{"id":41000,"date":"2024-01-16T10:43:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T15:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=41000"},"modified":"2024-01-16T10:43:44","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T15:43:44","slug":"fl-bill-would-give-mobile-homeowners-a-clearer-way-to-question-lot-rent-increases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/01\/16\/fl-bill-would-give-mobile-homeowners-a-clearer-way-to-question-lot-rent-increases\/","title":{"rendered":"Fl bill would give mobile homeowners a clearer way to question lot rent increases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brandi Norsworthy is in an ironic, depressing predicament. She owns a home but worries she will soon be homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pray that I\u2019m not going to be homeless. I pray that Florida will take a stand for the little people,\u201d she said, with emotion in her voice. \u201cI\u2019m tearing up right now because it\u2019s so stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Last year, she used a legal settlement to buy a mobile home at the Lakeland Gardens Mobile Home Park. While she owns her home, she rents the space it sits on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She thought she\u2019d be paying a lot of rent at $520 a month, but Norsworthy said she got a letter in October that notified her of an increase that took effect on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDue to market rent and expenses, it seems impossible not to increase,\u201d the letter specified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lot rent went up $85 to $605 a month. For Brandi, who\u2019s barely scraping by on a tight budget, that\u2019s a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI bring in $963 a month,\u201d she said. \u201cBy the time I pay the $605 lot rent, time I pay my life bill, time I, you know, put gas and make sure he\u2019s got stuff he needs, I buy miscellaneous \u2014 I have nothing. Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norsworthy was one of several people who reached out to ABC Action News about the rising lot rents and how they\u2019re putting senior citizens on fixed incomes and others at risk of homelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As lawmakers begin a new legislative session in Tallahassee, many who reached out said they hoped lawmakers would cap lot rents. Rep. Paula Stark (R-Osceola County) does not think that will happen anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause it is just not going to go anywhere, and we all know that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Stark has\u00a0filed HB 613<\/a>. The bill, if passed, would give mobile homeowners a few stronger protections while balancing the interests of lot owners too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n