Eviction notice serves heartache, confusion in trailer park community

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    KEITHVILLE, La. (KTBS) — The narrow road that leads to Ann Fisher’s neighborhood on Old Mansfield Road is flanked with overgrown brush and a couple of signs that read, “PRIVATE PROPERTY.”

Beyond the signs, a gravely road covered in potholes and well over a dozen trailers. Some of them have been abandoned for what looks like years.

Fisher, 84, knows her neighborhood isn’t much, but she’s called this community home for about 40 years.

“Most of us are retired out here,” Fisher said. “When I first moved here, these roads were smooth and picked up all the time. There was no growth like this.”

The community has several longtime residents, who have grown close to one another over the years.

“Everybody scratches everybody’s back around here … help each other. Somebody needs something, we’re there for them,” said Tammy Goodin, a mother of two, who has lived at the trailer park for five years.

Fisher fondly remembers the Armstrongs, the original owners of the trailer park.

“The owner lived down the road,” Fisher said. “Everything was kept up. If anything was messed up, it was taken care of.”

Over the years, the trailer park has changed hands several times, eventually allowing conditions to deteriorate.

The decline culminated on Aug. 7 when each tenant received a pink letter.

“YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that the owner of the property desires to obtain possession thereof as soon as possible for the following reasons,” the letters said. “The Caddo Parish Health Department has notified F & H Properties (owners of the property) that the water system does not meet standards. F & H was advised to shut down all operations or they would file and (sic) injunction forcing same to happen.”

The letters instructed the tenants to “vacate the premises within five days of the delivery to you of this notice.”

“We’ve all been shaking and crying and upset,” said Mary Bain, who has lived at the trailer park for about 30 years.

The neighbors say five days is a short time to weigh their options, of which there are few.

“When you go to move (older trailers) they literally just disintegrate on the highway,” Bain said.

“I’m 84 years old, and I’ve been here this long,” Fisher said. “I have no place else to go. I can’t afford to move my trailer.”

“I just don’t want to get put out on the street, especially with kids,” said Goodin, who said her situation is further complicated by a broken-down car that she can’t afford to fix.

According to a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), which establishes and enforces standards for water systems, the Raw Power Water System, which serves the trailer park, has been plagued by dangerous issues for years. The system was placed under a boil advisory in July.

LDH provided 3 Investigates with a copy of the notice of violation that was sent to the trailer park’s owners on July 24. Violations included no supervision by an operator for the water system and a lack of chlorine feed pumps to disinfect the water.

The neighbors didn’t question the problems with the water system, saying they understood why they need to leave the trailer park.

“Our concern is, give us time to move. Give us time to find someplace to live,” Bain said. “Some of us have health issues and age issues and financial issues, OK? We’re not being unreasonable.”

When it came to asking for more time, the neighbors were not sure who to ask. The pink letters were not signed with a person’s name. Instead, they were signed by “F & H Properties.”

“I have no idea who these people are,” Fisher said.

According to Fisher, the previous landlord had gone AWOL about four months ago.

The notice of violation is addressed to Horace and Frankie Johnson in Pitkin. The LDH spokesman said the Johnsons actually live in North Carolina.

“My dad owned the trailer park. He started it many, many years ago,” said Frankie Johnson, whose maiden name is Armstrong.

“It’s really not a safe place for anybody to live,” said her husband, Horace Johnson. “The last person that was running it just simply walked away from it said he was done. So I ended up having the land back with these people residing on it.”

The Johnsons said they are unable to run the trailer park from North Carolina, and they tried for several months to sell the property to someone capable of maintaining it.

“Nobody wants to have anything to do (with it),” said Horace Johnson.

The Johnsons said they do not expect anyone to pack up and leave in under a week.

“Well, it’s not going to be five days,” said Frankie Johnson. “That’s what you — when you do the eviction thing — what you have to put on there. It goes through the five days and then it has to go through the court system.”

According to Constable John McGrew, who oversees the Caddo Parish ward that includes the trailer park, landlords are required to provide five days personal notice to tenants, stating the reason for the eviction. At the end of the five-day period, the landlord will contact the justice of the peace, who will provide another five-days notice for the constable to serve. At the end of that five days, the tenants will be able to argue their case before the justice of the peace during a hearing.

As of Monday, the tenants said they had not received their notice from McGrew.

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