Mobile Home Park Owners Settle Case; State Laws on Lot Rentals Cited in Elkridge Dispute FINAL Edition

• Published in: The Washington post
• Main Author: King, Elisha
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, D.C WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post 09.06.1994
• ISSN: 0190-8286

The consumer protection division of the state attorney general's office alleged that during 1990 and 1991, the owners of Deep Run Mobile Home Park, had charged residents illegal advance rent payments and neglected to offer qualified residents lease renewals as required by law. The office also alleged that the owners forced prospective renters to purchase mobile homes from a dealer affiliated with Deep Run, a 620-unit park in Elkridge. The attorney general's office began investigating the case in 1992 with the help of 11 mobile home residents who alleged they had been treated unfairly, said Steven Sakamoto-Wengel, an assistant attorney general. Before the case went to trial, the owners of Deep Run agreed to settle, offering to pay the 11 residents more than $11,000 in restitution, he said. "What they would do is they'd lease their lots to Deep Run Homes, then Deep Run Homes would put a new mobile home on the lot, and if someone wanted to rent that lot, they would have to buy the home," Sakamoto-Wengel said. "Basically, if someone wanted to buy a home from another dealer or bring a home that they already owned, they'd tell them, `Sorry, there are no vacancies.' "