don’t think they know how to do this,” Totty said of Homes of America LLC, the company that took ownership of the park two years ago.
Residents of multiple local mobile home parks purchased by Homes of America have been living with leaking roofs, mold and pests and going without heating or cooling because they say the company is deferring needed maintenance and leaving tenants feeling ignored, while also raising the costs to live in what were once affordable homes. Their complaints and living conditions were detailed in interviews, as well as a number of lawsuits and government inspection reports.
