The Case:

At Florida Rural Legal Services (FRLS), we believe that everyone has the right to safe housing. This month our legal team helped close a case for a 77-year-old Veteran fighting an eviction notice at his home of 12 years.

Our client has been a mobile homeowner in his community for over a decade. One day, an unexpected leak caused some of our client's furniture and belongings to get soaked, which he placed on his outdoor patio to dry in the sun. He was served an eviction notice for having unkept property and was suddenly faced with the possibility of losing his home.

FRLS knew the eviction notice was unreasonable and fought to give our client the support he needed to get his property back in order.

The Legal Challenge:

• Some challenges our team faced included:
• Ensuring management would allow our client time to address the issue
• Avoiding an eviction filing on his record, which would create future barriers to housing
• Protecting his rights as a homeowner in the mobile home community

Our Approach:

Our team worked on multiple fronts to support our client:

Negotiation with Management: We explained the circumstances to the property's management and requested additional time for our client to clean his property

Education: We kept our client informed on his rights as a homeowner, as well as the next possible steps the community's management might take so he would be informed on what to expect

Victorious Outcome:

Due to the hard work and efforts of the FRLS team, we were able to negotiate with the property management to allow our client more time to rectify the situation by cleaning up his property, which helped to avoid an eviction filing.