BRADENTON BEACH – Rained-soaked eviction notices taped to trailers and littering the ground at the Pines Trailer Park, along with screws driven into some front doors to prevent entry, have effectively turned what was left of the 86-unit park into a ghost town.
At age 92, Pines resident Helen Hynes expected to repair her 39 Laverne Drive home after Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year and live out the rest of her life there, but instead, she is one of many park residents who have been served eviction notices.
Hynes spoke to The Sun on June 14 at the Pines trailer home of her daughter, Suzanne Hynes, where the two currently reside.
“It’s been really difficult. Emotionally, it’s been horrifying. That was my permanent home,” Hynes said.
“I’m so disappointed. We had a beautiful community here. Everybody knew everybody. Everybody for the most part got along. There were little ruffles here and there, but it was family. If something happened, it got taken care of in the community. We had holidays here; we had birthdays here. We celebrated everything in the clubhouse. Anything you needed happened within this little community. And all that was destroyed,” she said. “It was taken away by the floods and the storms but also by the heartlessness, absolute heartlessness of Shawn (Kaleta, park manager). And there was no consideration whatsoever of this as a community and people in this community. Only for the land and what’s the value of the land and property. It’s very sad.”
Hynes moved to the Pines Trailer Park in 2013 from Marblehead, Massachusetts and described how she fell in love with the area.
“My son moved to Sarasota and we came to visit him there,” she said. “The next time we came, we rented a place on Gulf Drive and that was it for me. My daughter and I walked up here (to the Pines) and I said, ‘I could live here.’ It was such a beautiful little community.”
Hynes and her daughter are among the few who remain at the park.
“We don’t have anybody here. Quite a few people have turned over their deeds (to owners Pines Park Investors LLC),” Hynes said. “I don’t understand that at all.”
Legalities
More than 24 eviction notices for non-payment of lot rent from park owners Pines Park Investors LLC were filed in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court at the rate of several new notices each week since April. Hynes was served on May 13.
In her response to the notice, Hynes submitted a letter to the court which stated in part, “My name is Helen Hynes and at 92 years old, I am the oldest resident of Pines Trailer Park. My primary residence has been at 39 Laverne Drive for the past 13 years. I want to address my reason for withholding the rent for #39 of late.
“At 39 Laverne I depended heavily on the park facilities, the clubhouse, the laundry machines and the parking lot particularly. Some (attorneys) have told us to withhold rent due to the almost complete lack of care and upkeep of the park and some have advised us to pay the lot fee in spite of the abandonment of care.
“I think, if I knew I could afford to, I would keep our lot rent up to date and not risk losing my home and investment. I would, ideally, love to move back into my own home and stay there for the rest of my life, but given what’s happening, I’m not sure it’s wise to spend the balance of our money in a place where, not only would it be unreasonable to try to live, but where someone with much larger means is intent on trying to force us out.”
On June 5, the court denied setting a hearing time for Hynes stating, “No legal defense was raised. While the court is not unsympathetic to the hardships that may have led to the defendant falling behind in rent, since the defendant has not timely deposited rent, the plaintiff is entitled to an immediate default. Further, while the defendant lists a variety of non-compliance issues with the landlord, she attaches no documentation in support of any potential notice of withholding rent as required by Chapter 83, F.S. Any delay must be sought through the plaintiff.”
Some Pines residents have told The Sun they withheld lot rent payments for a number of reasons, including disrepair of the park and amenities following the hurricanes, unfulfilled assurances made by Kaleta in October and uncertainty about the park’s continued existence.
On Jan. 4, residents were informed that the park would be closing, with an anticipated closure date of July 31.
Feeling abandoned, betrayed
Hynes said after the hurricanes last fall, residents felt they had been left on their own.
“We did not see one person here (from the LLC) after the hurricane,” she said. “No laundry facilities, no clubhouse, nothing. Nobody was here. We knew we were abandoned.”
“I think Brien (former park manager Brien Quinn) called people to come move some stuff – refrigerators and stoves and mattresses – that were rotting in the street. He did what he could.”
Hynes said that park residents had two meetings with Kaleta and his representative, Sam Negrin, in October.
“We met a couple of times in October at Salt,” Hynes said. “Right after he (Kaleta) said people didn’t have to pay lot rent, that changed immediately. Two meetings at Salt, then quiet, then the parking was taken away. Nothing was the truth, nothing was ever said that you could rely on as factual.”
Ryan Pfahler, a Pines homeowner of three units, has also received eviction notices, and was at the October meetings.
“Shawn Kaleta said at that meeting, ‘Right now, I’m not collecting rent. If the park is usable, pay rent, if not then don’t,’ ” Pfahler told The Sun on June 12.
Pfahler said he felt the entire situation was intentional.
“That was a set-up,” he said. “First we were told don’t pay rent, then they closed the parking lot and made it public parking in December because they said they weren’t receiving rent and now we’re getting sued for not paying rent.”
Pfahler said Pines residents were waiting for confirmation that the park would remain open but said there was no communication until residents were told in January that the park was being closed at the end of July.
“There was no communication, nobody knows what to do,” Hynes said. “Suzanne pays our lot rent here, but we don’t know what’s going to happen next. You really feel at this age you should be settled into a peaceable life.”
Lawsuit pending
The Pines Homeowners Association filed a lawsuit in March against the LLC in part to stop the park closure and evictions. Pines Park Investors LLC filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed and a hearing on that motion is scheduled for July 28. At a recent Bradenton Beach city commission meeting, Negrin said the LLC consists of approximately 15 investors.
Hynes said she and her daughter will likely move somewhere off the Island.
“It won’t be on the Island. If we had those kind of resources we wouldn’t be living in a trailer park,” she said.
She said her personal belongings are still in her trailer.
“I understand that after the eviction notices, the places have been locked up,” adding that she thought her trailer was still accessible.
Plans for the park after July 31 have not been disclosed, but Pines resident Joe Klingler told The Sun on June 14, “There were a couple of guys walking around here with clipboards a couple of weeks ago. I asked them what they were doing, and they said they were here to prepare bids to either demolish or drag some trailers out.”
The Sun requested comment regarding any plans to remove structures at the park from a Pines Park Investors LLC representative, but did not receive a response.
Related coverage:
Pines Trailer Park post-Helene timeline
